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Virtual House - Complete Usage Guide

This guide explains how to play Virtual House with all available options, written for users who just want to play without reading the source code.

How to Run the Game

# Basic command structure
./build/virtualhouse [log_file] [/FLAG1] [/FLAG2 value] ...

Understanding Flag Types

Type How to Use Example
Toggle Just add the flag (no value) /USEMOUSE
Value Flag + space + number /LANGUAGE 2

🎮 All Available Flags

Toggle Flags (No Value Needed)

Flag Description Default State
/USEMOUSE Enable mouse to look around freely OFF (keyboard only)
/NOINFO Hide the on-screen information display OFF (info visible)
/SHOWPLAYER Show your character (3rd person view) OFF (1st person)
/ALLOCENTRIC Enable allocentric navigation mode OFF
/AUTOEXIT Auto-close game after reaching goal OFF
/USEJOYSTICK Enable gamepad/joystick control OFF
/TESTMODE Automated testing mode OFF
/KIDMODE Kid-friendly mode (required for animal sounds!) OFF
/ANIMSOUND Play animal sound hints (requires /KIDMODE) OFF
/NOTEXTURE Disable textures (wireframe look) OFF (textures on)

Value Flags (Must Provide a Number)

Flag Description Valid Values Default
/LANGUAGE n Set display language 1=English, 2=French, 3=Spanish, 4=German 1
/TRIAL n Set experiment trial number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 1
/LATENCY n Add input delay (frames) 0-1000 1
/PERPSTAIR n Set stair/ramp type 1-6 (see table below) 3
/TURNDURATION n Intro rotation duration (seconds) Any number 40
/JOYANGVEL n Joystick rotation speed Any number 2.36
/JOYTRANSVEL n Joystick movement speed Any number 0.1
/INOUTRATIO n Indoor/outdoor movement ratio Any number 1
/LOGTOTAL file Path for experiment log Filename total.txt

Stair Types for /PERPSTAIR

Value Description
1 Stairs at 180°
2 Stairs at 90°
3 Ramp at 180° (default)
4 Ramp at 90°
5 Double stairs at 180°
6 Double ramps at 180°

🎯 Ready-to-Use Command Examples

For Casual Players

# Simple play with mouse look
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE

# Clean view (no info overlay)
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /NOINFO

# Third-person view (see your character)
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /SHOWPLAYER

# Third-person with clean view
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /SHOWPLAYER /NOINFO

With Different Languages

# English (default)
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE

# French
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /LANGUAGE 2

# Spanish  
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /LANGUAGE 3

# German
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /LANGUAGE 4

Kid Mode with Animal Sounds

# Kid mode with animal sounds (English)
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /KIDMODE /ANIMSOUND

# Kid mode with animal sounds (Spanish)
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /KIDMODE /ANIMSOUND /LANGUAGE 3

# Kid mode, animal sounds, third person, Spanish
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /KIDMODE /ANIMSOUND /SHOWPLAYER /LANGUAGE 3

With Stairs Instead of Ramps

# Use stairs at 180 degrees
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /PERPSTAIR 1

# Use double stairs
./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /PERPSTAIR 5

For Research/Experiments

# Basic experiment setup
./build/virtualhouse mylog.txt /TRIAL 1 /AUTOEXIT /USEJOYSTICK

# Full experiment with all options
./build/virtualhouse subject1_trial1.txt /LANGUAGE 2 /TRIAL 1 /AUTOEXIT /USEJOYSTICK /LOGTOTAL subject1_total.txt

Gamepad/Joystick Users

# Joystick control
./build/virtualhouse /USEJOYSTICK

# Joystick with custom speeds
./build/virtualhouse /USEJOYSTICK /JOYANGVEL 3 /JOYTRANSVEL 0.2

⌨️ In-Game Keyboard Controls

Key Action
↑ / ↓ Move forward / backward
← / → Turn left / right
P Toggle 3rd-person view
M Toggle mouse control
I Toggle info display
F Decrease field of view
D Increase field of view
1 Decrease view range
2 Increase view range
3 Toggle textures on/off
H Adjust player height
S Start intro rotation
E Toggle auto-exit
J Toggle joystick
L Increase input latency
K Decrease input latency
Q / ESC Quit game

🔧 Troubleshooting

Game won't start

  • Make sure you built the project first: meson compile -C build
  • Run from the project root directory (where Media/ folder is)

No sound on macOS

  • The game uses afplay for audio - this should work out of the box
  • Check your system volume

Animal sounds not playing

  • You must use both /KIDMODE and /ANIMSOUND together
  • Example: ./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE /KIDMODE /ANIMSOUND

Mouse not working

  • Add the /USEMOUSE flag
  • Example: ./build/virtualhouse /USEMOUSE