Internal XR designs look at specific examples of good VR designs. Today we see the clever designs of Red Matter 2 “Grabber tools” and the many ways they contribute to immersion.
Editor’s Note: Red Matter 2 was released three years ago this week! It was featured in the premiere episode of the Inside XR Design series reboot. To celebrate the game’s release anniversary, we bring this episode back to the front page, highlighting the clever use of the game’s “glover tools.”
Find the complete video below or continue reading the adopted text version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AXBTNDOYUK
Intro
I’ll talk today Red Matter2 (2022)An adventure puzzle game set in a retro-future science fiction world. The game is full of great VR designs, but those who pay close attention will know that some of its innovations have actually been a pioneer in 2018 and were pioneered by the original releases all along. Red matter. But hey, that’s why we’re making this video series. There is an incredible VR design that anyone can learn about.
I’ll take a look Red Matter 2 Inventive grabber tools and an incredible number of ways contribute to your immersion.
What you see is what you get
At first glance, the grabber is a tool Red Substance 2 It may look like a sci-fi set dressing, but it’s more than that.
At the basic level, the grabber tool takes the form of the user’s controller. If you are playing on Quest, Index, or PSVR 2, you will see a custom grabber tool that matches the shape of a particular controller.
First and foremost, this means that a player’s in-game hand pose matches the actual hand pose and the feeling of holding something in his hand. The shape seen in the game coincides with the center of the center of gravity, as you can feel it with your real hand.
It shows that most VR games show open hand poses and nothing by default… It creates a disconnect between what you see in VR and what you do actually I feel it in your hands.
And of course, you have tools that look like your controller, so you can look down to see all the buttons and what they do.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been using VR for years and I still couldn’t tell you the button that is the Y button on the VR controller from the top of my head. Is it on the left or right controller? Up or down button? Make your own guess in the comments and then let us know if you’ve made it right!
You can look down at the button to see it. You can see the button and at which moment your finger is touching.
This is what is called the Diegetic interface. This is a contextualized interface in the game world, instead of some sort of floating textbox that shouldn’t actually exist as part of the game’s story.
In fact, you will notice that the video you see absolutely no on-screen interface. Red Substance 2. And that’s not because you can access special debug modes for shooting. It’s design.
When I spoke Red Substance 2 Game Director Norman Schaal said, “I personally hate UI. In fact, passionately, in my mind, the best UI is not at all UI.”
Scher also told me the goal. Red Matter 2 Design is to keep players immersed in the game at all times.
So the grabber tool literal The in-game interface allows you to physically connect to terminals to collect information. For players, this feels like a convictional way for someone to interact with the game world. Beneath the surface, we are actually seeing a smart, immersive way to trade “PressX for interaction.”
The game’s grabber tools do more for immersion than replicating the feel of the controller in your hand or acting as a diegetic interface in the game. Importantly, they also replicate Limited Interaction Fidelity That player is actually in VR.
Coarse care
So let me break this down. In most VR games, when you see the hand you see… human hand. Of course, that’s what you mean your hand. But there is a big cut between what your real hand can do and what a virtual hand can do. Each of your real hands has five fingers, allowing you to manipulate objects narratively in ways that even today’s most advanced robots struggle to replicate.
So, the real hand has five fingers to grab and manipulate an object, while the virtual hand essentially only has one input point. This is a single point that grabs an object.
If you think about it, the grabber tool is Red Substance 2 It accurately represents this single input point to the player. From a Daiget perspective, it’s clear that you can’t operate your fingers when you look at the tool, so the only option is to “grab” at one point.
It’s a long way to get the grabbers doing tools. Red Substance 2 Instead of displaying virtual hands with many fingers that are not actually available, reflect the rough hand inputs that are actually available in VR.
So, Red Substance 2,Glover Tool Contextualization We can’t use our fingers. As a result, rather than feeling silly, it feels like you’re learning how to manipulate these futuristic tools simply because you have to rotate and manipulate objects in a somewhat strange way.
Dip insulation gap
Believe it or not, but there’s still to be a discussion of why. Red Matter 2 The grabber tool is very smart.
Physics interactions are a big part of the game, and grabber tools work to maintain an immersive feeling when processing objects again. Like many VR games, Red Substance 2 Use an inertia-like system to imply the weight of the object in the hand. Small objects move quickly and easily, while larger objects become looser and inertia fights movement.
Rather than imagining the forces our hands feel when moving these virtual objects, the grabber tool creates a kind of immersion insulation gap by providing a mechanical pivot point between the tool and the object.
This visually “explains” why you cannot feel the object’s force against your finger, especially when the object is very heavy. The cutting between the object and our hands uses a grabber tool as a central insulator to deduct some of the expectations of forces we actually feel, thereby maintaining a little more immersion.
Reduced stock
And if that’s not yet clear, then the grabber tool actually… Your inventory. Not only can you store all your tools, such as flashlights, hacking tools, guns, etc., you can also use them to temporarily accumulate objects. Handling inventory this way means that players will not accidentally drop or lose tools. This is a problem you’ll see in many other VR games, and is the problem of using a “holster” to hold things.
Inhumane hands
And lastly, the grabber tool can actually do interesting things that are not in our hands. For example, a rotating grabber actually does a more rotating wheel movement like this than doing it with two normal hands.
Glover tool design Red Substance 2 After all, the game is about interacting with the virtual world around you. Therefore, it makes sense that the main ways players interact with the world are carefully considered.
To make the most of the grabber, the developers have built a variety of detailed objects for the game. You can pick up almost anything that looks like you should be able to.
And here’s the great details I want to see: in the case of things it’s not Interactively, all you have to do doesn’t mean they are! Here Red Substance 2 The developer simply removed the handle from this cabinet. It’s a clear but not intrusive way to tell players that it’s not open.
It’s become a bit unique to VR. Just looking at cool things up close, like you’ll find before you can become a rewarding experience in itself. for that, Red Substance 2 Whether it’s this resinous eyeball, a paper with reactive physics, or this incredible scene that sees weapon formats from hundreds of small balls, you’ll consciously strive to sprinkle a handful of visually interesting objects.
– – – – –
Red Matter 2 The design of the Grabber tool is so beneficial for the overall immersion of the game, I’m frankly surprised that this kind of thing isn’t becoming more common in VR games.
If you want to see all of this yourself, you can find it Red Substance 2 Quest, PSVR 2, and PC VR.
Did you enjoy this breakdown? Check the rest Internal XR design Series and us Insights and artwork series.
If you’re still reading, drop a comment and tell me which games and apps to cover next.
