Crytek’s 50 Person VR Dev Team Can Only Mean One Thing
At GDC 2015, Crytek showed a new virtual reality experience built with CryEngine 3. Back to Dinosaur Island, as it’s called, took 20 members of Crytek’s VR team some 45 days to make, Esteves told me. What’s more, the company showed the experience using Oculus’ latest ‘Crescent Bay’ prototype—which is not released to the public—a clear indicator that the company is close with Oculus.
Rather than just a pretty experience, Crytek used the demo to explore means of interaction in VR.
First was the ability to dodge a giant insect who hovered around my head and would swoop in for a sting. It seems obvious when you can actually step around within a VR space, but the ability to dodge does require significant design considerations, like hitboxes, timing, and a proper signal from the enemy that an attack is coming.
The second method of interaction came when a T. rex appeared from the depths of the prehistoric forest and approached me after a cliche roar. With every stomp, the world around me shook and the foliage reacted convincingly. Initially it seemed like the beast was going in for the kill—after all, I was standing in its nest—but eventually it backed off a bit and just stared at me. As I moved my head, it mirrored my movements with its own head, as though it was watching and reacting. It was an interesting take on a similar but more subtle mechanic which we’ve seen before where virtual characters will track you with their gaze.
In the T. rex nest, I was surrounded by eggs. I could literally headbutt the eggs and see them react with proper physics. Esteves told me that people were enjoying this level of interaction, but to me it appeared as a hint of a desperate desire of some form of hand input.
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