Doom3VR — PSVR Game

How to take an  Iconic First person  shooter to VR?

USER
Doom Fans
FPS fans 
PSVR Owners

MY ROLE
UX Designer
UI Designer
Localization

TEAM
Archiact Team
Doom3VR team
ID Tech team
Bethsda QA team

Our goal was to bring the Iconic DOOM3 First person shooter to VR, that is everything the fans love & expect. Create VR game, that will be a benchmark in the category on PlayStation VR.  It was launched in March 2021 on the PlayStation store. Aim controller brings the immersive Diegetic UX and UI Experience, that makes player feel and live as the Doom Marine.

︎TASK

To take the iconic Doom4 to PSVR and create an thrilling immersive experince that fans love & expect.

︎TRAILER

Working closely with the Creative director I proposed a Diegetic UI approach, for a more immersive experience in the game. It helped us create a much-loved sense of presence in VR.

We created this wrist device working closely with ID and Betehseda Teams. Goal was to create a wrist-mounted device to keep players appraised with critical information about their vitals. It's on their wrist so the player can get details on demand in heat of a demon battle, with just a glance.

We had some great reviews. But this particular one made me really happy. 

“There is something about being so immersed in virtual reality that is hard to explain, I felt like I was ‘there’,”

-PSU Doom3VR Review

As a UX Designer for VR, this is as good as it gets.
Presence & Immersion: Done ✅




Doom 3 VR currently has a User rating of 7.3/10 & overall rating of 67/100 on Metacritic ︎

UI Research & Benchmarking

UI Styleguide
Included: HUD, PDA, Spatial UI, Weapons UI, Typography, Iconography and User data UI references, 

This UI Research & Benchmarking gave team a good idea of what we needed to build and scope out UI requirements in terms of Art, Animation & Engineering Requirements

I recommended DIEGETIC UI after evaluation risks for for maximum immersion on DOOM 3 VR. Some elements from dynamic UI were also added in final production.

Diegetic UI
No persistent UI available all the time in the game. HUD will not be visible and player sees the Health, armour and ammo count on the weapons itself in a diegetic UI. Expert Player senses the information based on ingame signifiers.
Player Type: Expert | Immersion: Highest

• No persistent UI available all the time in the game.
• Player sees the information based on a combination of ingame signifiers and ephemeral UI as text and icons
• HUD will not be visible on floating 2D format. Health, Armour and Ammo count is visible on the weapons itself as a diegetic UI.
• +VEs Green glow when player picks up health (or weapon UI)
• -VEs Red glow when health is low or payer is taking damage (or weapon UI)
• Red Scratches when enemy attacks
• Pickups Eg, shells, health & PDA info appear as ephemeral UI for a few seconds and vanish.

Player Type: VR Expert & Intermediate
Immersion: Highest
Risk: High - Unplanned work required to implement

Other Options presented for low scope:

Dynamic UI
UI is visible in game only when there is a change in Health and Armour information.  Ammo is displayed on the weapons itself in a diegetic UI. Player sees the information that flashes for a few seconds when the information is updated. Player Type: Intermediate | Immersion: High

Original UI
UI is visible all the time in game. Similar to Doom 3 BFG edition. HUD is visible at all times and pickups & PDA info is displayed for a certain no of time and they disappear. Player Type: Novice | Immersion: Moderate to low

︎PSVR STORE LINK

PSVR Store Link ︎
Check out the VR game on Playstation store.