Excavator Simulator VR cover
Excavator Simulator VR screenshot
Steam
Genre: Simulator

Excavator Simulator VR

Beta Update v2.0.2
Hi Everyone!

I have been working hard over the past few months to bring an overhauled version of this excavator simulator to everyone. See release notes below for all that has changed in this beta version.

This beta version is a preview of what has been in development and feedback is greatly encouraged.

Note that this is a beta and everything is subject to change and improvement.

To access beta branch:

  1. Right click game title in library and select properties
  2. Select the Betas tab and select beta




Thank you everyone for the support,
Happy Year!




RELEASE NOTES


New Features

  • Add sandbox mode
  • Add virtual tablet in cab for non-obstructive notifications and instructions
  • Overhauled menu system with more options
  • Add anti-dig zones

Bug Fixes

  • Fixes player flipping around if excavator arm forced into dirt
  • Fixes VR controller input bugs
  • Fixes flying excavator movement bug

Game Engine

  • Migrated from STEAMVR API in favor of OpenXR* API to allow greater marketplace compatibility
  • Update Unity version to 2021.2.7

Performance Improvements

  • Decrease terrain loading times by up to 500%
  • Allow for more complex terrain designs
  • More dirt particles on screen
  • Increase supported map size to 256x256 meters and 256 meters in height
  • Optimize terrain chunk rendering
  • Removed grass in favor of performance
  • Reduced 3d excavator treads in favor of scroll texture for performance gains

Accuracy Improvements

  • Virtual joystick calculations to use rotational instead of positional data
  • Realistic physics-based hydraulics simulation (No clipping through ground)
  • Excavator movement is more accurate to that of a tracked machine
  • Realistic excavator movement where power is decreased on slopes

Terrain Digging

  • No more bucket clipping through ground
  • Precise bucket control of dig areas
  • Use back of bucket teeth for fine dirt manipulation
  • 6 terrain materials (grass, dry grass, rock, dirt, gravel, mud)

Dirt Particles

  • Replace dirt cubes for rock-like objects with respective materials
  • Popcorn like dirt absorb is less likely to occur
  • Add support for 6 types of terrain material particles
  • Dirt volume preserved more than previously
  • Dirt particles move with the bucket more consistently


KNOWN ISSUES

  • Multiple tablets can be spawned in to scene
  • Piston floats away from excavator after a few minutes
  • On some VR devices the forward direction cannot be changed



*Both Oculus App and SteamVR Launcher support OpenXR API. If the game does not detect your headset, make sure your Oculus App or SteamVR is up to date and for SteamVR users, that the OpenXR Runtime is set to SteamVR (SteamVR -> Settings -> Developer -> Set OpenXR Runtime). Oculus App usually defaults as OpenXR Runtime. Please checkout the discord if you run into any issues.

Great First Month

First month!


Excavator Simulator VR has had a great first month! As a solo developer just finishing university, it has been an exciting first release. The goal is to take this "school project" and turn it into the excavator simulator we all want it to be.

Sales and community support has surpassed expectations. This allows for reinvestment in the simulator, continuation of development, and additional future feature updates. A general development roadmap is shown below.

Community



Community feedback is very important to me. I want the community to have a say in the development process. The more a certain feature is suggested, the more likely it will be implemented or fast tracked in releases.

We now have a discord!

Leave suggestions in the Improvements or New Features discussion.

The future


Let's talk about what the future looks like**. This is a general roadmap*:



Note that features may be added or removed from these updates and updates may be pushed to a beta branch for early testing of features before an official release.

The overall plan is to build out the core systems of the simulator in order to better support growth in the future.

Stability Update (Fall 2021):

  • Sandbox mode
  • Terrain optimizations (Support for larger truly open world maps and more terrain types)
  • Improve excavator movement (More closely mimic real-world track movement)
  • Improve hydraulic joints (Max joint force similar to real-world hydraulic joints)
  • Reduce digging glitches
  • Scenario support (Allows for more levels/missions to be added in the future. This does not include Steam workshop support though)

Quality of Life Update (End of 2021/beginning 2022):

  • Add basic sounds (Menu, excavator, dirt, ambiance...)
  • Complete UI overhaul (New assets and menus)
  • VR controller joystick support (Use VR controller joystick instead of virtual joysticks)
  • Xbox controller support (Excavation without the use of VR controllers)
  • Recording camera (Display exactly what user sees in VR for recording purposes. This also includes new camera angles for steamers)

Feature Update (TBD)

  • This will be the exciting update with all the good new features and content. (Most excited about this one.)


*This game is developed by a solo developer working on the project as a hobby so development will take some time and all dates are only estimates.

**Even though this game has been released as a full game, development will still continue as if it were in early access.