Echo Grotto has gotten a huge upgrade to it's VR interaction system!
Up until this point the game has had my home-made interaction system, but I've now brought the whole game over to the official SteamVR interaction system.
Valve Index controllers support
The main purpose of this update is to fully support finger-tracking with the new Valve Index controllers! but the new interaction system has lots of other benefits for Vive & Oculus users too,
The SteamVR interaction system has tons of improvements over my previous home-made one, like significantly better picking up & handling of objects, proper hand animations for holding tools, much better standardized support for other VR platforms, and best of all: re-bindable controls using the SteamVR input system!
Input binding
Using the SteamVR input system, you can freely re-bind all of the different actions in the game to any button layout you choose, and the system even allows for sharing your bindings with other players.
Hand animations
One of the major changes in this update is that you hands are now animated to properly hold all the tools (and even animals!) in the game.
There are also some gameplay changes added in this update too.
Glowstick bundles
There is a new system for glowsticks. You can now carry "glowstick bundles" which you can use your other hand to grab a single glowstick from. This means that glowsticks no longer snap back into your hand after being thrown.
Teleporter changes
There is also now a dedicated belt slot on your chest that holds the teleporter, so when you throw the teleporter it snaps back to this spot, instead of returning to your hand.
Gems
The gem-pouch has been removed, and you now only simply need to pick up a gemstone for its currency to be added. Remember gemstones can be used as light sources too! but you no longer need to bring a gem-pouch with you to be able to collect gems, you only need to pick them up and it counts.
Locomotion improvements
For both the Vive and Oculus Rift the directional movement and player rotation use the smooth value of the joystick/trackpad and feel much nicer to use. Thanks to the SteamVR input system you can also freely re-bind these controls however your please!
Grab locomotion on cave walls
You can now grab and drag yourself around as a locomotion method by grabbing the cave walls. You can also always move freely underwater. You can choose between "no grab locomotion", "locked to cave walls" or "free grip locomotion" as you prefer. The grab locomotion is restricted to only underwater and when in contact with cave walls by default.
Tutorial
The tutorial has been vastly improved, with 3D controller models showing which buttons to use and extra tutorial steps to explain head-gear and the new glowstick bundle system. You are also now no longer required to "turn around to start tutorial" which was a terrible system. there is also a "skip tutorial" button present during the tutorial.
Performance optimizations
There have been significant optimizations to the game and the overall performance should be much better than before!
Belt
Thanks to the new interaction system the belt is now much easier to use, and the visual feedback of placing items on the belt has been improved.
Other
On the down side, the PC (keyboard and mouse) playability of Echo Grotto has been removed.
This may be brought back in the future but I doubt many people were actually playing the game this way anyway.
Windows-mixed-reality support is also not confirmed for working well on this new interaction system. This is going to be improved in the future but i will need help from people who have a WMR headset to help test and improve the compatibility.
Oculus rift and Vive playablility has been vastly improved though, and many other small bugs and issues with the game have been fixed.
It's been a long time since Echo Grotto's release, but this update serves as a big collection of changes, fixes and features to make Echo Grotto into a better VR experience. This update has taken a ton of work, and I hope people enjoy all of the improvements this update brings!
Enjoy!
40% off to celebrate Rolling Line's release!
After over 6 months of development, I've just released my next game, Rolling Line!
It's a model train game for PC and VR, with custom track building and a big New Zealand theme.
Easter Eggs have been spread around in Echo Grotto!
Simply crack the eggs by throwing them at the ground and critters will pop out, or maybe something else...
There is a hidden egg on the main menu which you can crack to disable "Easter mode".
Once Easter weekend is over "Easter mode" will be off by default, and you can enable it again by destroying this same egg.
Enjoy!
There were also a couple of small big fixes:
- you can now use locomotion (like track-pad movement and manual rotation) at all times using the track-pad. You use to need an empty hand, but now you can use locomotion with an item in your hand too.
- The game will no longer launch in full screen (after at least one quit/restart)
Minor update - Manual rotation & menu cleanup
This small update just fixes a couple of oversights in the previous update.
You can now use A/D or left/right arrow at any time to rotate the player (regardless of rotation setting).
Added option for smooth rotation (as opposed to the 'snap' rotation at the moment.
Cleaned up the options menu (added a separate 'quality options' menu).
Experience mode lock setting now starts you off in experience mode on startup (skips the main menu). this is very useful for public demos and arcades.
Enjoy!
Update! Locomotion options, full PC controls, and more!
Echo Grotto has just received a big update!
Since release I've received heaps of great feedback, and this update will hopefully address a ton of suggestions, issues and options that people were hoping for!
Here is a full list of everything included:
New Locomotion options!
Easily the most requested improvements to echo grotto were all about offering more locomotion options, so I've implemented some of the most commonly seen locomotion methods into the game.
While these locomotion methods are available to use, the game is still built around the item-based movement (like using the teleporter, caving hooks and grapple). I still highly recommend using items for locomotion, but offering more options is never a bad thing!
The new locomotion options are:
Directional trackpad movement - freely move around using the trackpad.
"Grab and hold" to drag yourself around - much like the caving hooks, but you can freely move around without the need for tools.
Teleport - hold and aim to teleport around with either an arc or line.
There are also some new options to make playing in a range of different ways easier:
Manual player rotation for Oculus users. If you don't have access to room scale VR, or just want to enjoy the game without fully turning around, you can now easily rotate yourself!
Adjust player height. Excellent for if you would like to play sitting down, or simply change you height in game.
Now fully playable without VR on PC!
If you launch the game without a VR headset connected you can now play Echo Grotto entirely with mouse and keyboard controls!
This includes a control scheme built entirely for PC, and a user interface to interact with your belt!
Playing the tutorial on PC will also teach you the PC-specific controls!
Non-VR players can now full enjoy Echo Grotto, but of course the best experience is still within VR.
Changes and new uses for gemstones!
Gemstones felt rather pointless in the game, so this update has re-worked how they are harvested, spent, and even gives them new gameplay uses.
Use harvested gems as a light source Use a harvested gem shard like you would a glowstick to create a shimmering colorful light source! each gem casts different color patterns.
Harvest gems by physically whacking them Simply hit gems with any tool (or your bear hands) a few times to harvest them. Using a pickaxe will harvest gems instantly!
Use a gem pouch to keep them After harvesting a gem you can place it in a gem pouch (if you take one with you!) to keep if for later to buy tools at the cave entrance on your next play through.
Place gems on your head! Using the caving helmet you can now stick a lit gem to the helmet, the place it on your head for a colorful light source.
And various other new options and features:
Hand physics option - choose to disable hand and item physics.
Post processing - you can now enable ambient occlusion.
Grappling hook can now be retracted after firing by pressing trackpad-down (or press 'use' again to teleport to where the hook lands).
you can change the color of the starting glowstick in the options menu and it will instantly update (unless you pick it up).
Press the pause button while in a menu to resume (don't need to click 'back' any more).
Alternative interaction style - if your prefer to "point" using a ray at signs and items you can (instead of the current "hover" style).
Maps no longer appear in experience mode.
You can now use menu signs (and interact with some items) while still holding an item in your hand. you no longer need an empty hand to use sign posts.
A video about these new features will be posted shortly.
Thank you all so much for playing Echo Grotto, Every bit of feedback and discussion has helped make this game the best it can be!
Please let me know how well the new features are working for you, and don't hesitate to post any issues and I will rush to fix them.
Enjoy!
Big update coming this weekend! new locomotion options, full PC controls, and new gameplay features!
Get ready for a big update for Echo Grotto this weekend!
Since release I've received a ton of great feedback, and this update will hopefully address a ton of suggestions, issues and options that people were hoping for!
A full list of changes will be posted when the update is released, but here is a quick rundown of the major features:
Many new locomotion options! You will now be able to use full trackpad direction movement, Arc teleportation and "Grab and drag" yourself around the environment.
Manual player rotation for Oculus users. If you don't have access to room scale VR, or just want to enjoy the game without fully turning around, you can now easily rotate yourself!
Full non-VR PC playability! If launched without a VR headset running, you can now play Echo Grotto with controls entirely re-purposed for first person PC gameplay!
A complete re-do of how gemstones work. The way you harvest and use gems has changed and they now serve as more than just a currency!
And several more smaller gameplay features and options, which will be fully listed when the update is released!
This update will hopefully make Echo Grotto much more accessible to everyone, allowing Non-VR users to enjoy the game to it's fullest and let you move around in VR in whichever way you wish!
Expect this update to go live this weekend, along with a new video showing off all the changes.
Thank you all so much for supporting Echo Grotto, and enjoy!
Frontier, my previous game, on sale!
Thank you all so much for all your reviews and feedback over this launch week!
If you enjoy the art style of Echo Grotto then you might find my previous game interesting. While being more of a classic VR experience and lacking any real gameplay, Frontier still has a really unique art style and holds a special place in my heart, despite it's flaws.
Frontier has a much larger focus on the animals, so if you found the critters in the caves interesting then Frontier really expands on that.
During the launch week of Echo Grotto, Frontier is 40% off, and this sale will be ending in a couple of days:
You can now switch between two different control schemes!
If you prefer to use the trigger to throw items (instead of grip) you now can.
The two control schemes are:
- Pickup/drop = grip
- Use = trigger/trackpad
OR:
- Pickup/drop = trigger/grip
- Use = trackpad
Also fixed a small glitch where the caving hook tool would grip the terrain at random if you used it without hitting any terrain.
In other news, looks like Oculus Rift users may be able to play Echo Grotto with hand controls and all! please check the discussion thread in the community hub for more details.
Don't hesitate to let me know if you spot and issues that need a quick fix!
Enjoy!
Echo Grotto is released!
Release day is here!
There's a ton of things to find in the caves of Echo Grotto,
Happy cave exploring!
