Hey guys!

First, I never tried game developing before, I just have some skills in webdesign and programming but I never tried to build up some graphical stuff.

Now I'm working for a space society and sometimes we organise events for kids and let them discover a small mars station with a oculus rift. However, this simulation kinda sucks, it's really buggy and ugly. So I thought I could try to make a little simulation myself, I've always wanted to try game development anyway.

Because I need to work and study most of the time I don't have the time to really learn game develoment in every aspect . Rather I'd like to ask you if there is a possibilty to create a little simulation quite easy (not more than 150-200 hours to learn it).

I thought that there is maybe a kind of engine which already has most of the features (oculus plugin, controls, physics, movement of objects, etc.) which I can use and "simply" build the level by placing objects (I thought about designing them with autocad inventor?) and textures.

I hope I was able to explain what I mean, my english is a bit rusty. A comparison: In webdesign it would mean, that I don't design the website via HTML and CSS but rather use a UI like adobe muse or nvu which automatically

So which engine/program/tool/whatever can you recommend? The most important thing is that it's handy and intuitive and supports oculus rift. Also, it would be nice if it would already has some libraries with textures and objects and a nice cummunity with some tutorials.

Thank you,

Chizzz

It sounds like the best bet would be to mod an existing game, if it has a good level editor.

A few years ago, I would've recommended the Source engine, because the editor is easy and fun to use, but I don't know if they've added Oculus support yet. Apparently they have.

You'd need: A Steam account (free), and at least one Source game (which are cheap - like $10 or so). I haven't used the engine in the past seven years or so, but level creation was really fun. If you decide to go the Source route (after hearing other peoples' suggestions and investigating them), you should sign up on a Source-dedicated forum where they can help get you started and more knowledgeably answer questions.

The answer is yes, if you use a currently existing engine.

Cryengine, or Unreal Engine would be better suited for this. Other possible engines would be XLE and Godot. I don't recommend Source Engine until Source 2 comes out and I know more about it.

If you're trying to simulate the Martian surface, you'd need an engine that lets you make use of a height map and large distances.

There should already be Height maps of mars available from NASA, if not you can just make your own by simply guessing.

Both Unreal and Cryengine can do this very well. And at the moment, I believe that only Unreal is able to maintain solid framerates and graphic fidelity after a modification to it's code from Occulus themselves.

You may want to have a look at Take on Mars which you should be able to create your scenarios in. I'm not sure if it has Occulus Rift support yet or not. The game is a Mars simulation already and I think it would probably cover your needs.

While is only got limited views in first person, its mostly 3rd person. You may also want to take a look at Kerbal Space Program. They also have an education version and they work with schools etc. so they may also be able to assist with additional content, etc.