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Iceland

Verge
Honored Guest
IcelandDialog.png
Iceland is an experience for the Oculus Rift. You gently fly over an environment (created by the very talented Philipp Schmidt)) filled with lots of interesting things to discover. This experience is a ride, so you don’t need a controller, keyboard, hydra or mind control helmet to enjoy it.

Just sit back, relax and enjoy!

All your input would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

If you would like to watch it before downloading (although you will get spoilers ;)) user Valez has been so kind to upload a "fly through" video on youtube.

http://jacal.foliohd.com

Music
Mirada - Tranquil Reflection
http://mirada.bandcamp.com/track/tranquil-reflection
65 REPLIES 65

sammaz
Honored Guest
GREAT Ride!

I went through 2 loops last night and then i finally saw the whale! Thanks to the devs! :shock:

Verge
Honored Guest
Great to hear you all enjoyed it! 😄

I think we have come to the point, where I can answer the question I asked in my opening post. It seems that this videodream doesn't make people feel very queasy after all, and that I am indeed the minority. Kinda ironic that the one developing the ride is also one of the few who actually gets sick doing it. :lol: But it is very interesting to learn that having a cockpit or other visual reference isn't necessarily something you will have to add to a ride.

Here is a list of the things I would like to add/change to Iceland, so you know what I am thinking about for the future:

  • Adding a subtle reference point in front of you, which you can toggle on/off. This one is personal, hoping that at least I get a little less sick. 🙂

  • Fix a bug where looking around too much changes the orientation of the camera (so you look sideways all the time). I don't know if this is a problem with my implementation or the OVR camera itself.

  • Adding sound effects, like wind blowing and water erupting out of the geysers. I'm still looking for a good quality geyser sound. And also add the option to turn off the music.

  • Tweak the path a little to get you closer to some interesting scenery. And also change the trigger of the second geyser to go off a little sooner. I'm also experimenting with multiple paths, but I don't know yet if I will implement it in Iceland.

  • Create a quality setting which doesn't show trees and stuff popping into a higher quality. I think the popping of trees really gets you out of the experience.

  • Try and find a better (more Oculus Rift friendly) solution to the billboarded fog.

  • Redo the whale. It was the last thing I added, and I'm not happy with it. I think a humpback whale can do more interesting things than just show it's tail a couple of times.

  • Add more animals. I think adding some more life to the island can create a better experience. I would really like to add penguins, but apparently there are no penguins in Iceland. 😉 That leaves sheep, horses, reindeer, foxes, birds (like Puffin) and seals.

  • Do a night version, so you can choose whether to have your ride during the day or during the night. Can anyone say "Aurora Borealis"? 🙂

  • Add a volcanic area. This one is more long term, as I already explained, I think this island is almost perfect. Lots of different sceneries packed in one place. I only removed all traces of civilization in the scene (I wanted to go unspoiled nature). But I agree with WormSlayer that Iceland should really have a volcano. It would be interesting to go near it and fly over it. And it would look awesome during the night. Philipp told me he is working on it, so I will try to add that when he is ready.

I think after this list is done, Iceland would be close to perfect and in my opinion finished for now. I don't want to add too much, because I want it to remain a simple relaxing experience. I thought about dropping iceblocks in front of you when you go through the tunnel and stuff, but that's not very relaxing is it. 🙂 I will save that excitement for my next videodream, which will probably be Arabian Nights themed.

qndzio
Honored Guest
"Verge" wrote:

  • Fix a bug where looking around too much changes the orientation of the camera (so you look sideways all the time). I don't know if this is a problem with my implementation or the OVR camera itself.


  • It's propably OR's sensor-related drift. There are some ways to counter it, the newest SDK has some correction option(s) built in.

    As for the animals - if you can make/find convincing animations for them, then they would make a nice addition. But if not, clumsy animations may cause a break in presence when compared to otherwise very realistic world. Just sayin'

    tubeliar
    Explorer
    Yeah, the orientation change is drift. This is an unavoidable issue for any session that takes a long time. Games get the chance to reset the orientation on level changes or even when you come out of a menu, but virtual rides don't get that luxury. The most common solution is to assign a "reset home" key, and whichever direction you're looking in at that point will become "forward". Most applications will make this a hard cut, but i would prefer a smooth reorientation.

    I think adding sound effects and animals will do a lot to make the world come alive. Even the movement from the water reminds you that you're not looking at a static picture but an active environment. Sound effects will boost this a lot i think. In the case of the whale the lack of sound effects actually deteriorates the experience.

    Huckleberry
    Honored Guest
    Really, really enjoyed this. Did you make Delta Draconis too? 🙂

    I have had some real nausea problems...but I had non with this. It seems that walking is the issue for me now..unnatural locomotion. But this was calm and smooth.

    Would like to see some more very tall spires to add to the sense of perspective...or maybe through a couple of canyons. Would be cool to add the ability to fly freely, like in Delta Draconis, for those who want as an option.

    Just thoughts.....really, really enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing. Can't wait to see this in HD one day!

    Verge
    Honored Guest
    @ qndzio and tubeliar
    Ah, so it's called drift. Good to hear it's something which is common and should be relatively easy to fix (or at least adjust). 🙂 Thanks for your input on that one!

    @ Huckleberry
    Glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for the heads-up on Delta Draconis, I didn't create it, but it looks amazing!
    Some other people have also been asking about flying around freely, so I will put that one on the great todo list. 😄

    I've done some tweaking to Iceland last week. The distance at which higher quality models like trees are shown is now much further away, resulting in a better experience overall with less "popping into view" (but it will require some more GPU power). I've also tweaked some other stuff, which improved the detail level and quality of the terrain. I'm quite pleased with the result.

    I've also been adding sound effects. Right now the river, the ocean and the geysers have sound effects I'm happy with, but I'm still looking for a good wind, whale and nonintrusive ambient sound.

    The last thing I've been experimenting with this week is a night setting. Getting the night scene feeling as exciting as the day scene proves to be quite a challenge. The lack of other light sources makes the environment feel dull in my opinion. I think something should be added to spice it up a little. So, I think this won't be ready for the next release. I am happy with the sky though, so I can give you guys a sneak peak of that. 🙂

    Iceland Aurora.png

    whoisonline
    Explorer
    My take on this.. .. can't wait to see this one on a HD Rift.

    I hope you dont mind, I've posted a video at http://www.virtualreality.com.au and youtube.

    Verge
    Honored Guest
    Hi Whoisonline! Thank you for creating this video! It looks like you enjoyed the ride. 😉 And I also can't wait to see this in HD, well this and all the other great stuff people are creating now really. :lol:

    Subcide
    Honored Guest
    The FOV felt really strange to me, particularly in the chasm at the beginning. Like it had been calibrated for different eyecups. Any way to change this?

    Ananas
    Explorer
    This was a nice demo, especially while standing up. It really felt charming and mystical to fly around Icelandic island.
    I was going to suggest something but they are already on your list 😄
    Keep up the good work