Souls-VR: Dodge-Rolling in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is emerging as a promising platform for game innovation, but translating existing game genres to VR can be highly non-trivial. In this paper, we investigate how to translate the iconic dodge rolling mechanic of the Souls games (Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring) into VR, in order to enable new types of agile melee combat in VR games. Although rolling might seem unnatural or impractical in a 1st-person VR environment, we demonstrate that it can be implemented as a hybrid of the already established teleport and out-of-body locomotion techniques. Furthermore, we present a user study that explores and compares options for initiating the roll and controlling the VR camera. Our work adds a new locomotion tool for VR designers, applicable in particular when locomotion needs to be naturally and seamlessly combined with other types of interaction such as melee combat.