VR game development process

Decided to make a game for VR?

Good thing. If you don't know where to start, read this guide. In it, we have broken down the sequential steps.

Decide on an idea!

The first step in creating a VR game is to find or create a new idea.

Or even ideas!

At this stage, you need to create a game script that you can share with your developers (unless you plan to do the development yourself). In addition, either you or the producer you've hired should work on the game design document.

To summarize this step and avoid writing a million characters of text, just try to answer one question for yourself:

What is unique about your project and why is it necessary to use VR specifically? Define the features of your game and move on to the next step.

Choose a platform and approach

• Depending on the chosen device (platform) will not only build the entire development, but also determine the size of the audience.
  
• We prefer to divide into five groups by device:
  
• Lite VR (kinda AR) along the lines of Google Cardboard
  
• Premium mobile VR (Daydream and similar projects)
  
• Full-blown VR headsets (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality)
  
• Full-fledged standalone solutions (Oculus Go, Oculus Quest)
  
• Consoles-only VR (Sony PlayStation VR and others)
  

Choice the programming language

Decided which devices your game will be played on? Great! Now you need to figure out which development environment you're ready to dive into.

Let us give you a hint.

Unity and Unreal Engine are the most widely used engines for VR application development. They support multiple platforms, which ensures maximum audience reach. It is also important to choose the programming language that is most convenient for you.

If you are considering the above two engines, they would be C# and C++ respectively.

But you also have other options.

For example, Python.

It is much simpler than C# and C++, which will allow you to adapt much faster. And it is also much more concise - there will be far fewer lines of code, and you will be less likely to get confused.

Find or create content for the game

No game is possible without assets.

2D, 3D, music, various GIFs that can be used to create fully animated scenes, props, textures and materials, and so on.

We do not know your idea, and therefore the selection of appropriate items is entirely on your shoulders.

However, we can help you find content. On our hub you can find thousands of different assets for Unity (check here) and Unreal Engine (go link) that will fit many ideas - even the most daring and unusual!

You can download everything from our site for free, and you don't even have to register.

Performance optimization

Performance optimization is the key to the success of any game.

Not only for VR.

But for VR it is especially important! If the optimization is bad and what happens on the screen is slow and jerky, the player may get dizzy.

He will not try to play any further and will simply abandon all attempts.

We think this is definitely not what you want.

Testing and collecting feedback

Another key to a successful project is testing.

We may say this too often, but it's true! Don't forget to give the finished game to professional testers so that they can draw the right conclusions and tell you how ready the project is or is not.

It is also a good idea to collect feedback. Find out what your target audience plays. Don't hesitate to ask them directly. You can even have them play your title and tell you the pros and cons. This can even save you money on testers, but this approach is only suitable for indie projects.