Virtual Reality - Driving Experience project

Start Unity and create a new project, mine is already created and opened so we don’t have to wait for it to load, let’s start with the terrain GameObject -> 3d Object -> Terrain, we want it to be big so select it click on the gear and will set it to 5000 5000, notice that this unity is metrics this is duo the fact that the company that develops Unity originally started in Denmark however their headquarters are now at San Francisco, US.

Import the environment package so we can have some ground textures among other objects, we will go to the brush icon and Edit Texture and set the grass hill albedo texture,

Also add some random objects to your scenario, this way when the car moves you can have a better perception of where and how it’s going, painting the terrain is also a good idea.

Get your car working!

Our imported car model isn’t the best to place the camera inside, as you can see when we do this … there’s nothing special to see inside so let’s import some free models with better interiors. 

We will write script that loads the cameras inside an array and when we press TAB it will change between cameras.

Let’s write a simple script that will detect when the user passes by the start box, start the counter and stop the counter when the car hits with the finish object.

Let’s analyze our project regarding performance, since this will be a virtual reality project we want it to have a smooth user experience.

There are no secret formulas to convert a heavy Unity project that uses lot of CPU and GPU into a light and high Frames Per Second project. The best way is good written code, improved 3D models with few vertices and use only the visual effects that you strictly need.

Unity as some tools that can help us improve the project performance overall.

We want to make sure our project doesn’t have any error that we can fix right away and the project version is prepared for Android platform.

As mentioned I am using the VR park 3D headset and gamepad, you can get it at:
http://www.gearbest.com/virtual-reality/pp_364125.html?vip=1302584
(yes the link has a referral to me ;) )

To get our project working we need to change the car controller script.

You will receive an e-mail when the compilation is done, or you can always leave this page open and wait for it to finish, the more consecutive compilations you make the bigger the waiting time will be, also Unity Cloud will detect when a new GIT commit is made and will start compiling the new files automatically.

Once the compilation is done (if successful) download the APK and email it to an account that you have on your smartphone, you can also login to Unity Cloud on your mobile and download it directly however I find it it be slower.

Once you got the APK on your cell phone ( you need to enable untrusted sources ) install it and see how your awesome work goes on your cellphone.

Unity cloud is good if you are building big projects or your computer doesn’t have much hardware power, however you can always go to Files > Build Settings > Build and Run to build the project and deploy directly to your cell phone.

If you arrived here you must have your car racing inside your virtual reality headset!

Your review is really important to help me make better courses, because Udemy is not just about making money but also to improve our knowledge as instructors by practicing and learning from you, if you had any problem during the lessons drop me a line and I’ll be glad to help out. Thanks and xau!

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