Physical Interaction, Diegetic Interface and Accessibility
Specifies how each action in the world works on PC (mouse and keyboard) and in VR (hands), where each piece of player information sits on the body and in the world, and what comfort and accessibility options exist. Basis: 03 (VR-ready and comfort profile), 10 (mounts), 09 (crafts), 22 (alchemy). All numbers are starting points for the Phase 1A comfort test.
1. Principles
- Same action, same result. PC and VR call the same rule on the server; only the input changes (
18§3). The hand in VR is not trusted (00, T3): the server validates reach, timing and cost, and the gesture only reports direction and intent. - Interaction reach: 2.5 m on PC (aim at screen center, the object highlights in amber); 1.0 m of arm in VR, plus "pulling" by pointing (§5).
- Nothing takes the camera from the player. No interaction rotates or moves the head; boarding a boat or saddle is a 0.2 s fade with the fixed reference already visible.
- Every sustained action has a toggle version (hold × tap once), for accessibility (§7).
- No menu in the middle of a scene: whatever is not physical opens in the journal (§4), with the world paused visually (PvE) or continuing (PvP and contested zones).
2. Physical interactions
PC buttons: E use, left button primary action, right secondary action, wheel adjusts, Q/R swaps the occupied hand. In VR: trigger grabs, closed hand holds, A/X confirms.
| Object | PC (mouse/keyboard) | VR (hands) | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple door | E opens; holding E and moving the mouse controls the angle | Grab the handle and pull or push | Opens in 0.6 s; locked requires a key or picking |
| Shop door | E opens; sign shows "open/closed" | Same, with a bell that rings | Closed shop: door stuck at night with no owner |
| Chest | E opens; lid rises; items appear inside | Lift the lid; take an item by hand | Loot is individual (03); 1 s to open |
| Lock | Minigame: turn the mouse until the slot aligns, 3 pins | Two hooks: one hand turns, the other lifts | 3 pins, 8 s margin; failing 2 times alerts guards |
| Lever / wheel | Hold click and drag | Grab and pull | 1.5 s of travel |
| Lantern | F turns on/off; mouse wheel adjusts focus | Raise with the left hand; turning the wrist adjusts focus | Base radius 12 m, narrow focus 20 m; fuel 40 min |
| Pick up item from the ground | E; holding E picks up everything around | Grab and take to the bag | Reach 2.5 m on PC |
| Axe / pickaxe / sickle | Repeated click in rhythm; strength bar | Real strike, the server counts the rhythm | 4 to 6 strikes per tree or vein |
| Harvest plant | Hold E 1.2 s | Pull out with the wrist; an open hand picks a flower | Root requires pulling 20 cm |
| Forge | Click in the hammer's rhythm; the sound guides | Hammer the piece in time | 12 beats, tolerance ±0.25 s; final quality 0–100 (09) |
| Alchemy bench | Drag vials and ingredients with the mouse to the mortar, cauldron, still | Grab and pour; turn to mix | See §2.1 |
| Instruments | Keys 1–8 play notes, right button sustains | Lute: strum; flute: blow into the microphone or button; drum: strike | Target latency < 60 ms; 8 notes |
| Fishing | Click casts (holding charges the distance); wheel reels; tension bar | Cast with the arm; turn the reel; pull | Wait 8 to 25 s; line breaks at tension > 100% |
| Mount (get on) | E on the animal; fixed saddle | Hold the mane and swing a leg over | Fade 0.2 s |
| Mount (ride) | W accelerates, A/D turns, S stops; mouse wheel controls gait | Reins in both hands; pulling one turns | Horse 14 m/s on the road; camera on the rider (10) |
| Boat (ferry/rowboat) | W/S row, A/D turn; E stops the rope | Oars with both hands; oar rotation turns | Stable horizon; deck always visible (03) |
| Player shop | Click the shelf, E buys | Take an item from the shelf and bring it to the counter | Price in gold; no token (08) |
| Map | M opens the paper | Unfold with both hands | See §4 |
| Healing and potion | Belt key | Bring the vial to the mouth | 0.8 s sip; shared cooldown (22 §7) |
2.1 Alchemy bench (launch processes)
| Process | PC | VR | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grind | Move the mouse in circles | Turn the pestle | 5 to 12 s; faster weakens |
| Boil | Adjust the fire with the wheel; drop ingredients in order | Stir with the spoon; pour | 20 to 90 s |
| Distill | Turn the still's valve | Turn the valve and watch the drop | 30 s |
| Macerate | Close the jar and choose the time | Close the jar and place it on the shelf | Real hours or days (22 §2) |
| Dry | Hang on the line | Hang | Sun or moon, days |
The order of ingredients and the fire level count; the server decides the result (22 §7). The proportion changes each time (anti-macro).
3. Combat and magic (recap)
Strikes: button on PC, real movement in VR, with high/side/thrust direction. Block: right button on PC, shield raised in VR. Dodge: side step on PC; dash with vignette in VR. Spells: the gestures in 30 §9 and 18 §3. Opening the skills menu never happens in the middle of combat: the PC bar is the only exception (§5).
4. Diegetic interface map
| Information | Where it sits | PC | VR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | Left bracelet: ring of light that fills; dark red below 30% | Thin bar in the lower-left corner (optional) | On the wrist, at a glance |
| Stamina | Ring on the right bracelet | Yellow bar below health | On the wrist, fades at rest |
| Mana | Crystal on the spell hand's glove; glow = charge | Blue bar under health | On the glove |
| Skill bar | Belt: 8 to 10 vials and runes | 10 icons at the bottom, fade out of combat (3 s) | Reach for the belt and take the item; a magic gesture needs no belt |
| Lantern | Left hand; fuel level visible in the glass; color = lens | Flame in the corner, dims with the fuel | Look at the lantern |
| Bag (inventory) | Backpack on the back; side opens to a 6×5 grid (30 slots) | I opens full screen, journal style | Reach over the shoulder; items float on a shelf |
| Extra bags | Hung on the belt (+8 slots) | Bags tab | Extra bag at the hip |
| Paper map | Living cartography: only shows what the player visited or bought | M; cursor to mark | Unfold; point with the finger to mark |
| Compass | Small compass in the right hand or a ribbon at the top | Ribbon at the top with 4 marks | Take it and look: the needle points to the quest |
| Journal | Book on the belt: quests, talents, grimoire, herb map | J opens | Open like a book; pages turned by hand |
| Conversation and subtitles | Bubble beside the NPC | Subtitle at bottom center | Panel at 2 m, attached to the NPC |
| Target and enemy | Border of light toward the off-screen enemy (03) |
Border + discreet icon | Border + directional sound |
| Currency | Coin pouch at the waist, number in the journal | In the inventory | Touch the coin pouch |
| Party | Points of light above companions' heads | Minimal bars on the left | Lights above the head |
| Status and buffs | Marks on the wrist (up to 6) | Small icons under health | Bracelets that light up |
4.1 Minimal HUD on PC
- At rest: nothing beyond the 2-point reticle and, if turned on, very thin health and stamina.
- In combat: health, stamina and mana bars (70% opacity), skill bar; they fade 3 s after the last strike.
- No minimap: compass and paper map (
03). Quest marks only on the map and compass. - No floating damage numbers by default; option to turn on (3 size levels).
- At most 5 fixed elements on screen at once; any new item must remove one.
- Scale: 80% to 150% in steps of 10%; opacity 30% to 100%.
- Position: corners, with a 4% margin (safe zone for television and ultrawide).
- The HUD never hides the lantern: it is the visual center of the night.
5. Remote interaction and pause
- Pull: in VR, pointing at an item up to 6 m away and turning the wrist brings it to the hand in 0.4 s; no head teleporting.
- Pause: in PvE, opening the journal slows the world to 10% speed for 1 s and then freezes only those who are alone; in a party and in PvP the world continues, and the journal opens with a transparent overlay.
- System menu: bracelet button in VR; Esc on PC.
6. Accessibility
6.1 Subtitles
- Speech: colored speaker name, 3 sizes (small, medium, large), optional background with 0 to 80% opacity.
- Combat sounds: "left: wolf howling", "behind: heavy blow"; arrows indicate direction (
03, reading by sound). - Player voice: optional transcription (processed on the device, no audio sent).
- VR: panel attached to the world (default) or to the head with a 0.3 s delay.
6.2 Color blindness
- Protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia modes, with filter and reallocated palette.
- No information by color alone: magic sources also have shape and sound (Arcane: ring; Nature: leaves; fire: sparks; water: drops). Rarity has a frame and icon besides color.
- Enemy, ally and neutral marks with different shapes (diamond, circle, square).
- Optional high contrast for the outline of interactive items.
6.3 One-handed VR
- Fixed dominant hand: all actions switch to a single hand; those of the other go into a radial menu on the belt.
- Lantern attached to the chest, no need to hold it; turned on and off by button.
- Spells: form chosen by a single gesture (push, open, point at the ground, hand on chest); the source comes from a button that switches among the 3 at launch (Arcane, Nature, Elemental).
- Sustained actions (pulling an oar, holding a shield) become toggles; the shield stays attached to the arm.
- Mount and boat use one rein or a direction button; optional course assist.
6.4 Seated VR
- Height calibration: 5 s of measurement; the game stores standing and seated height.
- Reduced reach: the bag and belt rise to chest and thigh line; low actions (harvesting, opening a low chest) rise to 80 cm from the ground.
- Turning: turn in 30° steps, plus "turn by button" for those who cannot turn the chair.
- Dodge and dash: available only forward, back and sideways; no real crouching (crouching becomes a button).
6.5 PC and others
- Full remapping; toggle instead of hold for all actions; optional "aim assist" on magic.
- No mandatory quick-time events (QTE); craft minigame timings get a +50% margin as an option.
- Larger font and screen reader in the journal and shop menus.
- No reflex test for those who need gold: delivery quests have a version with no time limit.
7. Comfort menu (VR and PC)
Ready-made profiles: Maximum comfort, Medium comfort, Free. Each item can be changed afterward.
| Option | Maximum | Medium | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Locomotion | Teleport | Smooth movement with vignette | Smooth movement without vignette |
| Turning | 45° steps | 30° steps | Smooth (150°/s) |
| Vignette when running, dodging, falling | Strong (60% of the field) | Medium (35%) | Weak (15%) |
| Dodge dash | Short teleport, 0.15 s | Dash 0.2 s | Dash 0.25 s |
| Horizon and reference | Always visible | Always visible | Always visible |
| Camera never turns on its own | Fixed | Fixed | Fixed |
| Recoil | Body recoils, head fixed | Same | Same |
| Camera height on mount and boat | Fixed | Fixed | Fixed |
| Light/lantern brightness | Reduced 20% | Normal | Normal |
| Dominant hand | Choose | Choose | Choose |
| Turn sensitivity (PC) | 0.5 to 3.0 | same | same |
| FOV (PC) | 70–110°, default 90° | same | same |
| Head bob when walking (PC) | Off | Light | Normal |
Items with no choice ("Fixed", "Always visible") are game rules, never options: nobody can turn off the horizon, the fixed reference, or the rule that the camera does not turn on its own (03, F2).
What is left for later
- Real VR comfort test with players (Phase 1A) and adjustment of the vignette, teleport and dash numbers.
- Finger tracking (grip, strumming) on headsets without controllers: depends on the port's hardware.
- Full screen reader in the world, not only in menus.
- Descriptive audio mode for blind or low-vision players.
- Instruments with more than 8 notes, sheet music and synchronized group songs (network latency).
- Own boat, diving and flying mount in VR with a cockpit (Chapters 3 and 6).
- Custom haptics per weapon and per spell.
- Full localization of subtitles and map into other languages.