If you have any love for the 1984 NEW game Duck Hunt, but found a bit flat, then rejoice! Game developer Joseph Delgado has created his own version for virtual reality (VR).

The game (titled Duck Hunt Life VR) was made in around 24 hours for Global Game Jam 2016. At the heart of the project is the hardware: an Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and a Razer Hydra motion controller. The Oculus Rift provides the visuals, and the Hydra replaces the classic orange light gun accessory needed to play the game. 

Delgado had some problems along the way: the Hydra’s base station looses accuracy due to the distance needed to move around in VR. To solve the problem, a 3D printed mount was added so the base station can sit atop his noggin.

Unfortunately this caused a problem with latency between the Rift and the Hydra, causing motion sickness. This was fixed by tying the two unit’s rotations together.

As far as software goes, it’s obvious that this isn’t the old Duck Hunt. The art assets from the original game were used, but Delgado created his own art for a gameplay hub.

That forms a core part of the gameplay here. One of the themes for this year’s Game Jam was “ritual”, and that was worked into the game. Delgado explains:

I wanted to make the game actually fun, and have an objective. In my opinion, the game gets fun once the difficulty ramps up a bunch, near the last day around day 7. The ducks get fast and you only have one or two shots per duck. It channels my nostalgic frustration with Duck Hunt on the original NES– but in a good way.

I decided with a day-by-day progression since the theme for Global Game Jam 2016 was “ritual”, and most people were doing things about daily jobs or routines. That’s basically the same thing going on here– you’re the duck hunter, it’s your job.

Finally, there’s also a clay pigeon shooting mini-game that is playable if you can’t stomach shooting ducks… or dealing with the dog’s insufferable laughs when you miss.

Check out the blog post from the creator if you want more in depth details behind he creation

[Source – veryjos]