he Great VR Locomotion Debate continues to rage on. This time the ire of virtual reality (VR) users has been turned upon Bethesda, with controversy regarding the movement systems. The development team have begun to address this in a post on the Bethesda forums in regarding The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR.
Though movement systems such as teleportation and snap-turning are implemented to reduce discomfort and prevent simulation sickness symptoms, those features can be something of an irritation to those lucky enough to not suffer any ill effects in VR, indeed the same functions designed to ensure comfort can also break immersion, something to be assiduously avoided in a VR title.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR has teleportation as a default movement system, with other locomotion options and comfort settings buried deep in the menu system, making it difficult for many users to find and navigate to. Another Bethesda decision that has raised ire among the community is that smooth turning does not appear to be an option, with only snap turning (also known as click turning) available.
In a post on the Bethesda forums, one of the development team identified only as ‘Jurassica’ thanked the community for its support and feedback, and then confirmed that the development team were ‘looking into’ implementing smooth turning into Skyrim VR.
Ironically, one user who praised the news said that when they were playing Skyrim VR and used the snap turning, their wife, watching on the TV’s social screen, found it nauseating to watch, causing the very symptoms the function tries to prevent.
There is as of yet no timeline for when smooth turning might be implemented into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, but the post by Jurassica suggested it could be included in the next update.
VRFocus will bring you further news on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR as it becomes available.