Preface

For many of us developers, Virtual Reality (VR) represents a relatively untapped market for unique games that take advantage of an amazing new technology. VR has the ability to drop our players directly into our digital worlds and provide them with an experience they cannot get anywhere else. However, the skills that are needed to adopt this new technology and create these worlds are not yet widespread and easy to come by. Our goal is to change this and help spread the word about the power of VR.

Epic Games has been a long-time supporter of VR. Over the last several versions, Unreal Engine 4 has expanded its support for VR and continues to optimize its software to allow more developers to do amazing things. On the hardware side of things, both the number of manufacturers and the capabilities of the VR headsets on the market continue to increase. Many developers are making apps for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, though there are several other options to choose from, including PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, and Windows Mixed Reality Headsets.

Whichever you choose, this book can help you on your journey of working with VR. Over the course of the book, we will look at how to design for VR. We will program flexible interaction systems for this unique environment, create user interface elements, and discuss the specific game art needs of the medium. Finally, we will wrap up with a game prototype and prepare it for distribution.

Who this book is for

This book is written for the intermediate to advanced user of Unreal Engine 4 with an interest in working with VR technology. These users are familiar with the game engine, but have not yet explored how to create games and applications in VR.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introducing VR Technology in Unreal Engine 4, will give you a solid introduction to VR technology in Unreal Engine 4 and to the types of virtual reality hardware that are available on the market today. We discuss the current limitations of the hardware and introduce you to our sample project, Server 17.

Chapter 2, Locomotion, Design, and Starting Our Project, guides you through the different types of movement systems currently in use in modern VR games, and discusses the pros and cons of each. Using human-centered design methods, you will design a locomotion system for first-time players and go through the process to set up our sample game in Unreal Engine 4.

Chapter 3, Exploring Riveting Gameplay in Virtual Reality, has you delving into different types of gameplay used in popular virtual reality titles such as Gorn, Tribe XR, and others. You are then guided through designing gameplay for our sample game, and building movement and interaction systems from scratch using Unreal Engine 4's powerful blueprint system.

Chapter 4, User Interface and User Experience inside VR, teaches the basics of user experience design and how these techniques are applied to virtual reality. The book explores 2D and 3D interface elements, and guides you through creating both.

Chapter 5, Creating Optimized Game Art for VR in UE4, discuses the limitations that VR software and hardware place on creating game art. You will explore the issues surrounding the creation of 3D models, textures/materials, lighting, and visual effects, as well as some best practices for dealing with those limitations.

Chapter 6, Finalizing Our VR Game and Next Steps, completes the journey of game creation by discussing the importance of game testing, outlines some techniques to gather testing data, and discusses how to improve your design based on feedback. You are taken through the steps for finalizing the sample game for distribution, and we'll look at where to go next with the game prototype that you have developed.

To get the most out of this book

• An intermediate knowledge of the Unreal game engine is required for this book
• An installation of Unreal Engine 4.20.x is required
• A virtual reality headset and the computer hardware capable of running it are required

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