Jessica Plowman - Unreal Engine Virtual Reality Quick Start Guide: Design and Develop immersive virtual reality experiences with Unreal Engine 4

Jessica Plowman is a game designer and educator who currently resides in the United States. At an early age, she discovered her love for video games and the joy they bring to others. She began teaching students about game development in 2005 and enjoys supporting the dreams of the next generation of developers. She has worked with Unreal technology for over 10 years, and currently teaches students game technology and game design in Sarasota, Florida. When not teaching, she consults on different topics related to Unreal technology and continues to further her education by researching best practices related to both teaching and game development.

, Introducing VR Technology in Unreal Engine 4 , will give you a solid introduction to VR technology in Unreal Engine 4 and to the types of virtual reality hardware that are available on the market today. We discuss the current limitations of the hardware and introduce you to our sample project, Server 17.

, Locomotion, Design, and Starting Our Project , guides you through the different types of movement systems currently in use in modern VR games, and discusses the pros and cons of each. Using human-centered design methods, you will design a locomotion system for first-time players and go through the process to set up our sample game in Unreal Engine 4.

, Exploring Riveting Gameplay in Virtual Reality , has you delving into different types of gameplay used in popular virtual reality titles such as Gorn, Tribe XR, and others. You are then guided through designing gameplay for our sample game, and building movement and interaction systems from scratch using Unreal Engine 4's powerful blueprint system.

, User Interface and User Experience inside VR , teaches the basics of user experience design and how these techniques are applied to virtual reality. The book explores 2D and 3D interface elements, and guides you through creating both.

, Creating Optimized Game Art for VR in UE4 , discuses the limitations that VR software and hardware place on creating game art. You will explore the issues surrounding the creation of 3D models, textures/materials, lighting, and visual effects, as well as some best practices for dealing with those limitations.

, Finalizing Our VR Game and Next Steps , completes the journey of game creation by discussing the importance of game testing, outlines some techniques to gather testing data, and discusses how to improve your design based on feedback. You are taken through the steps for finalizing the sample game for distribution, and we'll look at where to go next with the game prototype that you have developed.