ViveDoom: gzdoom in virtual reality [UPDATE version 0.5.5]

[Blue Shadow]

@biospud: Please use the edit button to edit your post to add more info instead of making two or more posts consecutively.

[Nash]

Hey biospud, I have some mods which I think would be helpful for you in terms of testing the HMD hardware.

First up is Gene Tech. This mod uses 3D models almost exclusively - for monsters, weapons and items. Also some of the weapons throw off the player's pitch when fired (I think it's the machine guns; sorry can't remember which slot).

The second mod is my own Tilt++ - it's a mod that focuses on altering the player camera's roll through scripting. Figured you could use this as test material for mods that script the camera view... probably the best course of action is to simply ignore these commands?

Next is scripted weapon sway (Video example). You'll have to extract the PK3 from the ZIP file. This mod alters the base position of the weapon sprite as the camera moves around. I have no clue at all how this concept would translate into VR... I'll let you decide. :)

Lastly, another one of my own - ZScript Side Scroller Starter Kit. You'll have to click the green Download button to download the repo to your hard disk. This is a mod that isn't even first person. I am not the only one who's attempted to make non-first-person-shooter mods with the GZDoom engine - people have made fighting games, full platformers, maybe even racing games. Figured you'd be interested in test material for non-FPS mods.

I'm handing you over these mods because I trust you'll be able to decide how the VR code should handle the various kinds of mods ZDoomers might make. Good luck and keep up the amazing work in bringing the future to GZDoom. =D

[biospud]

@biospud: Please use the edit button to edit your post to add more info instead of making two or more posts consecutively.

Even when I want to make one post to state a general announcement about a new build, and another post to respond to a specific comment from another user, should I merge those two together?

Hey biospud, I have some mods which I think would be helpful for you in terms of testing the HMD hardware.

First up is Gene Tech. This mod uses 3D models almost exclusively - for monsters, weapons and items. Also some of the weapons throw off the player's pitch when fired (I think it's the machine guns; sorry can't remember which slot).

The second mod is my own Tilt++ - it's a mod that focuses on altering the player camera's roll through scripting. Figured you could use this as test material for mods that script the camera view... probably the best course of action is to simply ignore these commands?

Next is scripted weapon sway (Video example). You'll have to extract the PK3 from the ZIP file. This mod alters the base position of the weapon sprite as the camera moves around. I have no clue at all how this concept would translate into VR... I'll let you decide.

Lastly, another one of my own - ZScript Side Scroller Starter Kit. You'll have to click the green Download button to download the repo to your hard disk. This is a mod that isn't even first person. I am not the only one who's attempted to make non-first-person-shooter mods with the GZDoom engine - people have made fighting games, full platformers, maybe even racing games. Figured you'd be interested in test material for non-FPS mods.

I'm handing you over these mods because I trust you'll be able to decide how the VR code should handle the various kinds of mods ZDoomers might make. Good luck and keep up the amazing work in bringing the future to GZDoom. =D

Thanks Nash. I have much to accomplish just to get regular doom working. So it might be a while before I check out these mods.

[Blue Shadow]

Even when I want to make one post to state a general announcement about a new build, and another post to respond to a specific comment from another user, should I merge those two together?

Merge them both, yes. There's no harm. Put the announcement at the top, followed by your replies to people.

If the time span between the posts isn't big, it's better that you edit your post to add to it. I suppose for important things, exceptions can be made.

[Formic.Sapien]

Hey biospud!

I commented before on reddit, and I'm back with a few more comments, this time it's about motion controllers... Realistically you wouldn't be able to cover each and every mod out there (which mostly all WORK! I've tested most mods in my collection! ) So how about this: You could use a single placeholder 3D weapon showing only the weapon slot number, where you could switch weapons by pressing left and right on the right MC's trackpad. And in case of multiple weapons occupying the same slot (like Russian Overkill) you could switch between them by pressing up and down. As for movement, I think leyland's D3BFG's VR left trackpad motion schemes would work great here too.

Keep it up!

I've been thinking about this too. I think it may work to take a some simple geometric shape that you paste the gun sprite too (that reflects game animations like firing). It would have to always be the same shape for every weapon in every game. This makes it difficult because the weapon's shapes are so diverse. A shape that works well for the pistol won't work for the BFG much less the fists, and don't get me started on Heretic and Hexen weapons. It may just need to be a quad (flat square) because of this, but if it had some curve to it you could still see weapons from the side when you examine it. I made this in blender in like 3 minutes:
I have no idea how to post 3D models easy online. This is through Sketchfab, but I think you have to register to view:
https://skfb.ly/68Ut6

In the end it would be really cool to be able to aim down the controller.

[Red.Queen]

Hi Biospud,

Spent some time tonight with 0.5.5 and have a little feedback for you.

I like the VR-friendly HUD rework, it gives the info I need and takes up about as little screen real estate as possible. Tried the crosshair and it checked out ok.

Now that Fluidsynth's packed in, music's working fine and I don't need to switch to the midi synth on my X-Fi. No audio oddities, everything sounded good, even when I was hammering the game with a truckload of concurrent sound effects in large crowds with the minigun going.

Thanks for removing the dependency on an external zlib.dll, that's a convenience improvement and should help avoid confusing newbies trying to run this.

Saw the new vr_floor_offset cvar, I'll test that out next time I play, it looks like it should be useful as right now the camera position does feel a bit low when playing seated. That will probably also let me get the origin point of fired rockets better realigned relative to the camera as well while sitting. Thanks for adding that!

I spotted the white pixels/shimmer at the left and right edges of the screen again for a few seconds in a few cases and was able to get a little consistency in reproducing it this time. I was able to trigger it this time while moving straight forward, with my head dead ahead, so it doesn't appear to be definitively linked to the player moving at an off-angle from where they're looking after all. I was however only able to get it to happen if I was moving at a full run, so that was consistent with what I saw last time. Interestingly, so far every time I have only seen it in E1M6 and E1M7. Hopefully some of that will end up being useful when the more important stuff is taken care of and you're looking at the low-priority issues like this, it smells like the kind of thing that could be irritating to troubleshoot.

I also was able to reproduce the enemy sprites flickering and nailed down when it happens reliably. They shimmer/flicker when you get them in a position where the view of them is blocked in one eye, but not the other. Or, to put it another way, if drawing a triangle, with the player's eyes at vertexes A and B, and the monster is at C, an object in the environment blocks drawing a line between either A-C or B-C. Curiously, it only affects animated enemies -- static, unanimated sprites like dead bodies or barrels won't do this, nor do the grates in some windows that can be seen and fired through. It looks rather like it's rendering alternate animation frames in alternate eyes, and when the path from one eye is getting blocked, those frames get dropped and the sprite gets a flickering look. Both environmental objects like corners of walls as well as other animated sprites will work to create this blocking effect that causes the obstructed sprite to flicker. Corners are the easiest way to pull it off. The effect isn't glaring or a problem for actual playability, just mentioning it for the sake of completeness and in case it's something other than a natural artifact of the process used to get them rendering in 3D.

As always, if you've got any questions or any specific test scenarios you want me to run through, just let me know!

[Scripten]

I managed to get this working with my Vive last night, though I did not manage to do very much with it. I'll try playing with it a bit more in the future so I can give more constructive feedback than Works for Me.

[Faerlyn]

I got to play this for a few nights recently and I must say you did a great job! One suggestion I could make is possibly unlocking the look fully or something when you die. When you die you can look up and down but when you look side to side its instant nausea. Also I noticed really bad jitter when trying to turn using the thumbstick on a Xbox One controller.

[Formic.Sapien]

You think there's anything I can do, biospud? I don't mind doing busy work of some kind.

[kasin]

this and the reddit topic has been quite quiet recently but I still hope the vr controller support comes out. will be testing it extensively if so.
I tried the current version when it first came out and it worked fine after a few commands

[sycspysycspy]

I hate to say this, but unless one day the VR controller(hand tracking) is supported, shooting(aiming) is a pain in the ass.

[PixelWAD]

I know this is an old thread, but some might stumble upon here via Google.

Here is the recent update - viewtopic.php?f=44&t=37659&start=135

YES, it does support virtual hands now

[Murix]

Hey, I'm just waiting to get like 4Gs back from tax and I'm going to pick a Vive up.

I want to make this mod I'm working on work well with this and I just wanted to ask how it handles Gun sprites for the player.
From what I've seen it looks like it just takes the pick up sprite and turns it into a voxel unless it is a Voxel. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[PixelWAD]

Why would you choose Vive? Rift is much cheaper, performs about the same. Main differences - Rift has better controller, comes with better headstrap and audio built-in. It also has higher performance. Vive advantages? Front camera (gimmick, if you set up your boundaries properly) and lighthouse system - you need to plug the lighthouse only to the power, no need to run back to USB which is easier to set up. Lighthouse also gives more consistent tracking, but Rift is not bad at all.

They way I did my mod compatibible with VR was to replace front sprites of the enemy - for example POSSA for the standard zombie soldier with KVK file.
Weapons can also be replaced as the hud graphics with 3D model.

[Murix]

Mainly chose the vive because I had the cash and want to have the most control over the VR space as I can. Also wanted to play budget cuts and Pavlov.

Plus being able to peak around corners and poke your hand out with a gun to shoot something is quite enjoyable in my experience.

But thanks for info on the mod compatibility side, and what's your mod? I would like to take a look at this KVK file as I've never heard of it and see how you set your PK3 up.