As we mentioned in our Different types of bHaptics Support blog post, modders are an important part of our community! Today we sit down with Florian, one of our most prolific modders to talk about his many contributions to the bHaptics community.

Interview has been edited for readability and length.

Hello! Please introduce yourself!

My very obviously German name is Florian. I do software development for a living, but in very different fields and languages, so I am not a game developer by any stretch. Fun fact about me: I never played a single flat screen game. Only got into gaming in virtual reality, and that's where my passion lies. Though these days, being a single dad of three kids, I honestly rarely find the time for extensive gaming sessions.

When did you first learn about bHaptics!

I learned about bHaptics in summer 2021 through Matteo311's YouTube channel, when I got more into VR gaming and tried to find what's out there. I wrestled with myself for a few weeks, but quickly just jumped in and ordered my first X40. And that decision spiraled out of control really fast.

My X40 basically got me to:

• create a Discord account that I didn't have before and join the server,

• convert an older work PC for gaming so I can play more supported VR games,

• order the Tactosy for Arms very quickly after the vest,

• start creating Audio-To-Haptics profiles because I did not want to play a game without bHaptics support anymore,

• even made a video on how to create decent Audio-to-Haptics profiles,

• and then started modding for even better support for additional games.

And to emphasize the "spiraling out of control": I purchased my X40 in September 2021, and my first finished mod, "Until You Fall", was uploaded and released early November 2021. So all this happened within two months.

Tell us about your first experience with bHaptics mods!

My first project took me an estimated 100 hours of work to get up and running. There were fewer documentation and resources back then, but even now, making your very first mod is cumbersome. For most people, it will be a new programming language, and it will be a new concept to not just write a standalone program but something that "hooks" into the game. But my second mod already went waaaay smoother, and by the end I could basically create a decent enough mod in a couple of hours, and a great mod in under 10.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in creating mods?

I remember installing my first two mods, Half-Life Alyx and Boneworks, and I was really intimidated by the process. I want that to sink in for everybody who installs their first mod: The guy who now created the most mods for bHaptics felt like he was in over his head when installing his first mod. I had no idea where the "game directory" was, and why anything would even work if I just copied a few extra files in there, and what version of what loader I had to use and so on. That is actually intimidating. But: you will get over it, people in the bHaptics Discord and other places will gladly help you, and it is very much worth it.

What’s been your favorite project to mod?

My most favorite project to mod was probably the "Vertigo" games. It was the first time I really figured out very precise directional hit feedback. Most importantly though: I was so enamored with the cool cut scenes that I hooked into several of these to add special bHaptics effects to quite a few of them within the first game. So, definitely go ahead and play Vertigo: Remastered with my bHaptics mod!

Which of your mods has been the most popular? Did you think that would be the case when you made it?

My most popular mods definitely came as a surprise to me. While I understood that many people installed mods like BONELAB, Pistol Whip, or Arizona Sunshine, the two most downloaded mods are Gorilla Tag and Beat Saber. In either of those games, I would sweat through all my clothes within minutes when wearing bHaptics. But I guess they are just generally very popular games.

What kind of haptic events do you find the most important for immersion?

People always talk about recoil and damage effects. But what usually sells me for better immersion are the more subtle effects like rain drops or wind, or holstering weapons, or sliding things into your backpack. If I had to pick a single one though, it would probably be the heart beat on low health. It just works as an extra adrenaline boost for me and actually gets my real heart pumping while playing the game because I get so nervous that I could die. So that's one of the effects I try to put into my mods whenever possible.

Leave a message for those who download and enjoy your mods!

To the people who download and play my mods: You are who I made this for. I don't get paid by bHaptics, and many of the games I don't even play myself. But you specifically having more fun in a game because of my mod makes up for the work. So please enjoy them and I want to thank you for downloading and using them, that's my motivation right there!

Thank you so much Florian for sitting down with us and sharing your thoughts! You can find Florian’s mods in our mod list of bHaptics compatible games.

You can find a list of just of Florian’s mods here: https://github.com/floh-bhaptics

Interested in creating mods for yourself, or just want to hang out with other bHaptics community members? Don’t forget to join our Discord server!