If you are not using Unity Hub to manage all those versions of the engine you have installed you should get it now (download is at the end of the linked Unity Blog post). I have been using it for a while and find it almost indispensable for managing the installs, related components, and launching the right one for various projects.
You can likely surmise from the absence of posts over the last two years that the update to Lost Loot stalled and lost momentum. I ran into too many issues with performance around the terrain and the trees that made it just not workable and I couldn’t reliably meet frame rate on minimum spec machines. Another big reason was that I felt the third person miniature approach I switched to was ultimately the wrong direction and dependent on a controller that wasn’t the future of VR where room scale and hand presence is the standard. I may jump back into it once Unity revamps the whole terrain portion of the engine but that may be a while!
So, it has been a long while since I put anything on this website and I have decided I don’t want it to go to waste any longer. In that spirit I am now just going to write about my current development efforts and share some fun and insightful things about whatever I am working on. I will also share some tips on Unity and XR where it makes sense but everything will be fairly short and informal. It will be kind of a rambling development blog. 😉
I was very fortunate to be able to attend both Unite 15 and Oculus Connect 2. Unite was is Boston, and since I live there, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of that. Unfortunately the two conferences were one after the other and even overlapped for a day. This made for a fun but exhausting week of Unity and VR. There were many exciting moments throughout both events, and way… Continue reading
I don’t attend many conferences, but when I first heard about Oculus Connect I knew it was going to be awesome. An invitation only developer conference for something as world changing as VR is just too hard to resist. Now that it is over, I have to say that it has inspired me, and put a human face on Oculus and the larger VR community. I hope they do it the same way… Continue reading
So, what does it take to utterly blow your mind? VR! It has happened twice now for me. The last time was experiencing VR for the first time with the Rift a year ago. This time it was experiencing the famous Valve demos that everyone has been talking about since the beginning of the year. I am convinced more than ever that this new wave of VR technology is going to change the world. There… Continue reading
One of the major issues with Lost Loot was that when you are on the surface of the ocean your body did not rise and fall with the waves properly and as a result you could often see under the water without the underwater system turning on. This regularly broke the immersion and additionally there was no way to have anything floating on the water either, such as barrels, crates, or even the little red… Continue reading
My entry in the Oculus and IndieCade VR Jam is taking shape. I am creating a casual treasure diving game designed specifically for VR. Here is the official description: “LOST LOOT: A casual exploration game designed for VR and the Oculus Rift. It combines relaxing gameplay with an interesting environment and a touch of adventure. Dive for lost treasure! Search submerged ruins and ancient shipwrecks for gold, jewels, and artifacts. Watch your air supply and… Continue reading
I am currently in the process of prototyping the character setup for my game. I am developing a game that has a first person perspective and allows you to look down and see the body of the main character you play. This main character is also wearing human/alien hybrid tech that is composed of a tablet/visor system. The tablet is used as a main control device for the related visor which acts as an augmented… Continue reading
Well, it has been about two weeks since the Oculus Rift arrived. I have spent many hours with the device glued to my face, exploring what it feels like to be inside a computer generated world instead of looking at it through a flat window. The experience can best be described as stunning, with a sense that this is the beginning of a new paradigm for anything involving three dimensional graphics, especially games. There is… Continue reading
Hi I’m Michael! I have been working with Unity and dabbling in XR for ages. I started this blog back in the Oculus DK1 era which now seems like an eon ago.
I am passionate about building immersive worlds and want to create them, explore them, and tell stories through them. I am currently developing a VR sandbox called Zotbox that is inspired by Minecraft as a platform to do exactly that!
If you need help with a project I also do freelance work. Feel free to contact me and we can chat about what you are working on and see if it's a fit.
Follow me on Bluesky for updates on everything including Zotbox and it's first mini-game Lost Loot!
 | Michael Schenck on LOST LOOT Alpha Progress… |
 | CHris on LOST LOOT Alpha Progress… |
 | Kevin Gulling on Wave Height for Unity’s… |
 | cirovenpao.science on VR Just Got Real |
 | Adam on Wave Height for Unity’s… |
