South Pass Shoutout is a VR game I started working on several years ago. It started off as a proof concept. I wanted to try push the Google Cardboard (the Google Cardboard was a cardboard holder that you slid your phone into to create a very crude VR headset) to its limits by trying to make a first person shooter for it. The Google Cardboard only had head tracking and a single button, so I had to get creative with some of the controls. Originally, this project was just going to be a proof of concept, only containing a single small level. I think the original version took me about 2 months to make.
About two years after completing the proof of concept, I decided to return to the project. I had an idea for more levels and features. I spent a few months overhauling existing features and code to improve performance and improve the enemies’ AI and pathing. I also added several new features, including a lever action rifle with a zoom feature for sniping (the only weapon in the game previously was a revolver). I designed two completely new levels (you can see them in the videos above) and removed the old proof of concept level. I did have three more levels designed on paper, but because of life reasons, I had to put the project on hold for a long while, so those levels didn’t make it in unfortunately.
In January of 2023, after about a 5 year break, I decided to come back to this project and update it to work with current gen (actual) VR headsets, specifically the Oculus Rift S, because that is what I have. A lot of scripts need to be updated/overhauled to work with the new hardware, but working with an actual VR headset gives me a lot more freedom to add new features and do fun things with level design. Once I get everything working with VR headsets, I have plans to make some changes/updates to the two levels mentioned above, and I also have 8 more levels planned out that I would like to add to the game. Eventually once I have all 10 levels finished I would like to put it on Steam and the Quest store. But, I am working on this project in my spare time, which I don’t have a lot of, so it may be a while.