Hand tracking is coming to Walkabout with the Xylodon course. Should it be allowed in competitive games?
Spotted this earlier and couldn't see anyone had posted it here yet. The Escape from Planet Xylodon course is out on the 8th, and apparently it comes with an experimental hand tracking option on Quest. It sits in the settings menu next to your avatar in the welcome shack.
Good Virtual Reality got an early go on it and says there are two ways to play. One is pinch to putt, where you line up and pinch to hit. The other has you hold your hand like you're gripping a controller and a club just appears in it. You can also pinch and drag to turn on the spot or warp to your ball. Here's their write-up if you want the details: https://www.goodvirtualreality.com/p/walkabout-mini-golf-hand-tracking
What got my attention is the competitive angle. The reviewer reckons pinch to putt feels a bit like cheating because it shows you where the ball is going to go. If that's true, it's a massive aid compared to eyeballing a shot, and I can't see how that works in a tournament or league. Grip mode seems closer to normal controller play, so maybe that one's fine? Then again, if it lets people play who can't comfortably use controllers, that's a pretty good reason to allow some version of it.
I run Walkabout Weekly (walkaboutweekly.com), a community site for Walkabout players with tournaments and leagues, so I'm going to have to decide what to do about this for our events. Keen to hear what other people think before I do. If you play competitively, or fancy giving it a go, come and check out the site and see what we've got on. I'll have a proper go once the update's out and report back