Mark Wilson (design manager): Due to the variety of games we work on at Coatsink, it’s not always possible to carry over the same design principles from one project to another. With each project, there’s always a good amount of unknowns and key questions we simply need to work hard to find the answer to. It’s also important not to be too rigid with rules.
VR as a technology is continuing to develop, giving us new and improved ways to let the player engage with the worlds we give them, past findings and rules should simply be kept in mind, not carbon copied from one project to another.
That being said, there are some fundamental guidelines which need to be remembered when developing in VR, such as keeping affordability in mind, if an object looks like it can be picked up and used, it should be possible. There’s nothing more disappointing than trying to interact with something that looks fun to interact with in VR, only to have it be a static mesh sat in the environment.
We also want to ensure we include great comfort options to make our games as accessible as possible. This includes options for customizing the locomotion by offering snap turning, step turning or smooth turning. The vignette which appears during key actions such as moving, sprinting and crouching can also be tweaked. Players can choose to increase or decrease the size or even completely remove the vignette if they wish.
And, as a final example, we also offer the option to play in Seated Mode, which allows the player to be seated but increases the height of the player character in the game, providing a consistent experience no matter how they decide to play.