The direction of game perspective creation based on Oculus Quest 2

Abstract

The development of games has undergone various media changes, and VR technology has emerged so far. Oculus Quest 2, with its lightness, has emerged as a popular medium for the masses. Most games using this device are presented in the first-person perspective, and it is difficult to try other perspectives to eliminate the limitation of first-person.

In this paper, the first-person game narrative in response to this current situation and the concept of dual-subject perspective introduced by the availability of VR technology will be discussed. Based on this concept, it will explore three primary developable directions of VR game persona creation.

Key Words: VR technology, Game perspective, Game production, Methodology

1 Introduction

1.1 Background and significance of the study

Nowadays, VR technology has gradually developed from the display of the experience hall to the home, and the research on VR at this stage mostly stays on the significance of the new technology to traditional cultural heritage and the connection between VR technology and the physical level of the human senses. At the beginning of the technology development, various operating systems and input methods of VR emerged. For designers, different operating systems and input methods can significantly affect the design logic. Therefore, this paper will analyze the limitations and possibilities of game design ideas based on the Oculus device, which is more prevalent at this stage. This paper can give developers who use Oculus as a carrier to create VR games some expansion of ideas.

1.2 Research Methodology and Content

The research methodology of this paper will take the input characteristics and limitations of the Oculus Quest2 device as the starting point, focus on the necessity of its first-person attribute for the device and discuss the characteristics and advantages of first-person narrative based on this feature. At the same time, the paper will intensify the discussion of its dual-subject perspective from the visual aspect to explore different design methods.

2 Head-mounted VR devices Oculus Quest 2: First-person game simulator

2.1 VR and Oculus Quest 2

The technology of VR (Virtual reality) is based on the article Virtual Reality Technology and VR Games, which reads: the user puts himself in the simulation of a virtual environment through modern technology, thus achieving an immersive experience. Virtual reality technology includes but is not limited to the visual aspect but also mainly includes the senses of hearing, touching, and even smelling. Since the earliest VR visual headband displays in the 1950s, the development of the VR experience has focused on visual and auditory sensations. In recent years, haptic sensations have developed, such as Diver-X launching the haptic feedback glove Contact Glove. And according to Zuckerberg's vision of VR in 2015, VR devices will replace cell phones in the future. Therefore, for the need to improve the popularity of VR, the most critical issues to be solved at this stage are still focused on simplifying the use mode of VR devices and improving the realism of visual presentation. The Oculus Quest 2, launched by Facebook in 2020, meets the public's expectations for VR to a certain extent. In addition to the relatively lightweight use of the all-in-one, the most worth mentioning is its application of the open-source properties of Android. In the initial stage of VR entering the general public and designers, these features create more possibilities for it, making it one of the most popular VR headsets.

The main body of Oculus Quest 2 consists of a head-mounted display and two handles. The rotation of the viewpoint is input through the rotation of the user's head to the viewpoint of the headset. In contrast, the other viewpoint movements within the display are input from the handles and the movement of the user's real space. At the same time, based on the unique lens imaging characteristics of VR at this stage, Oculus Quest 2 also requires avoiding direct sunlight indoors. The device also chooses different modes according to the size of different places, such as delineated range mode and sitting mode. The model's lighter-weight design also makes it more suitable for home use.

Figure 1: Oculus Quest 2 schematic

2.2 The current situation and analysis of traditional media game perspective and Oculus Quest 2 device game perspective selection

According to Table 1, the Oculus Quest 2 TOP10 game data collected as of mid-December 2022, most VR games at this stage are mainly in the first-person perspective, with few third-person appearances. According to YeSeul Ryu, Hyung-Chul O. Li, and ShinWoo Kim's theories and studies, game designers have preferred third-person over first-person in traditional electronic media, especially in 3A game industries since the 21st century. As seen in Table 2, large manufacturers1 producing high-quality game titles prefer to use a third-person perspective that is more cinematic and more likely to show character movement and detailed techniques. Therefore, I will use the VR game "Edge of Nowhere" produced by Insomniac Games as an example, and here I will analyze the main reasons why VR games are more challenging to remove the limitations of the first-person perspective for direct creation.

Table 1: Oculus Quest 2 Top 10 Games, December 2022

Table 2: 2022 Steam list of PC hot single-player games

The main reason why it is difficult to popularize third-person VR games is that the protagonist disappears from the viewpoint. In the traditional definition of third-person games: the player's perspective should be located after the protagonist or follow the protagonist. In the traditional screen, the protagonist will not disappear from the player's perspective. In the game "Edge of Nowhere", the player's perspective will follow the protagonist's movement, while the perspective rotation is tracked by the player's head rotation. That is, the player has a higher degree of freedom of perspective when playing "Edge of Nowhere" and can choose to look at the protagonist while moving. Steve Hoffman's Improving Player Choices, written in 2004, mentions that choices have different effects on player attention, with the second most popular choice being the one with direct and timely feedback. When players are playing VR third-person games with more viewpoint choices than traditional media, such actions that directly affect the player's game experience can continuously allocate too much attention to the control of the viewpoint, which sometimes affects the player's ability to ignore the control of the protagonist, further weakening the player's immersion experience. In this era of pursuing immersive experience games, this anti-immersive experience will be more challenging to obtain the player's favor.

Figure 2: "Edge of Nowhere" screenshot

Figure 3: Choice Pyramid in Steve Hoffman's Improving Player Choices

2.3 Analysis of the causes of the use of VR media game perspective at the present stage

According to the input characteristics of VR at this stage, the interaction in the VR world can be basically divided into scene interactive interaction and flat interface interaction, and the difference between these two kinds of interaction in VR is whether to create another interface in the VR environment as an interactive interface for users. Based on this choice, the developers of Oculus Quest 2 still choose to use the form of flat interface interaction as the UI of the device; such a choice is more convenient for users to control and manage the UI. However, this choice has yet to be based on the new device input to the development of the UI innovation problem. VR has the same problem for the interaction choice of the game, that is, the perspective choice rooted in the player's perspective.

Figure 4: Oculus Quest 2 interactive interface

Virtual reality technology shortens the distance between the player and the virtual world. If the perspective of direct contact with the virtual world is the first window, the first window of the traditional medium is the screen. At the same time, the emergence of VR directly reduces the distance between the first window and the user to 0. That is, the human eye is the first window. However, at the same time, the first window in the traditional medium is a restricted screen view, and the player cannot control the virtual world from the content in the given window, while the first window of VR does not have this restriction. Therefore, when designing VR content, designers also need to consider whether the traditional viewport plane needs to be simulated again in VR, thus limiting the player's perspective or allowing the player to gain freedom of perspective within the viewport. The concept of a viewport is thus added to introduce a dual-subject perspective in different media for analysis.

Traditional electronic media: a restricted proprioceptive view (screen window) and a freely designable human perspective with the protagonist as the reference.

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of traditional media analysis under the concept of dual subject perspective

VR media: a freely designable ontological perspective (human eye window) and a freely designable human perspective with the protagonist as the reference.

Figure 6: Schematic diagram of VR media analysis under the concept of dual subject perspective

2.4 Chapter Summary

Based on the shortened window distance in the Oculus Quest 2 VR device, the VR game is always affected by the user's first-person design, and the introduction of the concept of dual-subject perspective allows for a more comprehensive analysis of perspective design in VR games.

3 First-person game narrative characteristics

3.1 History of Game Personality Development: From First Person to Third Person

According to the data, the first pseudo-first-person game in history was "Maze War (Maze War)," released in 1973. Based on the limitations of the rendering technology at that time, the computer could not carry out actual three-dimensional calculations, only through the depth of the rays sent by the camera to generate three-dimensional images on the screen. After experiencing the innovation of electronic computer technology, the three-dimensional electronic world generated through the triangular surface gradually presented in front of people, and the first use of this technology for the game in 1996 "Quake (Thor's hammer)", but it is also the first use of three-dimensional technology of the first-person perspective game.

Figure 7: "Maze War " screenshot

Figure 8: "Quake" screenshot

After the breakthrough based on technical limitations, game designers shifted the game perspective from the most immersive first-person to a multi-camera perspective that can show the protagonist's action calculations, such as "Final Fantasy VII" and "Resident Evil" I-III. And at that time, the film industry had evolved, and digital production was already commonly used in the 1990s. The application of digital technology in games also began to trend toward the pursuit of showing vivid cinematic narratives. Thus a third-person perspective emerged that could both show the protagonist's action and balance the sense of first-person immersion. Resident Evil IV" applied and improved the third-person perspective, becoming the third-person masterpiece of that time.

Figure 9: "Final Fantasy VII" screenshot

Figure 10: "Resident Evil I" screenshot

Figure 11: "Resident Evil IV" screenshot

But at the same time as the emergence of third-person games, even if based on commercial choices, game manufacturers are more inclined to produce third-person games. The development of first-person games continued. There are often players for the debate's first and third-person advantages and disadvantages. Most designers will also be for the same game while providing first-person and third-person play options, which shows that the first-person also still has the advantage as a game design choice.

3.2 Advantages of the first person in a given game narrative

In selecting Camera views for games with a strong narrative, first-person games will focus more on portraying the scene to attract players. However, the protagonist's actions in other Camera views could distract players from the environmental narrative. Therefore, the first-person perspective will have a stronger sense of immersion for players, which means the emotional impact on the player will also be more significant. This essay will focus on the video game "What Remains of Edith Finch" to summarize two different narrative experiences using first-person.

Death is a complex topic for many people to accept. In traditional games, it is usually necessary to keep the protagonist from dying for the player to win the game. In What Remains of Edith Finch, the player needs to experience the death process of every member of the Finch family through different ways of interaction, i.e., experiencing the death process of the protagonist. According to one of its creators, Ian, hopes to create a metagame with a death theme instead of creating a horror game. Also, from the perspective of flow in games, the experience of the game will be affected by the challenge. Too intense challenges and psychological pressure for the player could have side effects. Therefore, for a non-horror game with the theme of death, how to let players' psychological pressure of the fear of death and the player's game experience complement each other becomes a point worth discussing. Although What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person linear narrative game, it uses other camera perspectives, like third-person, in many parts. This game uses first-person techniques cleverly to maintain its unique seriousness and alleviate the psychological pressure of death on the player.

3.2.1 Accumulating the seriousness of the game by using the immediacy of the first person

The first-person section appears after the third-person section, taking Lewis' story as an example：

In Lewis' story, the player takes on the role of Lewis, who performs repetitive fish-cutting work in a factory and later dies because he dives into his mental world and mistakenly puts his head under the gate knife. According to the theory in The Tribulations of Adventure Games: Integrating Story into Simulation Through Performance: Embedded stories relate to the pre-history of the game and the player's history. According to the early narration, the realistic style appears in the protagonist's real world, while the comic style appears in the protagonist's spiritual world. Moreover, the real-world scene is always accompanied by the first-person viewpoints, and the protagonist's spiritual world is shown from other camera viewpoints. Hence, players can feel that the game distinguishes between real and virtual storylines through different camera viewpoints, which means Lewis's first-person viewpoint shows the real-world storyline. Therefore, the appearance of virtual images shown in first-person perspective at the end implies Lewis' insane mental state. With his insane mental state, the beautiful and fantastic coronation images are isomorphic to the act of being beheaded in first-person perspective. Based on the strong sense of immersion brought about by the first-person, the extreme happiness visual information received by the player and the psychological substitution of being executed interacts with each other to create an absurd seriousness.

The first-person section appears in front of the third-person section, taking Barbara's story as an example:

In Barbara's story, players play the role of Barbara, who is famous for her screams. Players would experience the process before being eaten by Barbara's fans through different storyboard perspectives in a comic book format. A total of nine interactable storyboards appear in this story, each in the first person. At the same time, other perspectives' storyboards, such as the boyfriend's prank and the monster surrounding Barbara at the end, are shown as plot displays. According to the structural properties in traditional narratives, the first-person subplot appears in a structure that is between the three essential plot structures that take over, i.e., the beginning, the climax, and the end. According to the logic of the soundtrack that most first-person appear with Halloween, the purpose of using the first-person perspective in this story is to accumulate players' tension and improve the narrative's credibility. Compared to the overall magical realism tone of the game, the game did not present the reality part by scene settings or narratives at the end of the story. However, the first-person emotional padding has brought the player ultimately into Barbara's perspective, through which the player's psychological and cognitive level will automatically rationalize the unreality part into reality.

Figure 12：Lewis' Story screenshot

Figure 13: Barbara's Story screenshot

3.2.2 Release players' psychological pressure by exploiting the limitations of the first person

Using vertigo to balance players' psychological stress, take Calvin's story as an example:

In Calvin's story, the player needs to play as Calvin and experience the first-person story of a young boy who dreams of becoming an astronaut and falls to his death because he swings too high on a swing. In this story, the player only needs to move the mouse back and forth to be able to swing up. Because of the first-person perspective, most players believe this is also one of the most dizzying levels that game developers need to avoid. However, this part of vertigo instead promotes the acceptance of the player for this level. According to the book "Dopamine Nation Finding Balance In The Age Of Indulgence," addictive research shows that the human body, in pain and discomfort, will automatically release dopamine to regulate the body's balance. Therefore, when players feel dizzy and out of control when riding a roller coaster, the body will produce dopamine to make people feel happy. Similarly, when players feel vertigo in first-person games, but also secrete much dopamine. At this point, the euphoria somewhat distracts players from the focus on death, allowing players to experience Calvin's story without being overly affected by fear.

Figure 14: Calvin's Story screenshot

3.3 Chapter Summary

Using first-person in What Remains of Edith Finch, whether it is the accumulation of seriousness of the game or the release of the player's play pressure, from the perspective of the player's interactive experience, creates more possibilities for the first-person linear game narrative experience.

4 VR games based on the human perspective characteristics of the creative direction

4.1 Reinforcing the relevance of the dual-subject perspective by increasing the game window restriction

The first method is to strengthen one of the dual-subject perspectives, that is, to add a restriction window between the first-person perspective and the protagonist's perspective, using the advantages of virtual reality, starting from the scene of the game to strengthen the relevance of the restriction window to the virtual world so that players are less aware of the weakened sense of immersion for the player when playing the game.

The previous article discusses the distraction problem caused by the high degree of freedom of the first view. If you want to solve the problem, adding a restricted window can focus the player's attention to a certain extent. And at the same time, in the process of playing the advantages of VR first view, the correlation between the restriction window and the player's first view design, that is, the design of its liminal space is essential. For example, "Hitman go," and "Demeo" are both excellent board games with VR as the carrier, and compared to "Hitman go", "Demeo" has a more decadent scene design based on the first-person window perspective controlled by the player. The game is equivalent to the newly added window, i.e., the chessboard is well integrated into the first window scene, which makes the player in the This allows players to feel the environment and atmosphere of playing chess in the virtual world and have a more immersive gaming experience.

Figure 15: "Hitman go" screenshot

Figure 16: "Demeo" screenshot

Figure 17: VR Board game analysis

Integrating the newly added window view into the game application with a borderless design is crucial when enhancing the immersion of games in this method.

4.2 Reinforcing the rationality of dual-subject objects through game mechanics

The second method is to make the correlation between the ontological perspective and the central perspective enhanced through game mechanics, i.e., to directly make the free movement of the ontological perspective conform to the player's intuition. Take "Down the Rabbit Hole" as an example; the game takes the protagonist Alice falling into the rabbit hole as a clue to the puzzle escape process. The player needs to control the protagonist, Alice while exploring the scene. When the game's protagonist moves, the game's environment does not follow the protagonist's movement like traditional third-person games. Still, players must turn their perspective or drag the game scene through the vine handle to move the perspective. All the scenes in the game are laid out with the spiral down, and the player is like being in the rabbit hole watching the show. The game's interactive drama gameplay mechanics organically link the player's first-person perspective with the third-person perspective of the protagonist, thus increasing the game's immersion.

Figure 18: "Down the Rabbit Hole" screenshot

Figure 19: "Down the Rabbit Hole" player and virtual world relationship

4.3 Rationalizing the player's proprioceptive perspective by introducing a second-person perspective

Direction three is to introduce the concept of second-person in the game, i.e., the concept of a perspective in which the game tracks the protagonist from the first-person perspective of other characters. According to Nick Robinson's description of Driver San Francisco's second-person perspective level experience in This Is What a "Second-Person" Video Game Would Look Like, the player needs to play as the protagonist to transfer his awareness to the target killer and drive the killer's vehicle Nick Robinson, as a gamer, praised the unique experience of the prospective design, so for a VR vehicle with not only a single protagonist but also a player's first-person, the second-person has the potential to be a good fit based on the limitations of the player's first person. The first-person limit becomes an important object that fits the development of VR games.

Figure 20: "Driver San Francisco" screenshot

4.4 Chapter Summary

Based on the concept of dual-subject perspective introduced by the previous discussion of the first-person limitations of VR games and the advantages of the first-person in a particular narrative, game makers -can analyze and broaden the direction of VR game production with first-person perspective limitations and its feasibility through the above three perspectives, to develop more perspective for the experience brought to players by VR games.

5 Conclusion

The boundaries of games have been gradually widened in recent years, and excellent games can make the most of the potential of hardware devices. Therefore, VR is affected by the first-person user as an opportunity and a challenge. How to make good use of VR dual-subject perspective characteristics of the game creation is an essential part of the VR independent game makers need to pay attention to the current stage. VR game perspective creation boundary also has excellent potential waiting to be broadened.

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