Product Development / Unity & VR

Building and Shipping a VR Game End to End

A self-directed product challenge spanning game design, Unity/C# development, VR integration, performance, launch requirements, and commercial release.

Project
Pop Shot VR
Role
Independent Developer / Creator
Platform
Oculus VR
Technology
Unity / C#
Focus
End-to-End Product Development
Outcome
Accepted and released through the Oculus Store
Pop Shot logo with Unity and C-sharp marks over colorful balloons

See It In Action

The Pop Shot trailer combines gameplay footage from the completed VR game with launch-ready promotional presentation.

Pop Shot balloon shooting gameplay in a space environment Pop Shot crossbow gameplay in a castle environment Pop Shot balloon targets in a western environment Pop Shot balloon targets in a colorful playground environment

Overview

After building several smaller Unity and VR experiments, I wanted to test whether I could take a much larger project all the way from an idea to a complete product that met the requirements for commercial release.

The challenge was not simply to build a working game. I wanted to handle the entire product myself: gameplay systems, level construction, VR interaction, visual presentation, performance, testing, platform integration, marketing assets, store materials, privacy and web content, and submission.

Product Concept

I wanted to create a shooting-oriented VR game without relying on another traditional combat, zombie, or player-death scenario.

The result was Pop Shot, a balloon-shooting arcade game built around fast action, scoring, different weapons and environments, and increasing difficulty.

Instead of the player dying, poor performance accumulates as "bummers." Reaching the limit ends the game.

The Challenge

Building a full product exposed a much broader set of problems than the smaller VR experiments I had previously created.

Gameplay Systems

  • Ammo and reloading
  • Scoring
  • Game-state management
  • Level progression
  • Increasing difficulty
  • Multiple gameplay mechanics and weapons

World & Interaction Design

  • Building and arranging multiple environments
  • Lighting each scene
  • Player movement and spatial behavior
  • Obstacles and scene flow
  • Dynamically moving balloons
  • Tuning the experience through repeated testing and iteration

VR & Platform Engineering

  • Oculus integration
  • VR controls and interaction
  • Performance and frame-rate requirements
  • Working within a comparatively early consumer-VR ecosystem where examples and documentation were less mature than they are today

Shipping the Product

  • Testing and QA
  • Platform requirements
  • Packaging and submission
  • Store images and thumbnails
  • Video and trailer assets
  • Website and privacy materials
  • Other release requirements necessary to move from a personal project to a commercial product

How I Worked Through It

There was no single technical problem that defined the project. The challenge was repeatedly encountering problems I had never solved before, breaking them into smaller systems, researching what I needed, testing approaches, and continuing until the pieces worked together as a complete product.

The Final Hurdle: Passing Store Review

The first Oculus Store submission did not pass review because I had missed a platform requirement involving the system/home control behavior.

I researched the required Oculus integration, implemented the missing behavior, rebuilt the application, and submitted it again.

The revised build passed review and Pop Shot was accepted for release.

Result

Pop Shot progressed from a self-directed learning challenge into a complete VR game released through the Oculus Store.

More importantly, the project required me to take responsibility for every layer of a product rather than stopping once the core software worked.

What This Demonstrates

View Original Project