Pathfinder in the Virtual RealityGame Designer’s observations of the new realities

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Who I think I am

• Jaakko Kemppainen

• Lead Game Designer @ MindfieldGames

• 15 years of game industry experience

• Participated in 20+ published games• Various platforms

• Different genres

• Latest: P.O.L.L.E.N, currently some mobileVR development

• Explorer / Achiever / Mastermind

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Virtual Reality Now

• First generation of consumer level devices out

• Huge scale of devices• From Cardboard to Vive• Peripherals• New technologies emerge almost every

week• No standards yet

• Market size• Mobile (Gear VR): over a million• PC (Vive & Oculus): under a million• Console (PSVR): some (launched last

week)

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Current games

• Conversions of old-school games

• Bite size games, exploring the medium

• Proof-of-concepts and me-toos

• Experiences

• Serious games

• Examples of popular genres• Horror• Walking simulators… I mean exploring

adventures• Shooters and melee fighting• Vehicle simulators

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Expectations

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Business Opportunists

• Motivation: profit

• Hype is huge• VR will replace mobile phones in 10 5 years• Everyone wants VR, they don’t just know it

yet

• Easy money• Investors pouring in• Consumers buying everything

• Going for the obvious things• Quick fix hormonal pumps

• Trying to re-mediate old money machines• Adding basic support for VR goggles• Adding some VR around previous games

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Gameplay Explorers

• Motivation: fun and action

• Enthusiastic doers• Riding the first waves• Do, make, try

• Want to try out different things• Gameplay and interaction mechanics• Genres• Player configurations• Peripherals

• Want all the great VR ideas we have invented in the past – NOW!

• Me as Batman

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Meaning Researchers

• Motivation: understanding

• Who is the player?• Can we do other than project ourselves into the games?• What kind of agency we have in the games?• What we can do in real life and how it projects into

games?• Can we go other way around?

• New aesthetics• What is presence?• New senses, new sensations• Dig deeper, from skin and muscle depth into brain and

soul

• Threats / opportunities• Effects on health• Effects on self • Effects on interpersonal things

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Reality

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Market

• Market is rather small• Some millions is nothing compared

to mobile or console market

• Masses are mandatory for free-to-play

• Fragmented: Vive, Oculus, Gear VR, hand controls are all different

• But it is enthusiastic• At least those who bought the

devices and not got them as a side order of a phone

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Gameplay

• Old genres don’t translate that well into VR• Simulator sickness• Mediation layer is gone, everything is in “first person”

• Build mediation layer into the game if needed

• Isolation from surroundings• Fear of hitting items or tripping down in bodily

interactions• Uncertainty, safety

• Limits• Dexterity and agility in bodily interactions• Reaction times probably a bit longer• Cognitive load is higher• Physical and mental fatigue hit quicker and harder

• Re-think player’s role• Always in control• Point of view – and what it means for the player?

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Aesthetics

• We can pretty much forget our cinematic tradition• The player is the camera, no forced

changes in camera angles of focus• Sudden changes in view cause strong

disconnection -> forget montage theory

• VR is presence• Currently we are mapping ourselves into

the games• More activity based than anything before• VR is immediate, the player is present

• Voice overs don’t work• We can’t tell player how to feel, what to

think• Too different main character can be too

disconnecting – or very interesting

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The depressing last slide

• We know nothing yet• Technological possibilities• Gameplay genres• Business models• Health issues (long term frequent use

of VR)

• We need to rip everything apart and build up again

• It will take 2-5 years to see what VR is and where it is going

• Meanwhile, let’s be researching explorers hunting for opportunities

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Thank you!

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