We first tried Fallout 4 in VR all the way back at E3 2016, and we really liked it, even if it had the same problems we usually see in full-scale first-person games. Bethesda’s solution to those issues appears to be the best anyone can come up with right now; give people options.
Speaking to Glixel, Bethesda’s Todd Howard addressed the issue of locomotion in its open-world RPG. This is an issue for many games, as stick-based movement can be nauseating for some VR users, while the teleportation alternative featured in so many experiences can be unimmersive. Teleporting across the wasteland one jump at a time doesn’t sound like the best way to travel about.
Howard recognized those concerns, noting that locomotion was “definitely the hard part” of bringing the 2015 game into VR. “Given the size of the world and the amount that you’re moving in Fallout 4 that part is tricky because you’re doing it a lot,” he said. “Right now we’re doing the teleport warp thing and that’s fine, but we’re experimenting with a few others.”
Even if Bethesda doesn’t find the perfect solution, teleporting won’t be the only means of movement in the game; the developer plans to offer a range of movement styles to make sure the preferences of all of its players are covered. “Our plan is to ship with as many as we can, because it’s different for everybody,” he said.
It’s a move we’ve seen lots of developers employing as a response to their communities of late. Vertigo Games brought stick-based movement to Arizona Sunshine [Review: 8.5/10] after a teleport-only launch last year, and Hammerhead VR is implementing stick-based movement into last week’s horror release, Syren [Review: 7.5/10], too.
We could potentially see more than just these two options, though. “There are a lot of indie developers and students that are working on prototypes and thinking about how to move in VR and so we’re looking at a lot of those,” Howard concluded. We’ll certainly be interested to see what the studio comes up with.
Elsewhere, the developer confirmed what he has previously only said he hoped would happen; Bethesda is going to get all of Fallout 4 into VR. For VR users frustrated with the lack of big, AAA games available for VR right now, that’s certainly an exciting announcement. Just when the game will launch remains to be seen, and we only know it’s coming to the HTC Vive right now, but it’s also expected to show up on Project Scorpio, Microsoft’s upgraded Xbox One, which could mean it has a big showing at E3 2017 in June.
