Today, I've decided to share a new build with you. This includes all the changes I've blogged about - plus new movement control. So now, it's got the improved terrain, better environment building, the new Unity XR Toolkit and also - the new character control with strafing!

Yesterday, I heard back from the asset developer of the moose asset I'm using, Malbar's Animation. I'd asked about strafing, because I had a hunch it would feel more comfortable for the VR user to walk sideways when pressing left or right. Turns out, most of his animals don't have build in strafing - with the exception of his horse asset. As it happens, I have that asset too. So, I imported the horse and replaced the mesh with the moose. I want strafing on by default, but that wasn't working. Turns out, it's a small bug that Malbar's is working on. But, I found a workaround that actually improves. Now, when locomotion is engaged, strafe turns on too. When no locomotion, no strafe. That might sound obvious, but there is a good reason. When strafing is toggled on for all movement, when you turn the camera (in VR that means, turn your head) the moose/horse would turn its body. I don't want it to turn it's body, I want it to stand still and turn only its head. I think it's because strafing took over the head movement. So, when no locomotion, the head movement was just fine. When locomotion happens, it faces the direction the player is facing, which looks great!

Because I avoided using any Oculus Go specific references, I think that means this should be compatible on Oculus Quest too. I hope someone can test and let me know!

The zipped build you can also download, is a Windows executable version of the game. With this, you can use a standard controller (left stick to control locomotion and right stick to control camera). XR is enabled... so in theory, if you have a connected VR headset, it should work. Again, that's something I can't test on my own - so feedback would be appreciated!