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I am an intermediate student of Unity 3D, and I am not able to purchase heavy and expensive equipment like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or other models that are not available in Pakistan.

So I'm wondering how I can develop VR games without these peripherals.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ There probably is, but you won't be able to test what you create, polish the experience, or make sure it is not making the user dizzy. Are you sure you want to go that route? You could probably purchase some cheaper version like Google Cardboard, and see what the user sees, but I'm not sure how you could emulate the VR controllers if you can't afford those. \$\endgroup\$ – TomTsagk Nov 28 '19 at 10:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ i have one but i wanna learn about pc development \$\endgroup\$ – Ali Raza Nov 28 '19 at 11:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ how do i easily emulate it with google cardboard \$\endgroup\$ – Ali Raza Nov 28 '19 at 11:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ That makes it difficult. I'm pretty sure you can compile a project to use VR, but you'd have no idea if it works as intended or not. \$\endgroup\$ – TomTsagk Nov 28 '19 at 11:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly. You have a VR headset like oculus rift or similar but want to develop a vr game without using it for testing? Is your goal to develop a game that can be played with a pc and additionally has a VR mode? \$\endgroup\$ – Nico Nov 28 '19 at 14:07
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I'd recommend that you do not try to develop for a platform you cannot test on.

This is a recipe for a long, slow, and confusing development process, and a poor result with terrible experience for your players. You have so many other options for target platforms — with vastly greater market share — I don't see any good reason to put yourself in this position.

That said, since Unity is a cross-platform engine that can package games for both mobile and PC, you could as TomTsagk mentioned get yourself a Google Cardboard to test your VR experience with your phone, then compile for Oculus/PC and hope it behaves similarly.

I'd recommend you at the very least recruit some testers (working remotely) who do have the actual hardware, and can test your Oculus builds and send you feedback. This likely means a day or more turnaround to find out whether your bug fix worked, so it's not a good way to make high-quality games (or enjoy your job). But if you're dead set on developing for VR without the necessary tools then I think this is the closest you can get.

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    \$\begingroup\$ When I got hired by Deloitte to help with some Hololens demos, one of the first things I told them was to "buy the device." They did after only a couple days and when I got it there was an immediately obvious problem: the other developer has squashed the FOV on the camera down to 5 degrees so that the 3D stuff fit "nicely" into view....800 meters away (it was meant to display on a wall or table). Suffice to say, this did not make for a good experience on the device. \$\endgroup\$ – Draco18s no longer trusts SE Nov 28 '19 at 17:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Perfect example of the kinds of problems that often aren't obvious unless you're able to test first-hand! It also points to another avenue that OP can explore: if they have a development contract to make a PC VR game, they may be able to ask their publisher/employer/client/etc. to purchase & ship the hardware needed for development & testing. Typically the company that purchased it would retain ownership of the hardware at the end of the contract, so you'd have to send it back, but it's a good way to achieve a higher-quality result, which a responsible client should be willing to invest in. \$\endgroup\$ – DMGregory♦ Nov 28 '19 at 17:45
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    \$\begingroup\$ Absolutely! I had some first-hand experience, and its the sort of thing I've told to numerous people I've run into about VR (etc). The part that usually falls out of my mouth a few moments later is that I was highly skeptical of the Hololens up until I had one in my hands. I spent a few days playing around with it and when I got a Unity sphere to fall down, bounce off my laptop screen, and roll off my desk, that was the moment that I stood up and said "holy shit this is awesome." It still has limitations and flaws, but it works. \$\endgroup\$ – Draco18s no longer trusts SE Nov 28 '19 at 18:16

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