ForthInteract - Gear Out VR Escape Room Puzzle

@benz145 @deantak @Donversationz When hearing nothing back after sending a press release, should the sender assume (1)It was received and is being worked on (2)It was received but is of no interest (3)It was not received as it went to spam / got missed? Should the sender chase for a response or will that annoy?

In this conversation between @deantak, @Donversationz, and myself, we talk about pitching your XR startup/app/game to press: youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4N_2…. Included here is a rough outline of some of the most important considerations. Three important points made in the talk: 1) marketing (making people aware of your product) is part of building your product. Don't spend four years building something then two weeks trying to make people aware of it. It should be part of your development plan. 2) Press always get more pitches than they can possibly write about. Many times you'll hear nothing back, but that doesn't mean it isn't being read and that you shouldn't continue to send pitches in the future. As with any kind of 'cold' outreach, volume is key. Don't pin your hopes on one publication—do your research and identify many candidates and pitch to all of them. 3) Know your audience (useful for literally all facets of life). In the case of pitching press, your "audience" is the publication and/or a specific writer therein. Put yourself in their shoes... what can you send them that will make their job easier when it comes to writing about you/your product?

@CraggadoonG @Martin76x I don't think App Lab apps will be automatically labelled early access as there is a Dev controlled setting for it. This would be correct as App Lab ceased to be a test zone a long time ago and includes many well produced and complete VR apps, which are worthy of being discovered

@Martin76x Seems logical actually. They will all be on the main store but flagged as early access. Hopefully it streamlines the process for devs moving forward and helps users find apps easier without worrying about "what applab is".

Meta Quest Ditches App Lab Digital Storefront #Vr #VrNews #MetaQuest xrtoday.com/virtual-realit…

@Martin76x Thanks very much. 😁👍

@forthinteract Great game

Do you like solving puzzles in creepy places? Gear Out is a tense and immersive VR puzzle and escape room for Meta Quest VR. Free trial: vr.meta.me/s/1YRq7eguzQxU… #vr #metaquest2 #metaQuest3

Sorry Martin. Did I not mention the spiders :-) Great run-through of the first couple of levels of Gear Out from VR youtuber @Martin76x Lots of great content on your channel. The easiest subscribe decision of the day :-) @Martin76x/videos" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@Martin76x/vid… #vr #metaquest3

@FornixVr Well done!

My YouTube channel crossed 1k subs! #1kcreator goo.gl/VptRDI

#GearOut is top of the list in Side Quest VR's favourite escape room #VR games @SideQuestVR @Medium @forthinteract medium.com/sidequestvr/11…

@benz145 Agreed. That's why I said option. There's a large number of people who don't have full, painless mobility in both arms.

@forthinteract This is tough because two-handed interactions are really compelling (ie: climbing, bow & arrow, ripping things apart). Not to say that having some clever workarounds isn't a good idea, but throwing two-handed interactions out the window from the outset is probably not the way.

Makes me so sad when I tell people I’m in the VR industry and almost every time they say “wow cool, I tried VR once a few years ago… but it made me really dizzy.” And every single time it’s because the person showing it put them in a rollercoaster, flying, or racing game 🤦‍♂️

@benz145 It's a good checklist. I think the option to operate one-handed should be pretty much a given for almost all apps to maximise accessibility.

P.S. Useful article here for understanding basic VR comfort options: roadtovr.com/vr-comfort-set…

Win a copy of escape room and puzzle game Gear Out for #metaquest #vr in the Meta Quest Games-Giveaways-Referrals facebook group! facebook.com/groups/1567925…

@ScottishGamerVR @IronbugVR I got horrendously drunk on a combination of vodka and a certain brand of energy drink once. Very bad combination. Heart beating so fast and loud I couldn't sleep, but while also totally incapable of anything even resembling vertical locomotion.

@IronbugVR I'm surprised you didn't have a heart attack

It has been six months now since I have had any sort of energy drink. I was drink 10 to 12 cans a day and decided to quit cold turkey. I got to say, I don't miss it at all.

@AKLabsDotNet @gabrielocolmena Agreed. Although the guy who has to figure out how / why code works will be the two-year-older version of yourself and he's going to be mad at his two-year-younger version for not making things clear. Speaking from experience! :-)

@gabrielocolmena Coming back to #gamedev in my older age now, I'm really over the idea of design patterns and optimizing for effiicency and elegance. Chances are you're the only person who will ever maintain this code, and it may be thrown away once the game is done. Just make it run.

The most efficient code I've write in my life? Definitely not, but it works and that's all I need #gamedev

@Dazednetic @GameOnScorpio @MetaQuestVR WD40 fixes everything. But don't get it on the grip unless you want to break your windows next time you throw a punch!

@GameOnScorpio @MetaQuestVR That'll fix it? A squirt of WD40?

I have a squeaky right trigger on my @MetaQuestVR quest 3 controller.. Not gonna lie.. And you may laugh.. But it's putting me off using my quest 3.

@SideQuestVR @NinjaGuyX Great - thanks for updating!👍I think @meta should either allow a formal route to getting on the main store, or recognise that App Lab is not the "test zone" it was envisaged to be and enable discoverability and quit with the scary warning pop-ups on perfectly playable apps.

@forthinteract @NinjaGuyX hey there, various stages of development encompasses the final stage of the app release. Still, even though Meta themselves define App Lab as "experimental or still in development", we've made some minor edits to provide clarification regarding finished App Lab titles 👍

Want to know more about AppLab? We've gathered everything you need to know about SideQuest and Meta's combined creation to help you get your hands on experimental VR apps and games! Read about in on our blog👉medium.com/sidequestvr/wh…

This is a gem of a puzzler game, I can’t recommend this enough

@Clickster15 @WalkaboutMG ooh matron!

Off to London to do some swinging 😉@WalkaboutMG

@Clickster15 Thank you! Very much appreciated :-)

Get 25% off escape room and puzzle game GEAR OUT with this link: oculus.com/appreferrals/d… #vr #VirtualReality #MetaQuest #MetaQuest3

zonathegamers.com/gear-out-anali… #gearout #MetaQuest #escaperoom @forthinteract