Alone in the Rift - A horror game demo (Updated to 0.30)

[mrmaffen]

This is a horror game demo made by me with unity to showcase the wonderful combination of the immersive Oculus Rift VR Headset, the Razer Hydra as a fitting input device and a spooky forest scene. You walk around a dark forest with a flashlight in your hands, which can be controlled through the Razer Hydra controller. Your goal is a shed at the end of your walk.

Playing this with headphones on is highly recommended!

Basic Setup:
Before starting the game demo, place the Razer Hydra base in front of you (with the cables facing away from you). Also make sure that the Rift is facing the same direction as you sit in. Now start up the game. Follow the advice on the screen, when it tells you to press the trigger. Make sure you are pressing the controllers' trigger in the correct order. If your hands don't move, press the start button on each of the controllers to enable hand movement. Now you're good to go.

Controls in general:
A control scheme can be chosen by looking at it (so that it is being highlighted) and then pressing "Enter", or the left mouse button, or the "A"-Button on the gamepad, or the "1"-Button on the right Hydra controller.
The flashlight can be turned on/off by pressing "F" or by pressing the "A"-Button on the gamepad or by pressing the "1"-Button on the right hydra controller. The movement controls are self-explanatory.

Control Scheme "Sitting":
The good ol' standard. Use your mouse/gamepad joystick/hydra joystick to turn around.

Control Scheme "Standing":
Don't trip over tree roots. You'll walk in the direction you're looking in.

Control Scheme "Alternative Hydra":
Happy to try out new things? Then choose this mode! Stick your left hydra controller into your shirt and pick up your right hydra controller. You'll walk in the direction your body is facing, while still being able to freely look around.
(Be sure to press the "Start"-button after you've attached the left controller to your chest.)

Download for Windows here: http://goo.gl/Hp61J
Alternative download link: http://goo.gl/JdYqd4
(goo.gl's Link shortener service is being used to track basic public download stats.)

Changelog:
0.30:
- New control schemes available ("Sitting", "Standing", "Alternative Hydra")
- Updated to Oculus SDK 0.2.3
- Redesigned the water
- Fixed some colliders
- Fixed the spawning script
0.21:
- Removed some debugging stuff
0.2:
- Added a proper skybox to the scene.
- Added support to direct the flashlight with the mouse or right gamepad joystick.
- Flashlight can now be turned on/off by pressing "F" or by pressing the "A"-Button on the gamepad or by pressing the "1"-Button on the right hydra controller
- Some minor fixes/cleanups
0.11:
- Performance fixes. Greatly improved fps.
0.1:
- Initial Release

I hope you like my little demo
Any kind of feedback is appreciated.

[LordJuanlo]

Looks good! I'm going to try it asap

EDIT: Hahaha, I admit it... I got really scared! Very atmospheric, the sound really helps a lot. I've played with my speakers, and now I know that if I had played it with headphones, I would have jumped off my chair!

[mrmaffen]

Looks good! I'm going to try it asap

EDIT: Hahaha, I admit it... I got really scared! Very atmospheric, the sound really helps a lot. I've played with my speakers, and now I know that if I had played it with headphones, I would have jumped off my chair!

Thanks! I really appreciate your comment.

[cybereality]

This game is terrifying.

I played it at work, and at one point I started screaming.

Then I had to rip the Rift off of my face. Everyone in the office was laughing.

[RoTaToR]

My first Video with separate Audio/Video & Media Merging Programm. Sorry for the bad quality. It is a bit out of Sync, but you will get the experience. First 5Minutes Problems with the Hydra-Calibration... ^^
05:25 Start with Razor Hydras
11:02 End First Part
12:45 Second Part with Headphones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOJNnaQ_HPU

[oculusfan]

It looks neat. Hopefully my Rift ships next week and I can try it.

[Lurch666]

Very good.
I have very good nerves (watched a lot of horror films) so most jump scares don't bother me but in the rift it's a whole new ball game.
Just goes to show what VR immersion can do.If a simple little demo like this can make me go stand under the light for safety then it's doing something right.
Can't wait to try this out on my friends.

[Okta]

Very cool thanks. Would be nice if the flashlight could also be pointed up and down with the mouse for non razer users because of all the steep inclines.

[IGameArt]

Very cool thanks. Would be nice if the flashlight could also be pointed up and down with the mouse for non razer users because of all the steep inclines.

I second this notion, also make the background/sky black. It's quite strange to see a solid flat color in the sky that looks like it should belong to a daytime scene when the rest is almost pitch black. However it was still a rather unsettling experience at this stage.

[mrmaffen]

Very cool thanks. Would be nice if the flashlight could also be pointed up and down with the mouse for non razer users because of all the steep inclines.

I second this notion, also make the background/sky black. It's quite strange to see a solid flat color in the sky that looks like it should belong to a daytime scene when the rest is almost pitch black. However it was still a rather unsettling experience at this stage.

Thanks for your feedback.
I have just updated the demo to version 0.2. I've added a skybox and the feature to control the flashlight with your mouse/gamepad-joystick.
Hope you enjoy it

[MrGreen]

Holy mother of f*ck.

I literally screamed from the top of my lungs at the end. No, really. Like a little girl. And scary movies do nothing for me. Nothing.

[spoiler]I thought the scary part was just when you reach the cabin and that was it. So I was just exploring around still enjoying it and thinking that the atmosphere and music were great and BAM![/spoiler]

Powerful experience. Thanks for that. Brilliant work man!

Edit: I played with Headphones and the Hydra, standing up, in the basement, at night.

I can't stress this enough: Playing standing up is night and day. To me anyway. I don't know what goes on in the brain but as soon as I stood up the immersion factor went through the roof.

[RABID]

Now I can't wait to get home and try it

[Machinima]

What control scheme are you using with the hydra?

[bobjwatts]

Awesome! Well made, but nope, I'm not great with horror and the first 3 minutes scared the crap out of me.

[MrGreen]

What control scheme are you using with the hydra?

Independent hands à la Sixense Tuscany with a flashlight in the right hand, movement on the left analog and turning on the right analog.

It's the best off the shelf VR control scheme I've tried so far.

Again, playing standing up is a must in my opinion. So much more immersive!

[Okta]

Another thing. When turning left or right with the mouse I get random glitchy jumps in facing. Not sure if its my setup or mouse sensitivity/signal loss though.

[Machinima]

What control scheme are you using with the hydra?

Independent hands à la Sixense Tuscany with a flashlight in the right hand, movement on the left analog and turning on the right analog.

It's the best off the shelf VR control scheme I've tried so far.

Again, playing standing up is a must in my opinion. So much more immersive!

Yeah but what I mean is how do you achieve that? or better yet can you upload a schema?

[MrGreen]

What control scheme are you using with the hydra?

Independent hands à la Sixense Tuscany with a flashlight in the right hand, movement on the left analog and turning on the right analog.

It's the best off the shelf VR control scheme I've tried so far.

Again, playing standing up is a must in my opinion. So much more immersive!

Yeah but what I mean is how do you achieve that? or better yet can you upload a schema?

Oh. The Hydra is natively supported so you don't even need to have MotionCreator running. In fact, you're probably better of closing it down when you don't need it.

[Machinima]

Oh. The Hydra is natively supported so you don't even need to have MotionCreator running. In fact, you're probably better of closing it down when you don't need it.

Well.... that explains my problems then

[mickman]

I just played the game with my Hydra and Rift... It scared the crap out of me !!!!

I had to take the Oculus Rift off I was so damn freaked out standing in the cottage.

I walked along the path followed the lights & crossed the lake.... That was fine.

I had problems trying to center the Hydra hands. They would drift to the left or right.

Is there away to re-center the Hydra ?

Well done... can;t wait for an update

I can imagine finding a shovel in the corner as a clue that you have to dig something up..

This game really freaked me out .. well done.

[elchtest]

Thanks for that very cool demo! At the end it was indeed very scary!

A bit feedback:
I wasn't very sure which way to go. I know there were street lamps once in a while, but at some point I didn't see those anymore and wandered off too much. At some point I found the water and swam through that until I got to the end scenes. I would suggest adding a bit more hints to push the player into the right direction.

I also used the Hydra to control the flash light. It felt very sensitive in the y-direction, meaning that it felt like I would only minimally rotate my hand up and down, but it felt like the flashlight would move two or three times as much. Maybe I am just not used at using the Hydra.

Also I got a bit confused as pointing the right Hydra stick also seemed to rotate my view? I would have prefered a decoupled view from where I aim the flash light.

Keep up your great work!

[mrmaffen]

Thanks for that very cool demo! At the end it was indeed very scary!

A bit feedback:
I wasn't very sure which way to go. I know there were street lamps once in a while, but at some point I didn't see those anymore and wandered off too much. At some point I found the water and swam through that until I got to the end scenes. I would suggest adding a bit more hints to push the player into the right direction.

I also used the Hydra to control the flash light. It felt very sensitive in the y-direction, meaning that it felt like I would only minimally rotate my hand up and down, but it felt like the flashlight would move two or three times as much. Maybe I am just not used at using the Hydra.

Also I got a bit confused as pointing the right Hydra stick also seemed to rotate my view? I would have prefered a decoupled view from where I aim the flash light.

Keep up your great work!

Thanks for your feedback.
The Hydra controller should be just as sensitive in the y-direction as it is in the x-direction.
Also pointing the right Hydra controller shouldn't rotate your view. Maybe your controller cables moved the mouse or something?
I'm currently not disabling mouse/gamepad control, if the player uses the Hydra controller. So moving your mouse could be the cause.

I'm currently working on some improved control schemes. I'll update the demo in a few days ...
Stay tuned!

[TheHolyChicken]

Um, I had the same issue as elchtest. Don't be so quick to blame the user :\ There's a stark difference between a mouse being nudged occasionally, and the torch hydra consistently rotating the player's view 100% of the time. I thought it was intentional, and a real missed opportunity, as - like elchtest - I really wanted the torch to move completely independent of my view. The hydra was basically behaving as if it was a mouse controlling the player's view, and was very uncomfortable. If that's not what was intended, something is going wrong.

[MrGreen]

Um, I had the same issue as elchtest. Don't be so quick to blame the user :\ There's a stark difference between a mouse being nudged occasionally, and the torch hydra consistently rotating the player's view 100% of the time. I thought it was intentional, and a real missed opportunity, as - like elchtest - I really wanted the torch to move completely independent of my view. The hydra was basically behaving as if it was a mouse controlling the player's view, and was very uncomfortable. If that's not what was intended, something is going wrong.

It shouldn't do that.

Do you have that infamous MotionCreator running in the background by any chance?

[TheHolyChicken]

Um, I had the same issue as elchtest. Don't be so quick to blame the user :\ There's a stark difference between a mouse being nudged occasionally, and the torch hydra consistently rotating the player's view 100% of the time. I thought it was intentional, and a real missed opportunity, as - like elchtest - I really wanted the torch to move completely independent of my view. The hydra was basically behaving as if it was a mouse controlling the player's view, and was very uncomfortable. If that's not what was intended, something is going wrong.

It shouldn't do that.

Do you have that infamous MotionCreator running in the background by any chance?

Almost certainly, yes - it boots on system startup. I understood that the demo didn't require the software to be running, but I didn't realise it needed to be closed - no other demo has required it. Perhaps the hydra was accidentally put into "mouse emulation" mode?

[MrGreen]

Um, I had the same issue as elchtest. Don't be so quick to blame the user :\ There's a stark difference between a mouse being nudged occasionally, and the torch hydra consistently rotating the player's view 100% of the time. I thought it was intentional, and a real missed opportunity, as - like elchtest - I really wanted the torch to move completely independent of my view. The hydra was basically behaving as if it was a mouse controlling the player's view, and was very uncomfortable. If that's not what was intended, something is going wrong.

It shouldn't do that.

Do you have that infamous MotionCreator running in the background by any chance?

Almost certainly, yes - it boots on system startup. I understood that the demo didn't require the software to be running, but I didn't realise it needed to be closed - no other demo has required it. Perhaps the hydra was accidentally put into "mouse emulation" mode?

Yeah, I've had issues with this as well so when I realized software with native Hydra support didn't need it I nuked the damn thing.

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[mrmaffen]

Um, I had the same issue as elchtest. Don't be so quick to blame the user :\ There's a stark difference between a mouse being nudged occasionally, and the torch hydra consistently rotating the player's view 100% of the time. I thought it was intentional, and a real missed opportunity, as - like elchtest - I really wanted the torch to move completely independent of my view. The hydra was basically behaving as if it was a mouse controlling the player's view, and was very uncomfortable. If that's not what was intended, something is going wrong.

Sorry if it seemed as if I wanted to blame the user with my response. I just wanted to help to resolve the issue

The MotionCreator software is most certainly the problem here. If it runs in the background it will (as you said) emulate your mouse and therefore move your view.
Kill it and the problem should be fixed.

[TheHolyChicken]

I'll definitely go revisit this demo then