Endnight Games’ The Forest finally launched in VR last week, though very much in an experimental phase. Some of the issues players have been having are addressed in a just-released patch, though.
For the second patch to The Forest’s VR beta Endnight has incorporated plenty of ideas and suggestions from the community. There are simple fixes to make the survival game a little more intuitive, like adding a laser pointer to menus to make it easier to select options, and bringing in indicators to show you how long you need to hold a button to pick up an item. One of the most-requested features, controller-based direction for movement, is also included now too.
Other fixes make The Forest more immersive in VR. There’s a new physical crouching option, for example, allowing you to simulate sneaking through the game’s wooded world. Moving a lighter next to a campfire will light it meanwhile, and the overall feel of firing a bow and arrow has been improved. Full release notes are below.
It’s a nice update, though there’s still plenty more work to be done on the game. For starters, the game’s cooperative multiplayer options still aren’t included in the VR beta, and we’re looking forward to their eventual integration. We’ll bring you full impressions once the game is in a more complete state.
- Fixed game outputting at lower resolution than it was rendering at
- Added VR laser pointer to interact with menus
- New movement option added, controller based direction (direction is controlled by position of left hand) – off by default, can be set in vr option menu
- Added physical crouching option – off by default, can be set in VR option menu
- Added visuals for controllers in options menu and title scene
- Hold to take items such as eating food now have a visual to give clearer idea how long you need to press (same as the 2d version)
- Can now drop animal heads the same way as dropping bodies and logs, with trigger
- Blocked opening inventory while holding log sled
- Improved feel of nocking arrows
- You can now light fires by moving your held lighter to them
- Fire arrows can now be lit from fire stands
- Replaced keybindings window in VR with a VR options menu
- Fixed entire napkin not selecting the item when there’s only one on it making it easier to take items off mat (same as 2d version)
- Added new option for auto run
- Right hand trigger press now clicks the currently targeted UI element in menus
- Tweaked axe swinging, you now need to swing further to damage structures
- Now using left trigger to press buttons in book
- Fixed adding resources to structures input sometimes not responding
- Improved readability of options menu in game
