Hello, I'm Patrick, and thanks for playing Redswood VR! I want to take this opportunity to say hello (did that), and spell out not only the current state of the game, but also where I intend to take it as well as where those intentions come from in the first place.
Redswood VR is all about choice. Not choice in story, but in gameplay. I want to make it as clear as possible that if you are in any way susceptible to VR sickness, you can use teleport to enjoy the game just fine from beginning to end. However, if you have the legs for it, there is really no veritable ceiling to the way you can move around these woods.
Notes regarding the build as of release/known issues:
-There will be bugs. Please report anything you find, don't leave it in a review! I'm want this game to be everything you and Daniel Day-Lewis want it to be.
-Colliders are funky in VR. There is no way to prevent your physical hand from going through a virtual object, not yet anyway. Pushing your virtual body back creates disorientation, like doing a pushup into nothingness. This shows itself especially when climbing, where if you push your hand too far into a mesh, you'll lose collision and thus your grip. Go too far through, and you'll fall into the rock. This is very much a priority for me, and something I'm actively working on.
-The hookshot sometimes misses. I blame shoddy craftsmanship.
-I am attempting to implement single pass stereo rendering to hopefully gain a performance boost and some breathing room on draw/set calls. Right now, it just breaks my camera with double vision, but I'm hoping I can get that in soon. Also high priority. If anyone has any suggestions, get in touch through the Steam Community forum please!
-Frankly, I need more people to test it just to make sure it's running at proper frame rates across compatible hardware configurations.
Where I want to go/Why Early Access:
-I want to improve performance and give myself space to add even more life to the game. Things like falling dead leaves, more interactive wildlife, better texture resolution.
-I want to flesh out more of the stores behind Red and the Huntsman by paying the voice actors what they deserve to come back and record more.
-I'd like to improve on the wolf animations. That is absolutely nothing against the folks at Shop3DSA, they do fantastic work. However, I'd really like to be able to take the time and make them truly come alive in the way I imagine.
-More to explore, like a deeper cave system with it's own content and a forest that truly plays with scale while allowing the player to fulfill all manner of spider-dreams.
-Ideally, I want to add in a final (fun) level where you play as the Wolf, and explore with movement mechanics meant to best simulate canine movement and interaction.
-Most importantly, I want to ensure you end up with the product you all want: a good VR game.
I'll be keeping in touch with the community, which is something new for me since I'm much more of a lurker at heart, and this is my first game. Regular updates will come with detailed change-logs, and I'll work to respond to problems as they arise and not disappear into the ether. This is now your thing as much as it's my thing.
Oh, and if you're wondering where the second hookshot is, watch the trailer, and listen to the Huntsman in-game. Hints abound.
Patrick