Mastering Oculus Rift Development

Jack Donovan

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781786461155
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Games
• Index: Computer Science

Explore the new frontier of virtual reality with the Oculus Rift and bring the VR revolution to your own projects

About This Book

• Create immersive 3D games especially designed for the Oculus Rift platform
• Build complex realistic virtual reality (VR) games with the Unity Engine
• Create striking VR environments with advanced graphical techniques

Who This Book Is For

This book is for aspiring indie developers and VR enthusiasts who want to bring their ideas into virtual reality with a new platform that provides an unprecedented level of realism and immersion.

What You Will Learn

• Increase immersion with 3D audio and intuitive interfaces
• Create group VR experiences using multi-player networking
• Design fun and engaging mechanics that utilize VR principles
• Explore the best ways to navigate and interact using the Oculus Rift
• Design intuitive ways to navigate and interact with scenes in VR
• Add stunning realism to a scene with three-dimensional audio
• Invent mechanics and features that take full advantage of VR hardware

In Detail

Virtual reality (VR) is changing the world of gaming and entertainment as we know it. VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift immerse players in a virtual world by tracking their head movements and simulating depth, giving them the feeling that they are actually present in the environment. We will first use the Oculus SDK in the book and will then move on to the widely popular Unity Engine, showing you how you can add that extra edge to your VR games using the power of Unity.

In this book, you'll learn how to take advantage of this new medium by designing around each of its unique features. This book will demonstrate the Unity 5 game engine, one of most widely-used engines for VR development, and will take you through a comprehensive project that covers everything necessary to create and publish a complete VR experience for the Oculus Rift. You will also be able to identify the common perils and pitfalls of VR development to ensure that your audience has the most comfortable experience possible.

By the end of the book, you will be able to create an advanced VR game for the Oculus Rift, and you'll have everything you need to bring your ideas into a new reality.

Style and approach

This book takes a step-by-step tutorial approach with illustrative examples to help you implement the projects on your own. The book lets you first get to grips with the Oculus SDK and then moves on to the Unity Engine to add realistic graphics and features in your games.

Mastering Oculus Rift Development

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Mastering Oculus Rift Development

Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

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Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: February 2017

Production reference: 1310117

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham

B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78646-115-5

www.packtpub.com

Credits

Author Jack Donovan	Copy Editors Safis Editing Sameen Siddiqui
Reviewer Ezra Smith	Project Coordinator Sheejal Shah
Commissioning Editor Amarabha Banerjee	Proofreader Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Smeet Thakkar	Indexer Pratik Shirodkar
C ontent De velopment Editor Divij Kotian	Graphics Tania Datta Jason Monteiro
Technical Editor Prajakta Mhatre	Production Coordinator Aparna Bhagat

About the Author

Jack Donovan is a 24-year-old software engineer living in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont with a BS in game programming and soon after joined IrisVR, a startup founded in Burlington to create one-click software for architects to visualize models in virtual reality. IrisVR moved to New York City after being accepted into the startup incubator program Techstars and has since moved to an independent office in NoHo, where Jack continues to work.

Jack also wrote OUYA Game Development By Example, a book focused on the basics of developing games for the Android-powered OUYA console. Both books use the Unity3D engine for development, which Jack has been using to develop games and software in since 2010.

Thanks to Matt Gooding for being an invaluable friend and mentor, and Ezra Smith for his dedication and guidance in helping me put the finishing touches on this book. I’d also like to thank my parents, Paul Donovan and Jody Petersen, who have always supported me and inspired me to work hard on what I love. Lastly, I’d like to thank all of the brilliant people that I’ve been fortunate to work and grow with at IrisVR, especially the founders Shane Scranton and Nate Beatty for working tirelessly to make it all possible.

About the Reviewer

Ezra Smith is a software developer at IrisVR and one of the co-founders of FridgeCat Software. He's been writing mobile apps with Unity since 2011, and started experimenting with virtual reality in 2013. Ezra has been dreaming about playing video games in VR since he was a child, and is very excited to see those dreams becoming a reality.

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Preface

Welcome to Mastering Oculus Rift Development! With this book, you'll learn the fundamentals of creating complete virtual reality experiences for the Oculus Rift VR headset using the Unity3D game engine. Each chapter will guide new and experienced developers alike in building and expanding a project with basic gameplay, spatialized audio, and networked matchmaking. It also covers in-depth optimization and the process of publishing your game, ensuring you have everything you need to release a polished experience.

What this book ...