VR Controls & Interface Guide

This is a rough guide for VR controls in Universe Sandbox ².

The controls listed here are for Update 20, and may change in future versions.

We are actively working on improvements to the interface; if you have any feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you on our forum.

Menu (Vive) or B/Y (Touch): Main Menu

Open the main menu with the following:

New

Open a new, empty simulation

Open

Open an included simulation (select My Sims to view your saved sims from VR or desktop)

Save

Save your current simulation

Settings

Adjust controller point angle, camera FOV, desktop smoothing for spectators, and more

Exit

Close Universe Sandbox ² VR

Play/Pause

Play/Pause the simulation

Experience

A cinematic “What if…?” demonstration of Universe Sandbox ² VR

Tutorial

Run through a work-in-progress tutorial

View

Open View settings (see below)

Time

Open Time settings (see below)

Trigger: Menu Select & Use Tool/Power

Use the trigger to select menu options while pointing at them. The trigger is also used for Tools/Powers.

Grip Buttons: Pan, Scale, and Rotate

Pan

• Hold one grip button on either controller while moving the controller to pan the entire simulation.

Scale

• Hold both grip buttons then...
  
  • Move controllers toward each other to scale down the view or...
    
  • Move controllers away from each other to scale up the view (toward real 1:1 scale).
    
  • Think of this as a similar gesture as the pinch-zoom on many mobile devices. You can also adjust scale by pressing left on the trackpad and adjusting the scale value.

Rotate

• Hold both grip buttons and move controllers around the center point between both controllers.

Trackpad Up (Vive) or Thumbstick Up+Trigger (Touch): Select Tool/Power

You can select a different Tool/Power for each controller.

Move

• Point at a body and hold the trigger to move the selected body through the simulation. Flick the controller and release the trigger to send it hurtling off into deep space!

Fly

• Point and hold the trigger to move the camera in that direction.
  
• Attach: With Fly selected, press Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch) while pointing at a body to attach the camera to that body. The camera will automatically follow the selected body. Point at empty space and press down on the trackpad again to detach the camera.

Teleport

• Point at a body and pull the trigger to instantly teleport to it. The camera will scale appropriately and follow the body.

Laser Temporarily removed while we improve surface simulation. Returning soon!

• Hold the trigger to shoot a laser.
  
• Laser settings: With Laser selected, press Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch) to bring up the Laser settings.

Create

• Point and pull the trigger to launch a new body in that direction.
  
• Create Settings: With Create selected, press Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch) to bring up the Create Settings:
  
  • Select a body to launch
    
  • Adjust settings on the right to select velocity: Auto > Orbit or Binary, Manual, or Still
    
  • Select Auto > Orbit then check Auto-aim to automatically place the body in a safe orbit around a parent body

Dispense

• Hold the trigger to launch materials.
  
• Dispenser Settings: With Dispenser selected, press Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch) to bring up the Dispenser Settings:
  
  • Select the material
    
  • Set the launch velocity and mass of the particles

Camera

• Pull the trigger to take a screenshot.
  
• Camera Settings: With Camera selected, press Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch) to adjust the camera FOV.
  
• GIF Capture: With Camera selected, press Trackpad Left-Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Left-Down+Trigger (Touch), then hold trigger to record GIF. Press Trackpad Right-Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Right-Down+Trigger (Touch) to return to the normal screenshot tool.

Trackpad Right (Vive) or Thumbstick Right+Trigger (Touch): Time settings

Play/Pause

• Play/pause the sim.

Time step slider

• Use the minus/plus buttons or the slider to adjust the rate at which the simulation runs (for example, one second/second is real time).

Restart

• Restart the current simulation.

Trackpad Down (Vive) or Thumbstick Down+Trigger (Touch): Settings

This option depends on the Tool/Power selected. See Select Tool/Power above.

Trackpad Left (Vive) or Thumbstick Left+Trigger (Touch): View settings

Labels

• Enable/disable labels for bodies

Trails

• Enable/disable historical trails for bodies

Orbits

• Enable/disable the projected orbital paths for bodies

Zone

• Enable/disable a visual representation of stars’ habitable zones

Scale

• Use the minus/plus buttons or the slider to adjust the scale of the simulation. This is the same value which is adjusted when you use the grip buttons to scale.

[DiamondWooWoo]

It seems this guide is out of date because much of it is wrong for oculus touch.

[That's cool Jack]

i couldnt find the list of stars and planets to add to the simulation from the menu. cant find any of the tools

[kumquatqwerty]

Hi! I just got Universe Sandbox 2 off of the Oculus store, and I'm having trouble selecting tools! I can open the menu up for each tool, but I can't seem to select any. Would appreciate any guidance!

[Jeff-66]

Very helpful, thanks.

[BrightPopz]

Thanks this helped a lot! Can u help me with a problem Im having though thats not with VR?

[Ixelf.]

Dat name