I’ve noticed several VR devs on the marketplace asking whether or not certain existing inventory systems support VR. It appears none of the systems available however were developed with VR in mind at least and so I wanted to create this thread. The idea here is mostly to gauge whether there’s interest for such a system perhaps encouraging some marketplace devs to supply demand. Otherwise it’s also possible we could work together as a community to brainstorm / build something.
To be clear, I’m not the most experienced developer myself and so if any devs out there wish to take on these ideas to release their own marketplace template you’re more than welcome.
**Considerations: **
There’s a bunch of great VR templates (e.g. VR Integrator Radial & Dockable Menus, Weapon Master VR, VR Gun Toolkit, VR Expansion, etc). I think a crafting system should accommodate these systems if feasible / possible, my ideas are with this in mind.
Inventory:
I think for the inventory a non-menu approach would be ideal for VR? Let’s say a magicians hat type approach. For example an invisible basket/bag that once selected empties the players inventory onto the floor.
**Crafting: **
This might work via an “interaction” blueprint preconfigured to launch a certain event/activation/spawn once conditions are met. Let’s say we setup an interaction as BP_FirestarterKit. It can be picked out of inventory and placed down with a placeholder sprite to mark what action it is. Now it simply “waits” for any specific fire related “objects” to overlap.
So now a player drops BP_Wood and BP_Flint into the “Interaction” overlap, this triggers an event. In this case fire particles and sound components in FirestarterKit are activated and we now have a cool fire.
Note: I’ve noticed many VR systems go the route of intricate interaction (e.g place this key directly into the lock and turn). I think a more generic overlap approach would prove far more flexibility and open to different types of interaction.
Random ideas for crafting combinations:
- Starting a Fire: ( BP_Firewood + BP_Flint )
- Unlocking a Door: ( BP_Key + BP_Door )
- Repairing a Machine ( BP_Hammer + BP_Cog )
- Gun Reload (BP_Ammo + BP_Gun )
- Cooking Food ( BP_Fish + BP_Fire )
- Endless possibilities…
Feedback and Viability:
All ideas above will be updated based on any feedback provided (if any), as mentioned earlier, in the meantime I’m going to try developing this myself (just expect very slow progress lol).
As a side note, consider how important it is in VR to interact with objects. Whenever we go outside we carry items with us and use them in combination with each other in order to perform daily tasks. Whether people are working on horror, adventure, puzzles, shooters, I think a system like this would prove popular in the VR dev community. Is this more complicated vs any other inventory system, I don’t believe so but let me know what the main challenges might be is so.
Finally if you like the idea I suggest subscribing to the thread and commenting too, the more interest there is I suspect the greater chances we’ll see some VR orientated crafting systems cropping up in the community.