The sound of footsteps resonates through the broken buildings, and you hear someone fast approaching from the rear…
You turn around and duck just in time as 2 bullets whizz past your head, slamming into the large acacia tree. The culprit makes a run for it before you take aim, and you catch a fleeting glimpse as he parachutes off the cliff.
Thanks to virtual reality, which creates a highly immersive world for gamers, doctors, etc., you don’t need to be in the army to enjoy stuff like this. But what happens behind the scenes of such complex VR applications, and how are they made?
Today’s VR programming: ultimate guide looks at just that and how VR content is developed for various purposes.
The Ultimate Guide To Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) allows people to experience their surroundings through 3D simulations using a VR headset. This allows you to look around and move while the VR headset controls the happenings in the virtual world.
That’s why it’s regarded as an immersive experience, ideal for creating VR games. In some virtual reality experiences, you can use controllers for hands, such as in a 3D boxing or skiing game.
As a result, you can interact with the physical environment in many ways, such as picking and throwing objects, thanks to advanced VR technology. With VR development growing even more recently, you can now enjoy VR applications on consoles and mobile devices apart from PCs.
The only thing you will need to alter is the headset to enjoy all the gameplay elements for more interactive VR experiences.
Virtual Reality Types
Virtual reality and VR headsets can be categorised into 2 types – a stationary virtual world and room-scale experiences. Among these, stationary VR development is the most common among all virtual reality applications, comprising affordable VR headsets.
While this may sound enticing, and you are probably rubbing your hands in glee, it has a few drawbacks, including the inability to move the head. You can still look around while seated, but VR developers create gameplay elements with basic functionality that you can experience with a simple controller.
In contrast, room scale is the most advanced of VR technologies and offers a truly immersive experience with smooth animations. With such VR projects, you can move your head while looking at the surroundings, with motion-tracked hand controllers to interact with the simulated space.
Choosing A Game Engine
To create VR apps for games, an essential aspect is choosing the right game engine – the software that allows you to develop the game. Rather than creating the complete gameplay scripting system and coding from scratch, a game engine ensures you only need to create the basic gameplay elements.
Now there are 2 game engines you must know about – Unity and Unreal engine. The great thing about Unity is you can use it to develop all kinds of games, thanks to its universal virtual reality support. This allows you to create the game once, but you can play it on any VR device.
Moreover, VR tools used by Unity hardly require any coding and are highly versatile, allowing you to build multiple platforms. But there are 2 aspects in which the VR experience provided by Unreal engine triumphs over Unity, and that is better AAA presence and improved graphic fidelity.
Unreal engine is more focused on 3D graphics, which makes it one of the best game engines that only requires visual scripting and no coding. However, versatility will take a slight hit as it won’t be accessible on multiple platforms.
Things To Remember For Effective VR Development
Although designing and playing a virtual reality game is interesting, you can get too carried away with cutting-edge technology and gaming elements. This is where VR training proves useful and helps developers take into account motion sickness to design a popular VR app.
Motion sickness isn’t something people only experience on winding mountain paths or when seated on the opposite end of the bus. Even in virtual reality, the smoothness of the VR apps determines whether people feel comfortable consuming VR content.
Some people are quite sensitive to it, while others are more resilient, as is usually the case with motion sickness. So, keep the following things in mind when designing 3D models for greater user experience.
- Make sure only player movements are allowed
- Place the player in a cockpit or conceal the peripheral vision
- The Frames Per Second should be more than 60
- Use screen fade when transitioning between different scenes
- Use smooth movement or teleportation to control player movements
A. Smooth Movement
This is the most common type of movement in VR app development, as players can use a joystick or press a button to move in any direction.
B. Teleportation
Teleportation involves aiming the controller at a specific point for transporting from one location to another. That’s why ensuring the screen fades in or out helps hide a direct change in position and guarantees a better virtual reality experience.
How To Get Into VR Programming?
To make your mark in VR programming, you need to develop specific skills and have the patience to understand the virtual environment. With the right skills and VR training program, it becomes easier to create an immersive world in films, TV, video games, media and entertainment, but more on that latter.
For now, to get started with VR programming, it would be wise to follow these steps…
1. Strong Foundation
It would help if you took an active interest in the latest VR apps and games, for which many institutes have a course on virtual development projects. These courses help develop theoretical and practical knowledge for product design, 3D modelling, game designing, design theory and animation.
You can learn C# as a programming language, and we will explain this in greater detail in the next section. Just know that the best VR training programs ensure you become familiar with the latest technologies in virtual reality.
You can also participate in workshops to create compelling VR stories per industry standards.
2. Mastering A Platform
While being the best in all fields is an enticing idea, choosing a platform and developing the necessary skills in that area would be best. There are several options, but none are better than the Unity project to develop a VR application, as there is no coding required.
Moreover, since it’s free, Unity is a much-better option for students and newbie developers who are getting accustomed to virtual reality. But if you decide to start with Unreal Engine, we recommend opting for mobile VR, and you can use Google Cardboard to create a prototype.
Some developers also use WebVR, while innovative companies believe a more immersive, 3D internet experience will be developed soon. The best part is that a VR headset and other tools will likely become affordable, so content created on a 3D platform will be more readily available on VR.
3. Free Resources
It doesn’t take a lot to become a professional VR programmer, but you must keep your eyes and ears open. Rather than spending money on irrelevant resources, use Unity to access its VR training and tutorial programs.
After you create the prototype, add artistic and sound elements for a highly immersive experience. Here’s a tip – learning to use accelerometer and gyro sensors, along with speech recognition and image processing, will prove beneficial while curating the entire project.
4. New VR Developments
The learning process never ends, no matter how skilled you become after taking VR training, and it’s essential to stay updated with a constantly changing field. As a result, you must keep exploring and experimenting to gather valuable experience about state-of-the-art technology or design elements.
What Programming Language Is Used For VR?
Among the most common scripting languages in 2022, VR developers prefer JavaScript, followed by Python. To better understand the many common scripting languages, we have narrowed down 5 languages widely used for improved VR experience.
1. Python
It’s most suited for first-time developers and is one of the easiest programming languages to master. This is because you can develop your VR ideas through fewer code lines, which makes it easier and faster to understand.
2. JavaScript
Most coders consider JavaScript to be the language of the Internet because it’s easier to learn and widespread despite having complex lexical syntax, like C programming. The reason JavaScript is popular is that web browsers understand this language readily.
3. Java
When you are designing a virtual reality application that has nothing to do with video games, opt for Java. It’s useful for cross-platform applications, a feature it shares with C#, which makes this object-oriented language one of the first courses in an engineering or computer science program.
It has all the features needed for VR development, while you can simulate the real-world environment and give real-life VR training. Moreover, Java is expected to lead digital transformation, especially if VR and AR combine to produce a mixed reality that will find application in gaming and education.
4. C++
When you want to work with the Unreal engine and understand its complexities, you must have a foundation in C++. This is especially important when developing something big in virtual reality.
If you choose to use Unity, there are free and subscription services on offer, while Unreal engine is free only up to a certain limit, after which royalties are applied.
5. C#
For VR training and developing applications on a small scale, you can use C#, which is basic for people getting started with Unity. Just as Unity is the most popular game engine, C# is its most popular language and works across Mac and PC.
Can You Program In VR?
It is possible to code in VR, but for that, you need to tick the following boxes.
1. High-Resolution VR Headset
A prerequisite for coding in VR is that you must use a high-resolution headset, but even then, it may not be possible to have a satisfying experience. Coding just on VR will lead to blurry vision and may affect productivity or mood.
2. Downloading A Suitable App
You must download compatible software for VR development, particularly one that’s easy to set up and compatible with various devices. With this, it will be more manageable to code in VR, provided you have a high-end VR headset instead of a high-resolution screen.
3. VR Keyboard
The next step is choosing a VR keyboard because sometimes the software doesn’t support a special keyboard or mouse when using the VR headset. But there are some keyboards you can bring into the virtual world for greater ease of use.
What Jobs Are Available In VR And AR?
Some of the more popular jobs that are currently hot property in AR and VR include –
- Software developer or senior software engineer
- AR/VR support and maintenance
- Design/Graphics engineer
- Software engineer
- Project and product manager
- Tool engineer and XR gameplay
- Finance, auditing, and accounting
- VR/AR researcher
- Business development manager
- Distribution, sales, and marketing
Conclusion
“Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud” – Albus Dumbledore.
While the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had said this about dreams, these lines hold more than enough relevance in virtual reality. Because just as dreams are limitless and a world in itself, VR can infuse even the most unimaginable scenarios with some semblance of reality.
In what other space can you travel back in time to conquer an unfulfilled quest or help medical students practise complex surgeries on the human body without actually having to? And programmers are the creators of this magical space, which can open up a world of limitless possibilities.
We hope this guide has helped peel back some of the layers to provide insight into how VR programming works. If we piqued your interest, you can research more on the topics mentioned here.
