UE4 Now Lets Game Devs Make VR Games in VR
The gaming industry renowns the Unreal Engine as one of the most popular game development tools in the industry. Aside from its powerful tools, developers can feel right at home with its easy to use interface. And with virtual reality (VR) tech breaking ground on the game industry, Unreal seems to make the radical shift towards using this novel piece of tech to create amazing game experiences. The thing that Unreal is working on is: how do we bring the same easy-to-use and powerful editing and dev tools to a virtual interface using a VR headset?
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Unreal Engine’s VR dev tools will soon be available for use in VR headsets. The game development company is working on this advancement for the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2016. Soon, Unreal Engine’s VR editor will allow the use of VR motion controllers for the purpose of game development. The Unreal Engine for VR supports both Oculus Touch and HTC Vive motion controllers. As ironic as it seems, VR motion controllers can also be used in making games, aside from being used in VR games and other similar experiences.
Having an available tool for creating VR experiences in a virtual setting has key advantages over developing them outside VR. One is that developers will be able to create exacting elements and spaces that simulate the virtual experiences, by having the same VR experience as their “working canvas”. Another thing is that by merging the workspace with the actual VR experience itself, developers can have an even simpler workflow and a more enjoyable working experience.
As this kind of game development is still in its prototype stage, various bugs and flaws are expected from this editing medium. One drawback is that by having a VR-in-VR editing setting, objects and elements could be inaccurately placed and could affect the actual VR experience. But, as of now, there is a lot of potential for VR-in-VR development. It is expected that Epic Games will show us a lot more about Unreal Engine’s VR editor in their upcoming showcase at GDC 2016.
For more information on Unreal Engine, please visit the following websites:
https://epicgames.com
https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4
https://www.unrealengine.com/vr-page
