StatusPRO, Fresh From Google Investment, Describes How It Developed VR Football Game 'NFL Pro Era'

In the blog post below, the team describes how they developed the NFL Pro The Era.

当联合创始人特洛伊·琼斯（Troy Jones）和安德鲁·霍金斯（Andrew Hawkins）着手开发这款VR橄榄球游戏时，他们就知道这回是一项雄心勃勃的任务。在经验丰富的专业人士支持下，团队不仅在2022年9月推出了《NFL Pro Era》，而且为Meta Quest,SonyPS VR and PS VR2, as well as theSteambrought a multiplatform game to the table. Now, they're taking it a step further by introducing new features like multiplayer matchmaking.

StatusPRO的AI和玩法主管德里克·列维（Derrick Levy）阐述了他们是如何借助Unity实现这一目标。

It starts with the team.

In order to achieve our goal, we needed to assemble a team of skilled developers with knowledge and passion for rugby game development. We did. Utilizing over 100 years of combined experience (the NFL has been around for a century), the team knows what works and what doesn't.

As a small company with a large IP license, our team operates differently than larger studios. For example, we only have one technical artist and one technical animator, whereas larger companies may have teams of 10-15 artists or multiple animators. Our team members wear multiple hats, and the engineers need to be knowledgeable about everything in order to contribute to any part of the game. This versatility helps us be more efficient and focused.

To build the Coach Confidence system, we focused on extending the capabilities of the editor. I created a set of tools that allow designers to create over 100 unique events to update and tweak without additional engineering support. This flexibility allows the design and engineering teams to continue creating new and engaging experiences without compromise.

User-centered design

StatusPRO has a variety of design principles, but our core principles are.

在为多个平台构建《NFL Pro Era》的过程中，我们一直专注于为用户提供身临其境的橄榄球体验，并根据需要调整不同的平台。作为合作伙伴，Unity提供了特定平台的指导，并分享了其他面临类似问题的开发者的经验。这有助于我们在任何挑战成为重大挫折之前预测并解决它们。

Unity's XR plugin management system allows us to easily support Meta, SteamPSVRandPICOplatforms without having to learn the specific SDK for each platform.

utilizationOpenXRsubsystem and the new Input Action Assets, we can easily support not only the relevant platforms, but also the many headsets available for the PC, without having to manage any additional plugins. Installation takes minutes, not days.

Tips for overcoming technical problems

During the development of NFL Pro Era, we faced a number of performance challenges. Prior to the alpha release, there were stability issues due to memory load times when running at 15 frames per second.Unity played a key role in helping us overcome said hurdles, and we spent four days with Unity engineers. We conducted a thorough performance analysis and investigation of the game's performance issues and received valuable feedback and suggestions to improve performance.

This collaboration extends to both bug reporting and dealing with platform-specific code.Unity introduced us to Backtrace, which is the tool we now use for bug reporting and prioritizes support for any issues we encounter during development.

Cross-platform support also allows us to be able to write most of the game's code in a cross-platform fashion. Since 85%'s code is shared across platforms, we are able to easily publish the game on multiple platforms while maintaining a high level of quality.

If you're building a multi-platform VR experience, take full advantage of the support offered by Unity, as it's almost guaranteed to significantly improve performance. There's nothing more satisfying than meeting deadlines for project development while still achieving a high level of quality.