Dev update #14 - New user interface

RiftCat graphical update

As part of our vision to make virtual reality appeal to everyone we made improvements to our GUI design to make it more consistent across RiftCat apps & website. We applied Material Design guidelines and optimized what we could to improve the RiftCat experience. One picture is worth a thousand words so we decided to show what VRidge actually does in a simple and understandable way.

Simplified library

We decided to get rid of the "Store" tab. Instead, we made every game visible in the users Library. The process of adding the games to library first was overly complex. Access to games available on RiftCat platform is much faster now.

Unified PC settings window

We combined RiftCat settings and VRidge streaming/tracking settings into one window.

Mobile app UI improvements

Built-in FAQ/help center, USB tethering shortcut, slick sidebar, new icon and more!

Easier game starting

Starting SteamVR should be easier now. The leftmost button will now automatically install our driver and then start SteamVR. If no SteamVR is present it will open SteamVR install dialog. We also clarified what Oculus SDK versions are working. 

Some QOL and minor changes

• You can add custom Oculus SDK games to RiftCat client if you want to have everything in one place.
• You can reconfigure keybinding to reset head orientation (keyboard only for now, we'll try to add something for controllers too).
• You can contact support through support.riftcat.com and our official help e-mail address is going to be support@riftcat.com
• We are updating our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. No major/evil changes but we had to update some lines to be valid for new product launch. We will display site wide notification about it.
• We updated requirements and mentioned incompatible phones (haven't fixed those yet, sorry!) and new GeForce requirement (Windows 7 instead of 10)
• No more beta claiming/keys. Everyone registered will have beta access until the beta ends.

Rotation calibration/offset for SteamVR

One user asked us to provide a way to offset rotational data because some gyroscopes have calibration problems so we added this option. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\ and open steamvr.vrsettings in notepad. Go to vridge section - it will look like this:

"driver_vridge": {
   "windowWidth": 1664,
   "windowHeight": 936,
   "renderScale": 130,
 }

For example, if you want to offset X by 20 degrees and Z by 5 degrees, change it into:

"driver_vridge": {
   "windowWidth": 1664,
   "windowHeight": 936,
   "renderScale": 130,
   "RotationOffsetXDeg": 20,
   "RotationOffsetYDeg": 0,
   "RotationOffsetZDeg": 5
 }

Virtual reality mode got removed

Almost no one used it so we had to part ways with it. There is plenty of better software of that kind in the market that VRidge can handle. Thanks to that, RiftCat client got thinner.

Beta ending soon

On June 20th open beta will end and VRidge will transition into paid/early-access stage. More info & pricing details will be available closer to release. Don't worry, we're keeping our promise about staying in indie-tier price range.

What's next?

We'll be busy with 1.0 launch during next week and the one after. We still need to finish some descriptions / instructions and promo graphics. After we're done with launch stuff we'll start working on the fun parts again - device compatibility, image quality and performance/heat optimizations. We've got a lot of ideas for new features too so keep following us here and on social media.

Thank you for all the support, feedback, bug reports. We launched our public beta exactly three months ago and it has been wild and amazing ride. We have no plans to stop development any time soon and we are motivated to keep working on VRidge as long as people keep using it. :)