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Reflection of my VrJam experience after milestone 4 deadline

ricard2798
Honored Guest
So now that the dust has settled, and all submissions are in (or should be), I would like to take a time to think about my overall VRJam experience up to this point. There is nothing technical here. Some of the info might be wrong (since its my impression, not my researched comments). So anyways, lets get started:

THE GOOD:
1-This experience has made me discover things in me i didn't know i had, or could do. From someone who can't write a single line of code, I had set up to see if i could be something good with my limited skills. The result satisfies me tremendously, and i have only Oculus to thank for enticing me to push myself to new horizons.

2-The VR community is awesome! It has been a great run, and in the process i have communicated with friends that have helped me when i reached a wall i could not climb. Their feedback helped me build a better game (in fact, one persons comments made me want do an additional level just for him...). i will surely miss the camaraderie and support of all the people here... love ya tons

3-look at all this content!!! This is amazing... my gearvr will have tons of new stuff to show off.


The bad:
I am not complaining... i am just sharing things that perhaps could be improved.

1-issues with unity 5. Just like all the entrants spent sleepless night building their Vr content, oculus should have had their coders do the same thing to had a FULLY non issue version of the SDk for unity 5. Some people ended up being limited into what they could do because unity 5 integration was a hurdle.

2-issues with challenge post. i wont get into it... its not oculus fault... but this last 12 hours have been.... interesting.

3-Setting a limit on the entries that will actually see a judge. Think about it... you are denying a hard worker the chance to show off their stuff... not because their software was bad, but because you are only allowing 20% entrants through the gate! So some apps, which might truly be great, will be shot down, just because others might be better! i know this is not an issue as far as the prizes... but some of us are not necessarily after the prize... but more after the honor of saying "hey look, my app made it to round 4... so i am good!"... can you imagine how many doors it can open for a struggling developer to say, hey... the oculus top staff played and reviewed my game?!!! For some of us thats even more important than the prize (i would not mind that either, but that,s not the objective). I know that the oculus head team cant see all entries... but this is what i would have done.
I would rate the apps as good or not good. in fact, even if an app is not great, but shows great effort, it should get a chance to get seen. Its the least that you guys could do for a hard working developer. You can't judge everyone under the same scope... for example... i know there are entries made by groups and organizations that likely entered as individuals. Kind of unfair to the lonely guy that didn't sleep 2 weeks straight to build something of equal (or perhaps even greater magnitude). Again, I would have allowed anything decent (regardless of numbers) to had their chance at the limelight... and at least get the tittle of (i made it through all stages of the jam... even if i didn't win zilch). Hey, we put the time building content for you... and you put the time looking at it.

4-Even playing field. This was touch on my previous points. it sucks that entries in the single category definitely seem to be working in a group multi dev structure. unfortunately, I can;t think of a way to solve this... it juts something that kind of makes me a little sad.

5-Struggle to find testers. As the deadlines came closer... people were literally begging for testers. Of course, everyone was hard at crunching their last efforts, so i understand why there was a limited number of testers. Perhaps, for fure jams, oculus could make a pool of small prizes for people that actually test. lets say.. every time you test, you file a form which the dev will sign of as (approved). that wilkl get the tester one entry into a drawing for lets say, the new oculus... or swag, or a small monetary prize. An app is only as good as it gets tested... and helping have an available pool of testers would help us tremendously.

Anyways, I hope this helps the oculus team in the future. again, i am not complaining one bit.. just sharing my thoughts. Again, I am eternally grateful for this experience... and wish everyone good luck and success.
31 REPLIES 31

drash
Heroic Explorer
I definitely think a few great experiences and ideas will fall through the cracks because of the potentially-unexpected technical challenges involved in making something for Gear VR. So for those devs that ran into issues, I hope you'll continue to push on and bring your vision to fruition when you're able to.

"dignifiedweb" wrote:
Also, I have one complaint and I'm not a complainer! What's this markdown script business and how come the web forms don't copy line breaks from word? Am I the only one that had issues with that? Is markdown a common thing? I mean, this forum has a button for bold, but I have to read a huge document to find out that **this** does bold? A Challenge to post, amirite?

A challenge to post! haha! 😄

I only know about Markdown because my friend is always sending me Apple-related news via daringfireball.net, and the guy that runs that site invented Markdown to do all his posts, and it seems to have spread into a lot of the app and web ecosystem at this point. If you ever post on reddit you may have noticed it uses Markdown for formatting. Using the RES (reddit enhancement suite) means you get a live preview of what your markdown-formatted post will look like, and that's basically what I used to put together my submission description! So yeah, ChallengePost should definitely have its own live preview built-in.
  • Titans of Space PLUS for Quest is now available on DrashVR.com

Catrik
Honored Guest
Congrats to everyone and their hard work for this VR jam...if anyone needs testing of their game, im willing to help.

Feel free to PM for Urgent testing
Currently using AT&T snapdragon lollipop 5.0.1
Blutooth Power A Moga hero controller

Friday i will have a GS6 gear VR for future tests, if anyone needs those tested as well just PM me if you want note 4 tested or Galaxy S6 Tested.

ricard2798
Honored Guest
hey dignifiedweb... I also had a blast jamming with ya all. and guys, don't worry too much about the pcs I haul to my classes... they are all laptops (some much bigger than others of course 🙂

If I happen to win anything at all, I would probably change them all with surface 2 tablets... my back would thank me for that 🙂 LOL

nosys70
Expert Protege
You have to understand that VRJam is just a way for oculus to find the next "Angry Bird" application that will make people
buy a GearVR (or a CV1 when ready).
It is a way to get ideas and work for (almost) free.

Jaycee900
Explorer
Rovio are actually working on Angry Birds for the GearVR! No need to find a wannabe! Great news for the GearVR.....it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but its a massive game to make people take notice of VR.
Mini Gear VR Reviews Blog --> http://gearvrreviews.blogspot.co.uk

Binary
Honored Guest
It was indeed a ride, and now ... this emptiness! 🙂
The could have at least kept up the global signing tool.

Jaycee900
Explorer
"Binary" wrote:

The could have at least kept up the global signing tool.

Understandable really, otherwise there wouldn't be a need for the Oculus store and there would be a flood of cardboard apps stating they are for GearVR when they probably haven't used the extra sensors etc..best to be a closed platform in some ways.
Mini Gear VR Reviews Blog --> http://gearvrreviews.blogspot.co.uk

dignifiedweb
Protege
My work here is done, I made Drash laugh. Thanks Drash, I guess I'll be good at reddit formatting now... lol
Check out my Mobile VR Jam 2015 title Man Overboard! - Try the DK2 Version if you don't have a Gear VR

nilstastic
Explorer
"Binary" wrote:
It was indeed a ride, and now ... this emptiness! 🙂
The could have at least kept up the global signing tool.


Post jam trauma? 😃 If it's not a thing it should be.

dignifiedweb
Protege
"nilstastic" wrote:
Post jam trauma? 😃 If it's not a thing it should be.


Absolutely! I am still coming down for sure, got an amazing sleep last night though, wow. I was practically in a coma.

Also, all this talk of carrying a bunch of computers around is making me think that there needs to be a Duke Nukem VR. Maybe I'll make Luke Dukem for my next share. I always wondered why he didn't use his shrink ray to miniaturize a tank or a truck and use them on his enemies and carry them around like a regular weapon. That sounds great to me! 🙂


Either that! Or I should go with my original idea of Bee Keeper Simulator. Solves the screen door effect!
Check out my Mobile VR Jam 2015 title Man Overboard! - Try the DK2 Version if you don't have a Gear VR