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  • Puzzling it out in Trains VR

    Puzzling it out in Trains VR

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Polish development team The House of Fables have taken one thing (trains) and paired it with another thing (puzzles) to create Trains VR, a VR-puzzle-train-management-sim that we’re proud to host on Viveport.

    We flagged down Adam Robaszyński-Janiec to talk about Trains VR. Full steam ahead!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgu_WJx2ByA]

    Trains VR is pretty unique, being a puzzle game with trains. How did you come up with the idea?

    We started by making a sandbox prototype using trains during a game jam, and it was good. Then we polished it for a couple of months and brought it to a game conference, showcased it to hundreds of people. Most of them loved the game but it seemed they would enjoy it more if they had some clear goal. So we figured out that we can get the best from both worlds; we can give people the freedom of a sandbox (as there isn’t one ‘best’ or ‘only’ solution for the puzzles) and also a clear goal – to bring trains safely to stations.

    What was your motivation to create Trains VR – was it a love of model trains, puzzles or maybe a bit of both?

    I have great memories of trains as I played with them as a child, and walked with my father to watch trains passing by, etc, so that was part of it. Now that I have children I play with model trains with them and I know how messy it is (and painful if you step on a track). Also model trains take up a lot of space! VR lets us solve problems and deliver great experience with no mess and also easier handling. Placing tracks in Trains VR is kind like painting them on the board. Way easier than looking for correct track pieces in a huge box.

    Trains VR

    When you were creating that prototype, how did you model the trains? Did you use real life models?

    We used LEGO trains to make prototypes of the locomotives, actually, and wide lens cameras to catch a 180 degree view, which also helped us figure out which would be the best way to avoid motion sickness. It can’t be too open – as it would be bad nauseating experience – and can’t be to closed as it would diminish the feel and joy of the ride.

    Were you (or are you) model train enthusiasts? Did that encourage you to create Trains VR?

    I can’t say I am an enthusiast – it was rather a mix of childhood memories of playing with toy, electric trains, watching trains, traveling by train and having my own children also playing with train toys that made me want to make it. We have tracks nearby the office, so pretty often that train is passing and if they wave, trains often make their “Choo choo” noise!

    Trains VR

    Talk us through the puzzle mechanics of Trains VR. How do they get more complex as the game progresses?

    The gameplay in Trains VR is in two parts: the first one is figuring out a potential solution to the puzzle and placing your tracks. Then in the second part you verify your ideas, quickly get new ones and operate the whole table – switching tracks and turntables. We don’t have that many core mechanics (building tracks, switches, various trains, colors and tunnels) but mixing them together creates more and more complicated levels. One of the most complicated is the one where you have three trains, several stars to gain and lots of freedom on where to place your tracks. Surprisingly the more freedom you get, the more complicated the game becomes – constraints tend to give clues about how to solve the level and limit your options. We still have ideas for new mechanics that would add new layers of complexity – e.g. lights stopping trains or switches triggered by passing trains.

    Trains VR

    Players can also get into the train directly and ride around on the track. Are there any little details or Easter Eggs that people should look out for?

    There are quite a few – for those who played the game during trade show all over the world, a whistle might look familiar – you can grab the yellow handle in the top left corner and check out what will happen. Also if you get close to the wall, where the manual for the controls is, and look physically through the wall – that might be interesting. I will leave the rest for players to figure out.

    Do you have any future plans for Trains VR?

    We have quite a few ideas. The biggest demand from players is to add “free play” option – thus bringing us back to our roots. So this is an obvious candidate. We know people would like to teleport around the table (you can now teleport to four spots in the room – the controls manual poster, credits poster, achievements shelf and obviously table itself). But we want to add free teleportation wherever you want – including the game table itself with scale changed appropriately.

    What’s next for House of Fables after Trains VR?

    We have various ideas which are not yet ready to be presented – but some of them include another adventure game, some of them are around VR. We think how we can utilize the mechanics behind Trains VR for other games, so off the top of my head, there’s a rollercoaster builder and “true rail shooter” (pun intended). The closest to release though would be Solar System and World War II experiences we made for Warsaw Movie School. So stay tuned and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and our webpage.

    Thanks for talking with us, Adam.

    Trains VR is available on Viveport, and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • Going Deeper with Virtual Virtual Reality

    Going Deeper with Virtual Virtual Reality

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    In the bizarrely funny and surreal experience Virtual Virtual Reality, on sale this weekend for Viveport users and Viveport Subscription members, players explore a series of dreamlike digital worlds in a future where society is dominated by advanced AI. Things seem serene and wholesome at first glance, but all is not as it seems outside the confines of your headset. We had a chat with the Tanya Soto at developer Tender Claws to hear how their cerebral VR odyssey came to be. 

    Interview by Nathan Ortega, Viveport

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLID0vmIymE?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Tell us a bit about yourself and the crew at Tender Claws.

    Tender Claws is an award-winning game company located in Los Angeles, California that creates experiences at the intersection of art, games, and technology. Our team includes directors, writers, designers, and coders that collaborate to blur the boundaries of design, publishing, cinema, installation and virtual reality. We are committed to a reciprocal creative process: one that requires deep attention to content and careful consideration of the affordances of a technology.

    What inspired the bizarre and colorful experience Virtual Virtual Reality?

    We’ve actually been working in VR for quite some time. For instance, Game Lead Samantha Gorman worked on art and writing projects in a CAVE Automated Virtual Environment since 2002. Due to our experience in the medium before its current resurgence, we wanted to create a project that was both love letter to and satire on the hope and hype of VR.

    VVR starts off very colorful and silly, but slowly a sinister undertone begins to reveal itself. Talk a bit about how this concept came to be?

    VVR touches on several contemporary concepts in technological development besides VR, including our relationship to AI, the digital gig economy, and mind uploading. There is a lot of really cool promise in these technologies and approaches and ways they could enhance the future. At the same time, there are also things we should be cautious about and the possibility for darker issues to emerge. In celebrating the efficiency of these technologies, VVR would not be as dynamic if it didn’t address the darker themes and undercurrents.

    Virtual Virtual Reality seems to be very satirical towards silicon valley culture, with many of Activitude’s quirks and behavior seeming straight out of a CEO keynote.

    Yeah, we looked at a lot of keynotes for inspiration. Many of the characters are uploads of former human CEOs and tech executives. . .  who have morphed into AI Managers unsure of whether they’d rather be loved or feared, trying to have it all.

    VVR sends players hopping through a variety of virtual worlds during their time with Activitude. Were there any environments or set pieces you wanted to include in the final version that just didn’t quite find a place?

    I think one thing we’re good at is collaging together different bits and pieces.  Being a small team, we end up having to be resourceful. I don’t think there was much of anything that we made that went unused in someway or another.  The greenhouse from VVR actually came from another prototype we were working on that was a kind of murder mystery with a plant-devouring possum.

    VVR is pretty trippy and surreal, with a lot going on in each environment to interact with. Are there any hidden easter eggs or secrets hidden in Virtual Virtual Reality that players haven’t discovered so far?

    People seem pretty good at finding things, though there are a few moments we wonder if people ever see. One of these times rewards the player’s obstinance. If the player never teleports during the tutorial and doesn’t play along, we wrote an extremely long fail case where Chaz goes on a rant and even employs various strategies (like the creative visualization) to get the player to teleport.  It probably almost never plays because you only have to hit a single button to skip ahead, but for really stubborn players that don’t want to go along, Chaz goes off on a whole spiel about lava and the realm of the imagination.

    What happened to the artichoke to make it so upset? Its screams are more than a little upsetting.

    His name is Hernandez. He gets cranky without his vitamin supplements.

    What’s next for Tender Claws?

    We have a couple new projects in the works!  A virtual pet fish app that feeds on your emotions and the emotions of your friends. We’re also at the early stages of exploring the intersection of immersive theater and social experiences in VR.

    Sounds exciting! Can’t wait to see what you and the team come up with next. Thanks for speaking to us!

    Virtual Virtual Reality is on sale this weekend on Viveport, and Viveport Subscription members save 60% off

    Website: LINK

  • Creating virtual art with MasterpieceVR

    Creating virtual art with MasterpieceVR

    Reading Time: 8 minutes

    VR is revolutionizing the 3D production process, and MasterpieceVR is on the forefront. We talked to the company’s Marketing Officer, Brendan de Montigny, about their most recent updates and how MasterpieceVR can help both traditional and 3D artists to thrive.

    MasterpieceVR is available now on Viveport.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKieI3TnVHY]

    Hello! Tell us a bit about MasterpieceVR (the company) and MasterpieceVR (the app).

    Brendan de Montigny: MasterpieceVR is a technology company that is developing the most intuitive and powerful social 3D content creation platform using virtual reality. MasterpieceVR is also a cross-platform and comprehensive 3D sculpting and painting tool that is an extension of traditional workflows and opens up new ways for rapid ideation, creation and collaboration in virtual space. Creative professionals and teams can quickly learn to create high-quality 3D content and collaborate with others from all over the world.

    Who do you feel MasterpieceVR is aimed at? Amateurs, professionals, both?

    Both! One of the most interesting aspects of MasterpieceVR is how intuitive it is to use. It is excellent for creating collaborative workflow solutions that help professionals. It’s also a perfect opportunity for amateurs to experience VR artwork creation.

    For professional level users – where do you feel MasterpieceVR fits in the usual workflow, and what (if anything) does it replace or augment?

    MasterpieceVR is designed for 2D and 3D concept artists and animators primarily but is so intuitive that it’s useful for all sorts of applications. You can create fully finalized characters, objects, and asset visuals in very short order. It cuts out those early hours of project ideation. No longer do you need to use a 2D screen in a 3D program. In addition, you can simply import any MasterpieceVR files into existing programs like Marmoset and Unity allowing professionals a workflow that is flexible and enhances their existing toolkits.

    MasterpieceVR

    What features do you feel are unique to MasterpieceVR?

    We are fully collaborative. You can work with a team on one piece in real time. We just launched MIXER and REMIX Updates that push the boundaries of VR Creation. They include:

    Rasterization: You can convert any imported 3D models into an editable format. With the ability to access libraries of 3D models on Sketchfab and Google Poly.

    Clay Oven: You can now select and convert any part of your MasterpieceVR creation into mesh objects that can be layered and built into complex characters and scenes in seconds. Quicker, scalable, flexible.

    View Mode: Make your model polished with shadows, ambient occlusion, bloom, and 3-point lighting.

    File Browser and Project Saving Functionality: The sleek new file browser makes MasterpieceVR file management super easy.

    New Controller Models: We have created a new model design for in-game controllers, with icons and responsive animations.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IefJOQxigGg]

    What have you seen MasterpieceVR used for since launch? Has anything surprised you?

    One of the most interesting ways MasterpieceVR has been embraced is by educators and 2D animators. The fact it is collaborative really helps instructors quickly show how to create in 3D. MasterpieceVR lends itself to 2D animators who want to create engaging elements quickly, and VR creation is proving to be exactly that – the fastest way to create results. The most surprising example of this adoption is by Denmark based 2D Illustrator Martin Nebelong. His work in MasterpieceVR is outstanding (see it here on ArtStation or watch the video embedded below)!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq3K4zLU428]

    One theme that seems to be present in MasterpieceVR is extending and honoring traditional artistic workflows.

    No matter what artistic industry you are part of, there is always an aspect where artists can feel intimidated. As artists I think it is important to think in terms of investment of time and energy. Technology in 3D content creation has been moving fast, and the hours to learn a new program is about an investment of time. By honoring traditional artistic workflows we understand you’ve spent a long time building a creative practice and toolkit. What we do is look at these tools and improve them: make them faster or more adaptable for a unique and wide variety of projects.

    MasterpieceVR

    You’ve said previously “MasterpieceVR values the interplay between traditional and new ways of creating.” Where do you think this is obvious in MasterpieceVR?

    Kitbashing perfectly explains this idea of using traditional approaches with new methods. Kitbashing  in MasterpieceVR allows you to take preexisting objects as stamps that have imbued meanings in traditional art making and rework  them to fit your creative perspective. We are about to launch a contest that will really answer this question… so, stay tuned!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUZqZZL2cgI]

    Explain ‘kitbashing’ for those who don’t know the term.

    The history of modelling has roots in a pastime that is at the heart 3D creation and Virtual Reality. Popularized in the 1960s, artists used model airplanes, trains, automobiles, and other vehicles to create VFX for films like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, George Lucas’ Star Wars, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. This was the an early form of kitbashing and we have taken this into VR. Artists can now ‘kitbash’ using the accessible archive from Google Poly and SketchFab.

    What are ‘Stamps’? How are they used in MasterpieceVR?

    Stamps are files of pre-made 3D objects that you can bring into MasterpieceVR and manipulate to create new art from. Using standardized 3D files types you can build complex finished pieces in  little time, and seamlessly integrate your creation within traditional 3D programs.

    With our latest update REMIX, creators can now revisit their older work, other artists work, and combine them into new pieces quickly using the new rasterization Google Poly + SketchFab integration and the clay oven.

    MasterpieceVR

    In commercial artforms there have been points in time where technology has changed workflows, often quite radically – for example the transition between 2D, hand-drawn animation and 3D animation. Do you think VR is another one of these ‘tipping points’?

    I absolutely think that VR is a tipping point. Personally, I say often that I wish VR was around when I started in art school. I studied traditional painting, drawing, and print instead of animation and gaming because I felt there was something lacking in sitting at a 2D screen. There was a haptic lack in pushing around a mouse all day. With VR your hands are in the action. Your eyes are moving in a genuine way. The fact that there is now an opportunity to blend industries and pedagogical approaches this way is ground breaking.

    MasterpieceVR is one of the few VR creation apps to allow collaboration in a virtual space. Was that an objective from the start of development?

    Yes. Our world is increasingly networked. Artists who work as freelancers, or with small to large companies are constantly needing to share ideas quickly . One antiquated way of thinking about an artist is that they are alone in a studio. Here they are contemplative. They create, draw, paint, sculpt. With MasterpieceVR’s collaborative approach artists can now instantly share ideas and receive feedback in an organic way through a VR Studio.

    How do you think MasterpieceVR‘s collaboration features change traditional workflow? What can you accomplish there that you might not be able to normally?

    The collaboration features allow creative teams to quickly review and iterate on concepts of a large project and to see the concepts in relation to each other. Some upcoming features will allow for even easier sharing of files, annotations and viewing from multiple devices.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zja5yDgJ5kQ]

    With the new Rasterization feature you can convert imported 3D models into an editable format – and you previously added the ability to access libraries of 3D models. How does this work?

    The process of rasterization turns a 3D model into an MasterpieceVR-specific editable format. Once the model is edited it can be converted back into a standard 3D model format. The artist can also use our powerful selection tools to subdivide the model into multiple mesh parts, which they can use to make stamps for future use, or to help structure the model into sections to easily iterate on.

    Can you tell us how the ‘Clay Oven’ feature works? Why would someone need to convert part of a MasterpieceVR model into a mesh object – performance, workflow or something else?

    Sculpting in MasterpieceVR is extremely intuitive and fast, and one drawback to creating quickly in this manner is that the models exported to standard 3D formats are very complex meshes that are not optimized for games and animation. The Clay Oven helps increase performance without losing quality.

    Your new View Mode allows users to ‘polish up’ a model with shadows, ambient occlusion, bloom and 3-point lighting. Is this a replacement for the usual process of exporting models, or is there a unique advantage to have this available in VR?

    View Mode allows artists to add realistic lighting to their model before sharing, and by playing around with moveable lights, the artist can get an idea of where to add details that will give the model a little bit extra.

    With your ‘3G’ update you added in a number of tools to allow people to be more precise in their work. Can you explain a bit more about them, and what they add to MasterpieceVR? Does that change your positioning and who could benefit from using MasterpieceVR?

    We have had a lot of interest from architecture schools and industrial designers who are experimenting with these new tools and are excited by the ways these precision tools speed up the concept stage of architectural design. These tools have been really useful for relative sizing, spacing, and for creating unique hard surface shapes that are the foundations of buildings and vehicles, something which had not been easy or possible in VR before.

    The snapping grid in conjunction with stamps has been really powerful for VR artists, allowing them to quickly design complex hard surface models. You can see this in this video.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKieI3TnVHY]

    Finally, with the recent updates it seems like MasterpieceVR has a pretty wide-ranging set of features – but is there anything else you want to add? Anything you haven’t accomplished yet?

    We have some features coming in the near future that will expand the natural workflow of 3D artists so stay tuned!

    There are lots of areas to improve on and we are listening to our community very carefully to ensure we give them the right set of features that will remove creative boundaries and let them take their art to a new level.

    For someone who might be new to MasterpieceVR and/or 3D work, where would you suggest they start in trying to learn?

    We suggest they dive right in and start creating immediately. The program is so intuitive that they will be making art in no time, and they will find that they improve every day as they discover how powerful the tools are and how fun it is to create in VR.

    We will be releasing a set of basic and advanced tutorials soon that will help artists discover some new and advanced workflows with our set of features.

    Where can people see some great examples of MasterpieceVR in action, and what it’s capable of?

    A great place to see what is being made in MasterpieceVR is our VR Creatives community on Facebook – and of course we have some great videos on our YouTube channel.

    Thank you for talking with us, Brendan!

    MasterpieceVR is available now on Viveport.

    Website: LINK

  • Ready Player One upgraded! Elite Gunter Edition available now

    Ready Player One upgraded! Elite Gunter Edition available now

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Earlier this year we took you to the OASIS with Ready Player One: OASIS beta, the official VR experience for the blockbuster movie Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the book by Ernest Cline. Now we’re ready to go back with an expanded and upgraded Ready Player One experience – get ready to become an Elite Gunter!

    Ready Player One: OASIS - Elite Gunter Edition

    If you’re a Viveport Subscription member, we have a new version of Ready Player One: OASIS for you to download – the Elite Gunter Edition. This expands the experience with new additions to many of the games included:

    Gauntlet

    The VR version of the 80s coin-op classic, Gauntlet throws you into a seemingly endless dungeon with only your bow to fend off the undead hordes. In the Elite Gunter update, developer Directive Games has added a new winter environment, new level layouts, new room designs and of course, three new power-ups, including Exploding Arrows, Freeze Trap and Decoy Trap.

    Ready Player One: OASIS

    Battle for the OASIS

    Steel Wool Studios’ wave shooter throws you up against IOI Sixers on the appropriately named Planet Doom. In the Elite Gunter update eight new levels are available, taking place in two new environments, where you’ll unlock even more weapons. You’ll need every upgrade available to take on heavy gunners, spider-mech hordes and two new bosses – including the ruthless mercenary i-R0k!

    Ready Player One: OASIS - Battle for the OASISSmash

    This VR homage to the classic Pong is getting much bigger with the Elite Gunter upgrade, adding nine new levels and three new boss battles to give you even more of a virtual workout.

    Ready Player One: OASIS - SmashFracture

    If Smash is the RPO homage to Pong, then Fracture is a love letter to Breakout – a VR brick-smasher which has been updated with 24 new levels and three new boss battles in the Elite Gunter update.

    Ready Player One: OASIS - Fracture

    If you haven’t signed up for Viveport Subscription yet – and with a 14-day trial, why not – then you can still experience the Elite Gunter content as standalone DLC. It’s available now for $19.99.

    Now there are two different versions of Ready Player One: OASIS on Viveport you might be confused as to which one you need. Here’s a quick and easy guide.

    Already downloaded Ready Player One: OASIS beta, and are a Viveport Subscription member?

    Already downloaded Ready Player One: OASIS beta, but want the DLC?

    Never played Ready Player One: OASIS beta?

    WBIE LOGO, READY PLAYER ONE and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

    Website: LINK

  • 8 Reasons Why Modal Uses VIVE Focus

    8 Reasons Why Modal Uses VIVE Focus

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    By Jason Crawford, Founder & CEO of Modal Systems, Inc.

    There is a rising tide of virtual reality in location-based entertainment (LBE). It’s a much needed reset for the industry and Modal hopes to see this market grow. Competition will come later. For now, location-based virtual reality (LBVR) companies need to build this new market together. Thus, I’d like to share some insights on why Modal uses the VIVE Focus as our choice HMD for LBVR.

    First, A Little Backstory

    In 2014, Modal’s first LBVR system prototype consisted of backpack PC computers, optical tracking, and Oculus DK1s, etc. Technically, it worked. However, when Nolan Bushnell (Founder of Atari & Chuck E. Cheese’s) got involved with the company, he began laying out the practical realities of location-based entertainment—rules that have governed the industry for over a hundred years. It became clear that an LBVR system must be, above all else, affordable, portable, simple, and reliable—all while also providing high hourly throughput. All of this meant we needed to rethink our system design.

    In refining our approach, we found the ideal VR headset for Modal simply did not exist. So, like any group of well-meaning wackos, we started designing our own . (Not recommended). In late 2017, Modal was preparing to put a rather pricey standalone headset into production when HTC made its VIVE Focus announcement. We were surprised to see HTC VIVE had addressed many of the same design issues we ourselves found important for LBVR. I paused our own hardware plans and reached out to HTC VIVE for a chat. It turned out to be one of the best phone calls I’ve ever made.

    9 Reasons Why Modal Uses VIVE Focus:

    1. Accessibility

    For all of us in the XR bubble, it’s hard to believe that 99% of the world has still not experienced VR. With the exception of kids, the average person passing by a VR installation finds the controls and equipment intimidating or “too much”. A single wireless standalone headset, like the VIVE Focus reduces their fear factor, especially if they see others having fun. If XR is to transcend its current user base, accessibility, in all forms, is a critical component to getting us there.

    1. Enterprise-Centric

    Unlike taking a standalone consumer HMD—which needs to be brute-forced into doing what you need for commercial location-based use—the VIVE Focus program is already geared towards the enterprise market. This means critical firmware features such as “kiosk mode” within the enterprise ROM are ready to go from day one. Huge time saver.

    HTC VIVE also has an enterprise warranty program that’s known to come in handy when, say, hundreds of people are using your equipment on a daily basis.

    1. Form Factor

    The VIVE Focus is certainly comfortable, light, and well-balanced, but our favorite design feature is actually the headset’s cooling system—one that’s very similar to Modal’s own design.

    Avoiding HMD overheat with standalone HMDs is a huge issue for location-based operations, especially when operating outdoors in the sun. Obviously there are limits here, but Modal has run the VIVE Focus in several high-heat conditions and we have yet to see any “must cool down” pop-ups we experienced with other standalone HMDs. Cleverly, the fan also ventilates the facial area when the headset is on, helping keep a user’s face cool while minimizing lens fogging.

    1. Portability

    The VIVE Focus is obviously self-contained and wireless, making it ideal for temporary installations for corporate events, fairs, trade shows, experiential marketing pop-ups, etc. For instance, a bare minimum Modal system sets up and breaks down in less than an hour, and can even fit in the trunk of a car. Sans lighting conditions, the VIVE Focus allows the Modal system to operate outdoors and the inside-out tracking conveniently does not conflict with other on-site VR installations using laser and/or infrared tracking.

    1. Extensibility

    The VIVE Focus has a USB-C port and screw-mount system conveniently located on the top of the visor, which has allowed Modal to fuse X & Y positional tracking with the VIVE Focus’ 6DoF, easily covering up to a 900,000 sq. ft. area with no drift. We’re looking forward to seeing more VIVE Focus accessories from other companies to extend the VIVE Focus in novel and compelling ways.

    1. Android Stack & VIVE Wave SDK

    Modal was born out of a mobile game development studio, so our internal game development team has a lot of experience getting the most out of mobile processing and working with the Android stack. We also like the fact mobile game developers can create multiplayer free-roam XR titles for the Modal system with minimal resources—especially if they have existing titles that make sense for location-based games and experiences. The Wave SDK is easy to use for both Unity and Unreal and the VIVE Focus has proved to be very stable.

    1. Affordability

    It seems like a year of innovation in XR technology equals two years of innovation for other gaming platforms. Because the hardware and software capabilities move at such a rapid pace, making large investments in high-cost tracking, processing, etc. can leave location-based vendors and operators with expensive technical debt issues. Practical ROI and hardware upgrades are critical for location-based installations. For Modal, the affordability of the VIVE Focus has helped manage that aspect of our business. 

    1. The People Behind It

    Last, but not least is the intangible benefit of working with h the HTC VIVE team. They truly understand location-based entertainment and share the same passion for making it successful.

    Last Word

    The LBVR industry needs more great developers and thinkers to help push the market forward with amazing content. The VIVE Focus combined with the Modal system provides a relatively low-risk way to get into it. Feel free to reach out to me if your company is considering LBVR. I’m always ready to chat with those who want to shape the future of fun!

    About the Author

    Jason Crawford is Chief Immersionist and Founder of Modal Systems, Inc., which he started with Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari and Chuck E Cheese’s). Modal offers accessible and affordable free-roam virtual reality solutions for location-based entertainment.

    Twitter: @modalvr  Instagram: @modalvr  Facebook: @modalsystems

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncrawford/

    Website: LINK

  • A KOBOLD New Direction For Interactive Storytelling

    A KOBOLD New Direction For Interactive Storytelling

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    As technology advances, the line between different mediums for telling stories continues to blur. Developers at AnotherWorld seek to explore what is possible by merging traditional storytelling tools in film and television with the immersion of digital entertainment. We sat down with Creative Directors Ioulia Isserlis and Max Sacker to hear from them about their experience crafting the chilling mixed-media horror story KOBOLD.

    Interview by Nathan Allen Ortega, Vive

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bncaA6L_kw]

    For the uninitiated, tell us a bit about yourself and the team at AnotherWorld.

    Ioulia: We are a content production studio based in Berlin. Half of our team has a film background and the other half comes from game development. The convergence of these two fields is what drives our passion in blurring the line between cinema and interactive VR gaming.

    What inspired the creation of the chilling and immersive mixed media experience KOBOLD?

    Max: The idea of stepping into the movie screen is a filmmaker’s dream that has been made possible with virtual reality.

    Ioulia: When I was a child and I would watch movies, I always imagined how it would be to enter the film’s universe and join its characters. I even used to invent a whole new character just for myself and the film continued with me in it in my mind. In KOBOLD you first watch short film that has an open ending and then you leave your passive spectator role behind and become the protagonist.

    KOBOLD is super atmospheric and terrifying. What were some of the main influences on the tone and concepts explored in this game-film hybrid?

    Max: We didn’t want to do another graphic zombie scenario or vampire adaptation, and instead drew inspiration from European folklore and fairy tales. Authenticity was very important to us, because in the past, the horror genre has been over-saturated with schlocky, generic content and uninspired remakes, often drowning out the more original content and giving the genre a bad name. Storytelling centered around local folklore, traditions or culture are now becoming more appreciated. This has been understood by innovative horror creators and if you look at upcoming TV series, independent films or even recent blockbuster titles, we are now seeing a renaissance in high-quality horror.

    Cross-media stories can be tricky to create, especially with new technology such as VR. Share with us a bit of what the process was like developing KOBOLD.

    Ioulia: This process was indeed tricky and exciting at the same time. Movies and games work very differently (passive vs active storytelling) and KOBOLD stands somewhere in between the two. Hence, it was challenging to find this golden middle for our film-and story living concept.

    Developing a narrative in VR is different to traditional film making in the sense that whatever is said or planned in the script is not guaranteed to stay in the VR experience or game. In VR, the process of developing a script is always ongoing. Only after testing an idea in the virtual environment will you really see if it works or not.

    The story of KOBOLD delves into really interesting (and scary) folklore. Was this something the team wanted to explore from the beginning or did it become a part of the project during development?

    Max: The KOBOLD VR Experience is inspired by pagan mythology, ancient superstitions and the old Germanic fairy tales that don’t always have a positive ending. A kobold is creature from northern European folklore that has been represented in many different ways over the centuries. In the KOBOLD VR Experience, it is certainly not a cute little gnome or a mischievous elf but something far more terrifying.

    Were there any particular challenges you encountered during development that surprised you?

    Max: Early in the process we experimented with photogrammetry, and our tests confirmed our feeling that scanning real world characters, locations and objects could provide a foundation of cinematic realism, granting players the ability to walk freely in a 3D scanned environment would be the key to immersing them in the story. I’m happy that we decided to scan all of our environments, characters and assets. On the flipside, though, scanned objects do take their toll on game performance if they are not carefully optimized. Making the complex 3D environment we captured run smoothly, especially when illuminated by dynamic lights that cast realistic shadows meant diving into a pipeline of performance optimization that even the biggest game studios struggle with. It was a steep learning curve with many hidden surprises.

    How long did KOBOLD take to develop? What was the size of the team throughout the process?

    Max: The KOBOLD VR Experience has been in development for one and a half years, with a team of ten dedicated VR developers covering the areas of VR storytelling, programming, level and character design, photogrammetry, motion capture, facial animation, spatial audio design and tweaking the invisible magic that happens in the game engine. In addition, the short film that can be watched before or after entering the VR Experience was made possible by a dedicated film crew and brought to life by very talented actors, including a little boy that was 5 years old at the time.

    Your Head of Human Resources is adorable! Does Kodak also help with development? : )

    Absolutely! She is an integral part of our team and always there for everybody during stressful times. She is also our CFO: The Chief Officer of Fluffiness.

    What’s next for AnotherWorld? Are there more possibilities in mixed media VR you might explore or are there other kinds of projects on the horizon?

    Ioulia: Our next project is a mixed media VR experience as well. We are producing the VR game for the Sky series Pagan Peak. This will be a multi-player horror escape game set in the Alps on the German/Austrian border. The players are captured by the so called Krampus Killer, a serial killer that identifies with the “Krampus”, a half-goat, half-demon from European folklore, who during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved…

    Wow, that sounds terrifying AND perfectly timed for the holidays. Can’t wait!

    Thanks so much for taking the time to speak to us.

    KOBOLD: CHAPTER I is out now on Viveport and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • Embracing the horrors of Nevrosa: Escape with Gexagon VR

    Embracing the horrors of Nevrosa: Escape with Gexagon VR

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The terrifying beings created by David Cronenberg influenced the main antagonist of both games. It’s an eerie imp, who still has some human attitude and consciousness.

    Another talented horror writer, Stephen King and the amazing adaptation of his story The Mist by Frank Darabont inspired us to create the Mist World.

    A human left alone with a completely new world is a very curious thing. Just like the first American Frontier explorers, each generation of the Conway family is drawn into the adventures in the uncanny Mist World that hides behind the vague teleportation mirrors.

    To immerse myself into the right atmosphere while working I had things like the 80s and 90s movies of Cronenberg, Carpenter and Clive Barker playing in the background.

    Every object in the game is unique. It was created with special attention to the details. Every pixel of texture has its place, and even the simple objects have something new to show every time people play.

    Nevrosa: Escape

    Creating a chilling, tense experience that also challenges the mind is no small order. How difficult was it to get the balance of chills and brain-teasing right?

    It was important for us to show that even though there are furious battles, our story is mostly about the scientist. Many notes left by the main character’s grandfather lift the veil of the Mist World, depicting the main character as a brave and smart person with a curious mind.

    Following his path, we ourselves turn from a watchmaker into an adventurer. You can most clearly see that in the Misty End, where the main character, denying the sins and fears of our world, is coming back to the Mist to face the truth.

    Working on the puzzles in the grandfather’s laboratory, we were trying to make them as logical as possible, so the player in the end, after many tries could slap his or her forehead and say, “It was so simple!”

    A good example is a puzzle with the mouse on the checkerboard, where players were trying to count the steps, memorize the direction – they may have already started to think we were maniacs of some kind – but the solution was at the surface.

    Nevrosa differs pretty dramatically from your team’s previous work. Can you tell us a bit about how your previous development experience influenced the direction of the Nevrosa universe?

    It’s hard to believe, but our team had never had game development experience before we created our company. Even such key aspects as 3D-modeling, texture making, working on Unity Engine, and story writing we were figuring out and mastering on the way.

    We think that Gexagon as a company is a case where our motivation and desire to create products of high quality help to overcome our difficulties, and where warm hearts light up new talent and skills!

    Website: LINK

  • VIVE Wave – Your Next VR Platform

    VIVE Wave – Your Next VR Platform

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    It goes without saying: virtual reality needs a unified platform. More specifically, it needs a platform that has standards for the industry, guidelines for distribution, and a hub for creating immersive experiences, be it for consumers or enterprise. Enter VIVE Wave™, the most vibrant ecosystem for standalone and mobile VR today.

    Key Features of VIVE Wave
     
    When we say VIVE Wave is a “vibrant ecosystem” for standalone and mobile VR, we mean it. Here are a number of the versatile VR features optimized for mobile in the platform:

    – <20ms motion to photon latency
     – 3/6 DoF head and controller tracking
     – Stereo rendering with Asynchronous TimeWarp
     – Single-buffer rendering with V-Sync scheduling
     – Columns or Rows strip rendering
     – Lens distortion correction and chromatic aberration correction
     – Tracking prediction
     – System 2D Overlay
     – Unity and Unreal Plugin support
     – Safety virtual wall

    Beyond mobile, here are the various HMDs supported by VIVE Wave:

    – Standalone HMD
    – Smartphone slot-in HMD
    – Smartphone tethered HMD 

    Not a VIVE Developer?

    Come from other VR or AR platforms? Maybe a PC-based VR or Android development? Are you just starting out from scratch? VIVE Wave has got you, no matter where you come from. You can leverage your existing tools to develop for the platform using the Wave SDKs which includes support for third-party engines like Unity and UE4.

    In addition to providing the tools needed for VR development, the VIVE Wave platform is also an open platform, providing OEM tools and an SDK for third parties to run VIVE Wave on their own XR mobile devices. Additionally, third-party devices—controllers, cameras, custom hardware add-ons—can integrate their devices into the Wave platform as device services with the Wave Plugin Kit SDK.

    And speaking of SDKs…

    The VIVE Wave SDK

    The VIVE Wave SDK is actually comprised of the following five SDKs, which can be downloaded here. Below, we’ll give each one a quick rundown.

    Wave Native (Android) SDK

    In addition to allowing Android developers to use the tools they are already familiar with; the Wave Native SDK allows for VR device tracking and input as well as VR stereo rendering. Wave provides VRActivity as the entry point to VR activities. For a Wave Native SDK tutorial, click here. Or if you’re looking get started now, click here.
     

    Wave Unity SDK (Plugin)

    Not familiar with the detailed VR Android interface? Don’t fret, Unity developers. This SDK allows you to concentrate on VR content development without getting to know a whole new system. The minimum version of Unity required is v5.6.3.

    Also included is a Wave simulator that allows you to develop and test with an Android phone in lieu of an actual Wave device. Click here to download. To get started in Unity, check out the prerequisite setup here.

    Wave UE4 SDK (Plugin)

    The Unreal engine is also supported with a Wave plugin. The supported version is 4.20.0 and Blueprint support is included. To get started, please click here.
     

    Wave PluginKit SDK

    Offered specifically to help accessory developers, the Wave PluginKit SDK serves as the communication conduit between a VIVE Wave™ Server and a VR DeviceService, allowing you to write a device service (driver) and plug it into VIVE Wave™ via an APK installation. This expands the scope of VIVE Wave devices to fulfill the various demands of end users, such as 3/6 DoF controllers, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, and more. For a tutorial, please click here.
     

    Wave OEM SDK

    Lastly, if you create a device that requires a VR platform —and would rather not write your own—the Wave OEM SDK is the logical choice. Provided to help developers design a VROEMService, it serves as a communication conduit between said service and a VIVE Wave™ Server.

    For a tutorial, please click here. 

    Additional Resources:

    For additional support, please check out the official WAVE SDK developer forum here. (link to: http://community.viveport.com/t5/Vive-Wave-SDK/bd-p/vive-wave-sdk)

    Looking for porting guides? We’ve got you covered here.

    And speaking of porting…

    About Porting to VIVE Wave

    Developers just need to spend minimal effort to be able to easily port contents to VIVE Wave. Porting existing VR experiences from other mobile platforms (e.g. Daydream or GearVR) is the easiest route with some developers taking as little as a week, a few days, or even a couple hours to port to the WAVE platform.

    Targeting desktop GPUs to mobile GPUs, however, can be a little challenging—but not impossible. For example, say you want to port an existing app running on VIVE / VIVE Pro / Oculus Rift to run on the VIVE Focus, which has a mobile GPU. For this port, we do have a porting guide from a case study of an actual game ported from the VIVE to the VIVE Focus here to help bridge that gap.
    Last Word

    Want to make a wise choice for your next VR (or XR) mobile/standalone project? As it’s already supported by several devices—and counting—it’s hard to imagine doing better than VIVE Wave. For a quick Getting Started guide in Unity and to see the latest entry in the developer blog, please click here.

    Website: LINK

  • Viveport Reaches out to Developers at XRDC

    Viveport Reaches out to Developers at XRDC

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Viveport headed to XRDC in San Francisco today to talk to the developer community about best practices for deploying and monetizing their VR content. In his speaking session today, Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport, shared with developers how to take advantage of Viveport’s offerings to generate the most revenue and reach the largest audiences.

    In addition, Viveport also gave insight into the 3rd annual Viveport Developer Awards, the newly announced 6DoF developer kits, and HTC Vive’s participation in XRA and the VirtualLink Consortium among other important topics for the developer community. Unable to make it to San Francisco for Viveport’s speaking session? Check out the main announcements made below:

    Viveport Developer Awards

    Today we announced the 3rd annual Viveport Developer Awards, Viveport’s awards program that celebrates and rewards the exceptional teams and content that have contributed to the platform’s success. This year, we are recognizing the best in over 500 pieces of content in Viveport Subscription as it has become the most popular way for Viveport users to interact with the platform.

    There will be one winner and one finalist from four PC-VR categories and one winner from three Vive Wave categories. With a cash prize, the newest Vive hardware, tickets to this year’s Game Developer Conference and a “Viveport Developer Stories” marketing video and assets, winners receive a great package of prizes to support their current and future development objectives. Submission open in November and winners will be announced during GDC 2019.

    6DoF Developer Kits

    Reiterating last week’s announcement at the 2018 World Conference on VR Industry, Viveport shared that the 6DoF developer kits for the Vive Wave VR platform are now available for a select number of Viveport developers. The 6DoF Developer Kit opens a path for developers of the Vive Wave VR platform to develop or port their VR experiences to two handed 6DoF standalone VR controls. The Developer Kit includes two 6DoF controllers and a tracking attachment that works with any existing Vive Focus devices and a suite of related software tools.

    Viveport also announced that the third-party FinchShift™ Controllers developer kits from Finch Technologies are now available for immediate online website preorders (www.finch-vr.com), with delivery in January 2019. 

    XRA

    Also announced during today’s speaking session, was HTC Vive’s participation in XRA. Formerly known as the GVRA, or Global Virtual Reality Association, the association is relaunching today with a new name and an expanded focus beyond virtual reality. As a part of the relaunch and core mission, XRA is releasing a first-of-its-kind starter guide for developers titled, “XR PRIMER 1.0: A Starter Guide for Developers,” which you can check out on XRA.org. The Starter Guide includes topics that developers should focus on to make sure users stay comfortable and safe while using AR and VR products and will lead to better end-user experiences for AR and VR.

    If attending XRDC, make sure to check out our other speaking sessions for additional insight on developing for VR. Today at 2pm, we’ll be hosting a panel on “Developing for the Standalone Ecosystem” with another panel on Tuesday at 2pm titled, “Location-Based Entertainment Best Practices”. In addition, Viveport will be sponsoring the XRDC 2018 Opening Night Reception from 5-7pm tonight and will also host the Viveport Developer Mixer tonight from 6-9pm.

    Website: LINK

  • HTC VIVE Proud to Join VirtualLink Consortium to Define Future of VR Connectivity

    HTC VIVE Proud to Join VirtualLink Consortium to Define Future of VR Connectivity

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Today, we are excited to announce that HTC VIVE has officially joined the VirtualLink™ Consortium and is contributing to the development of VirtualLink, a new open industry standard that enables next-generation VR headsets to connect more simply to PCs and other devices. This new specification uses a single, high-bandwidth USB Type-C™ connector cable developed to make connecting to current and future VR headsets more seamless.

    Most major tethered headsets require at least two or three cables to work; VirtualLink aims to reduce that to one. VirtualLink is a USB-C “Alternate Mode” connector that will help condense the various types of VR headset plugs used across multiple companies into a single, lightweight cord. This not only makes for an easy setup for your VIVE, but other headsets as well—next-generation headsets included—setting you up with all the power, display, and data you’ll need. The VirtualLink connector includes support for four lanes of HBR3 DisplayPort® for high-resolution displays, USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) for headset cameras, and sensors and up to 27W of power delivery.

    “At HTC, we strive to make the best VR experience with crisp resolution, audio, and ergonomics for our customers,” said Daniel O’Brien, HTC VIVE GM for the Americas. “Through our work with VirtualLink, we are working to define not only a connection standard for future VR products but are also undertaking important work to help to define the future of what VR can be.”

    Not only will this new open industry standard streamline cables, but it could help bring VR to an even broader audience—not just those with high-powered gaming PCs. In the future, with this new connector, VR could be used on a variety of USB-C supported devices, such as laptops, tablets, and notebooks.

    “We’re thrilled to welcome HTC VIVE to the consortium of leading companies committing to VirtualLink,” said Rambod Jacoby, Chairman of the VirtualLink Consortium and Principal Technologist at NVIDIA, one of the consortium’s founding members. “VirtualLink is not only streamlining the cords needed for a high-powered experience, but also helping make the next phase of VR more accessible to even more people.”

    More details are available at www.VirtualLink.org.

    VirtualLink is a trademark of the VirtualLink Consortium. USB Type-C and USB-C are trademarks of USB Implementers Forum. Other company and product nam

    Website: LINK

  • All Along The Witching Tower with Daily Magic Productions

    All Along The Witching Tower with Daily Magic Productions

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    The recently released Witching Tower (also available in Viveport Subscription) puts you inside a fantasy world ravaged by an undead scourge. Wielding a variety of tools and weapons, you’ll have to wade through armies of deadly enemies, solve a bevy of devious puzzles, and ultimately confront the Queen of the Tower in order to release the world from her dark influence.

    We sat down to chat with Daily Magic Production’s Marianna Vallejo so we could find out how their team crafted this visually dynamic and atmospheric narrative fantasy adventure.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-5R7GSr7bk?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Tell us a bit about yourself and the team at Daily Magic?

    I have background in game design and I was always a fan of mystery games and anything mysterious. I founded Daily Magic when I saw the game Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, which inspired me to create similar story driven experiences. We founded Daily Magic in 2010 and since then we’ve developed and shipped more than 25 titles for various platforms. Most of them exist in “puzzle adventure” genre, and after the debut of current VR technology, we decided to transform all that “adventure” experience we gained over the years into VR. And that’s how Witching Tower was started.

    What inspired your team to make the leap into VR with Witching Tower?

    In the early days of VR, we saw the title Vanishing Realms and thought “Hey, that’s what we’ve been doing for all these years, but in 2D! We should try to bring what we do to the world of VR”. The technology itself was fascinating and when I first experienced VR, I was like “Wow, I can be inside the game now!”. Witching Tower started as a more casual game and at some point it was even inspired by the classic Rapunzel fairy tale. We soon realized that we needed to drop the casual approach and stick to something more dark and mysterious with deeper themes.

    Daily Magic’s background is in mobile and PC development. How did these experiences influence the creative direction of Witching Tower?

    When we were doing adventure games for PC, we were working with casual game publisher Big Fish Games. It was a great experience where we learned how to make very intuitive user experiences, which is especially useful for developing for VR. Yes, the players are hardcore, but there’s already a lot going on in VR and they need to be able to do everything in the game using just a few control buttons and the experience can’t be too complex or overwhelming.

    On a more creative side, we love experimenting with dark stories, but historically haven’t had a chance to explore those kinds of concepts in depth. With our past development experience, it was pretty easy to come up with the mystery at the core of the game, but this time we explored the narrative concepts further with added supernatural elements like necromancy and mind control. Our previous experience designing hundreds of puzzles definitely influence our game design in a way that is challenging but intuitive, and always presented in a way that feels natural to the player.

    Were there any particular influences on the tone and world of Witching Tower?

    I would say the main influences are Dark Souls 3 and Skyrim. We really wanted to match that look and feel of Dark Souls and we wanted try to make the gameplay as interesting as Skyrim. We also wanted to do something that looks good, but isn’t too complex on the development side. From our experience, crafting dark environments with atmospheric weather like rain or snow helps create a  mysterious vibe pretty much immediately.

    How long has Witching Tower been in development? How big is the team working on it?

    Our first prototype took us about 5 months to develop, where we then we took a break to show it around to get vital feedback, as well as searching for funding, which were factors on whether we should go forward with making a full experience out of it. The process go us so fascinated with VR development in general, so we decided to make a full version of Witching Tower no matter what. It took us an additional year since then to complete the game.

    Were there any particular challenges you encountered during development?

    Our biggest challenge was transitioning between development of 2D games to 3D, as well as learning how to work within the Unreal Engine. With VR specifically, the main design challenge was to craft interactions and puzzles that would be satisfying in an immersive 3D space, which is drastically different from traditional PC experiences. This challenge inspired us to create the ‘lasso’ mechanics and ‘controlling undead’ mechanics in Witching Tower, because it’s just so fun to move your hands and see the characters react to it. Adding free locomotion later in development also proved challenging, since we didn’t expect so many people would be demanding it. Early Witching Tower streamers commented on it and we listened, and while it’s not perfect, we feel proud of how it turned out for our first crack at it.

    Were there any enemies/weapons/items that you wanted to work into the game but had to be left on the cutting room floor for whatever reason?

    We really wanted to create a more elaborate introduction segment, where Queen Elenwen is manipulating the player’s mind and playing “chess” with skeletons (like in Harry Potter). We actually did build a version of the sequence, but then in execution it felt a bit too chaotic and were concerned players wouldn’t be able to make sense of what’s going on. We didn’t want to overwhelm players with mechanics, especially so early in the experience.

    What are your thoughts on VR and the role it plays in the world of adventure and puzzle game design?

    I think the adventure genre and VR are a perfect match. VR really brings storytelling and exploration to the next level, it’s just so exciting to be able to explore environments in new and immersive ways, and feel like you’re in the story in a whole new way. The tools of VR also change the game for creating and interacting with puzzles, as well. It can allow for really ambitious and unique challenges for the player to sold, like the gigantic planet puzzle in Witching Tower for example. Puzzle complexity needs to be tweaked and adjusted for VR, however, as really obtuse or  brainy stuff can prove overwhelming with that interface.

    What do you want players to take away from their time with Witching Tower?

    We really want players to enjoy the detailed environments we’ve worked really hard at crafting and have fun with the lasso and skeleton controlling mechanics. We would be happy if players can interact with everything they find in the world, and feel their blood pumping as they combat the various dangerous enemies that populate the tower.

    What’s next from Daily Magic? Any interest in developing more exciting adventures in VR?

    We have already started working on our next VR game, called Revival! We learned a lot from the development of Witching Tower and want to expand upon it all in our new game, especially in regards to the combat, with the addition of shooting mechanics. We are also planning an Arena mode for the Witching Tower, a 10-15 minute experience for arcades and location based entertainment operators. We definitely want to experiment more with plot twists and story integration in future experiences, but most importantly we’re excited for new gameplay features we’re going to build in the new game, after we collect feedback from Witching Tower players.

    That’s super exciting! Thank you for speaking to us, we can’t wait to see what you’ve got coming next!

    Witching Tower is now available on Viveport and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • Don’t be afraid of the dark… scare up savings in our Halloween Sale!

    Don’t be afraid of the dark… scare up savings in our Halloween Sale!

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    It’s the time of year when the days grow short, the nights get cold and the sun shies away leaving us groping around in the dark… and when you take off your VR headset, it’s pretty scary out there in real life too. To keep you safe in these terrifying times, we’ve conjured up three groups of offers for our Halloween Sale that are such good value for money, your wallet will be scared into submission.

    It wouldn’t be Halloween without a group of ghouls coming to knock at your door. This time they’re coming from inside the headset! You can save huge right now on a variety of titles, from zombie blasters to atmospheric adventures. And what could be scarier than standing on a plank at a very high altitude? Check out these titles right now.

    SHOOT ALL THE ZOMBIES.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DJH4tgB8Ck]

     

    Breaking news: We have been told there are, in fact, more zombies to shoot. And smack.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIiPCaZ4hCo]

     

    According to the developers The Brookhaven Experiment features ‘Situational horror’ and ‘Occasional pants wetting’. So you’ve got that going for you, we guess.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow6N30xYff4]

    It has the word ‘cyber’ in it, right next to the word ‘ninja’, so if you couldn’t pull that tricky Halloween costume together in time for that party – stay at home and play this. You’ll have more fun anyway.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=silUn26nv-A?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

     

    The foggy streets of old London town are spooky at any time of year, but in this steampunk shooter you’ll be able to fight back with some lovely brassy weaponry including the SteamHammer itself!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G1LKd4MG18]

    With two routes and four alternate endings, there are plenty of opportunities to scare the living daylights out of your friends and family at your VR Halloween party with AFFECTED: The Manor.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bog71KMSsdE]

     

    This VR take on a terrifying urban legend is a perfect pairing with the movie it’s based on. Don’t forget, one knock to wake her from her bed, two knocks to raise her from the dead….

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OZz3Zue6SQ]

    When Dracula and his companions have been the subject of three family friendly animated movies, it’s fair to say your scaring days are a little behind you. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had in this rhythm action game that will liven up any Halloween scare-a-thon!

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic

    Okay alright, you might think that teddy bears aren’t that scary – but what if they’re sneaky? Take up your freeze ray and water gun to fend off the stuffed psychos in this fun-and-frantic shooter!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3d0f5pBgbk]

    If you were ever the person who screamed “WHAT JUST BRUSHED UP AGAINST MY LEG” while swimming, this is not the VR game for you.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4J13B2qrcM]

    Heights. Even if they’re virtual, most of us are pretty scared by them. The good news is that while you don’t get a plank with this vertigo-inducing experience, you can use the money you saved on buying a good 2×4!

    Plank Not Included

    Recent winner of the ‘VR Experience of the Year’ VR Award, Manifest 99 is a unique story that really needs to be played to be understood. Designed to be easy for even non-VR users to experience, it’s definitely something you’ll want to check out as the nights creep in.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJtkXdlAmY]

    Nevrosa: Escape

    We know that Viveport Subscription is already the best value in VR, allowing both Vive and Oculus Rift owners to experience up to 5 titles every month. If our FREE trial wasn’t enough FREE for you, we’re upping the ante this spooky season with a FREE (to KEEP) copy of Nevrosa: Escape. Yep, that includes if you’ve just started your free trial… although there’s a limited supply, so don’t leave it too late.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQejx48O5P0]

    This offer will only be available from October 25th to 28th, just in time for Halloween night… so bookmark this page and check back to get your FREE copy of Nevrosa: Escape.

    While Halloween is obviously a great time to scare up some sale discounts, they pale into comparison next to the holiday that really sounds like it should be scary… Black Friday! Yes, we’ll be back next month with an incredible series of deals, but we want to get you ready by giving you FREE (VIRTUAL) MONEY.

    All you need to do is be a Viveport Subscription member on 11/20. That’s November 20th. As long as you’re signed up for Viveport Subscription on that date (yes, even on a free trial) we’ll be slipping a crisp, non-corporeal $10 into your Viveport Wallet (via email) for you to spend on anything you like on Viveport.

    You could spend it right away. Or look around – because we have a hunch there’s going to be a sale happening around then. Mark your calendars everyone!

    For now, we’ll leave you to your spooky comings and goings. From everyone at Viveport, have a great Halloween and we’ll see you in November for even more great deals!

    Website: LINK

  • A Totally Normal Conversation With The Makers Of Accounting+

    A Totally Normal Conversation With The Makers Of Accounting+

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Accounting+ might be the weirdest experience ever to grace your eyeballs. What starts out as a simple job at Smith & Smitherson accounting firm becomes a surrealist odyssey that will test your resolve, your stomach, and possibly your very sanity. 

    Interview by a very troubled Nathan Ortega, Vive

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzmmlwGJ50k?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Hello! I’m William Pugh, one of the 3 co-creators of Accounting+, a nightmare adventure come-

    First question: What the hell man?

    Oh uh- I’m sorry? Do you want to do the introduc-

    Second of all: How dare you?

    [Laughter] Oh I see! You’re doing one of these. I get it.

    Now that we have that out of the way, tell us a bit about Crows Crows Crows and your surrealist VR experience Accounting+.

    Well as I was saying, it’s a “Nightmare Adventure Comedy” which basically means that it’s an adventure that has a lot of laughs, and a lot more dread. You descend through layers of virtual reality in an attempt to fi-

    What sort of rigorous accounting research was done to make this the most authentic accounting simulator ever?

     Okay if you’re going to keep interrupting me I am NOT going to play along. My answers are going to be long-form and in dire need of context. I get that Accounting+ can be pretty silly or nonsensical at times but I have dedicated over a year of my life to bringing it into existence. I’d like to take this opportunity to seriously deconstruct the artistic process behi-

    Did you live amongst the number crunchers like some sort of math nerd Jane Goodall?

    Alright. Alright. I can play this game you cheeky bastard. Yes. We did. We all went out and we got married to accountants. We take research really seriously and we drowned ourselves in numbers in order to make the game more true to the spirit of accountancy.

    …

    More? Okay! We all went to a small island in the sout-

    Making a surrealist comedy VR experience is a relatively untapped concept. How did the idea for Accounting VR come to be?

    F*CK! Oh my god! Seriously??? Have you never done an interview before???? You’re just- This is just all over the place. I asked for these beforehand because I knew you would- STOP LAUGHING! Don’t- is he transcribing this? This better be edited down because I do NOT parse well when I am-

    Crows3 specializes in experimental, surrealist interactive experiences. What are your thoughts regarding VR’s place in providing these kinds of unique experiences to players?

    [incomprehensible muttering]

    [40 seconds pass]

    [through gritted teeth] Crows Crows Crows is the official name. Crows3 isn’t anywhere in our brand guidelines. It’s Crows Crows Crows. Not 3Crows. Not CrowsX3. Imagine if I started throwing around THC Vive or The Oculus Vive or The PS HTC VR 4?? One of your truncheon wielding brand enforcers would come and bash me on the hea-

    How is Justin Roiland?

    Safe from you, hopefully.

    Seriously, how?

    [sighing] He’s well? I suppose? The amount being thrown at him work wise is enough to make anybody’s head spin, but I believe he wants to be doing this and I hope that he’s finding a healthy release from the pressur-

    Tell us a bit about how Crows3 worked with Justin Roiland and Squanch Games to create this fever dream of a VR experience.

    It was a collaborative experience from the start. Dominik Johann and I flew out to LA in 2016 to jam out a prototype and Justin flew out to Berlin in 2017 to continue that work for Accounting+. The production and marketing work was handled by Cr-

    There is SO MUCH DIALOG in Accounting VR. How many hours of Roiland insanity did you record to complete this experience?

    Well it’s over 6 hours definitely- not counting what we cut. But more importantly nowhere in our brand guidelines did we say Accounting V-

    I’m almost afraid to ask, but were there any segments or bonkers tangents that were TOO out there that had to be left on the cutting room floor?

    Yes! There were loads! But based on how this interview is going you’re likely to cut me off before I even have a chance t-

    Is there really a King of VR? How was he appointed the role? Please provide excessive details below, and answer in the form of a question.

    What?? The character in the game? Seriously?? He- He’s always bee-

    How many crows did it take to make Accounting+? More than three right?

    no no- I’m staying on the last question. The King of VR is one of the oldest creatures in Virtual Reality. He’s the son of “The Mother” who is a legendary creature who is said to exist at the very lowest layer of VR. Many-   

    Also how long did it take said avian developers to peck out the game?

    2 years! Jesus! Please just- you’re giving me heart palpitations. What’s that smell?

    What’s next for Crows Crows Crows?

    Getting out of here. Please. Just- why isn’t the door working?? Is this locked???

    One final question: Was this all ultimately about that teriyaki szechuan sauce? Did-did you make Accounting + all for that… M-McNugget sauce? Your studio arc? If it takes nine m-more sequels, it’s all about that sauce? For 97 more years Accounting+ and their adventures, Accounting+ for a hundred years Accounting+… some… things.. Running around and… Crowc Crows Crows time… a-all day long forever.. Forever a hundred times… over and over Accounting+.com www dot at account plus dot come…www… every minute AccountingPlus dot com…

    *the interviewer passes out from lack of oxygen*

    Accounting+ is now available on Viveport. Buy it or Harold Jenkins gets it!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlsWaMkKMtM?start=54&feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Website: LINK

  • Evolving the Narrative with Cloudhead Games’ The Gallery

    Evolving the Narrative with Cloudhead Games’ The Gallery

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    The critically-acclaimed interactive narrative experience The Gallery has been a must-play since the first episode debuted on Viveport. Using all the immersive tools at their disposal, Cloudhead Games are crafting an engaging story with a rich universe to explore as players search for their missing sibling in a fantastical unknown realm. We sat down with the crew at Cloudhead to hear about how The Gallery came to be and what fans can expect as the series continues.

    Interview by Nathan Ortega, Vive

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqXWLXuyDzo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    For those unfamiliar, tell us a bit about yourself and Cloudhead Games.

    I’m Antony Stevens and I work with everyone on the team in various ways, from community relations to content creation to narrative design and more.

    Cloudhead Games is probably best known for The Gallery, with Episode 1: Call of the Starseed being the first story-driven adventure game built for room-scale VR, and what many consider to be an instant classic at the launch of Vive in 2016. If you bought your Vive in that first year, you probably even received Call of the Starseed bundled with your HMD. Starseed earned over a dozen awards and nominations, including Game of the Year; and its sequel, Heart of the Emberstone, brought us home the annual Viveport Developer Award for Entertainment last year. We’re also pioneers of VR locomotion with snap turns, teleportation (or “Blink”), and other industry firsts.

    Where did the idea behind The Gallery come from?

    Our team all grew up with fantasy/adventure movies – The Goonies, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones. VR can genuinely transport you, and we wanted to give players an experience that has that same childlike wonder of sitting cross-legged in front of the TV and imagining yourself as the hero in those stories. Except this time you actually are the hero; you can move around, interact with the world, solve mysteries, and wield mystical powers with your own hands.

    The Gallery is steeped in 80s nostalgia, from the score to the premise to the vintage visual motifs. What would you say are some of Cloudhead Games crew’s biggest pop culture influences on the project?

    The Goonies and The Dark Crystal are definitely the biggest two. In Starseed we have a hidden area that’s a full-on homage to a scene from The Goonies, and in Emberstone there’s a temple that’s completely styled after the ritual chamber in The Dark Crystal.

    Developing an interactive narrative is no easy task, more so  when you factor in the extra immersion that VR provides. What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered when developing The Gallery?

    In room-scale VR with Vive, there is so much inherent freedom to move around during a narrative even before you complicate it with interactions and hand tracking. You can move to the wrong spot at the wrong time and hurt pacing, you can look away from something important as it happens — we can’t just grab the camera and shove it in the right direction like you can in traditional games. We try to solve that by adding as many affordances as we can — as many different ways to guide the player to look at the right things at the right time.

    In Emberstone, for example, there’s a part where an enormous rock monster rises up and greets you. The music swells and you can hear a bunch of noise behind you. Your controllers vibrate, there’s a deep groan like only giant rock monsters can, you see a huge shadow cast on the wall in front of you — the entire game essentially screams for you to “TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT THE THING!” But we still get people simply fascinated with some small object they’re playing with in their hands and they never even turn around. That’s how hard it is.

    Were there any surprises revealed through observing player behavior and getting fan feedback once the first episode released? Any elements that people particularly responded to that you didn’t predict?

    Without giving too much away, there’s a part at the end of Call of the Starseed that gives you a very visceral feeling on your hand. Almost every single player I’ve seen in videos or in person has flinched when that moment happens. Some even say they felt it. It means that they were so immersed and tied into the experience that they were the hero, exactly how we had hoped. I’ve always been really happy with that moment.

    Talk to us a bit about what inspired you and the team to develop The Gallery as an episodic series. Is this style of release something you’d like to continue exploring with future projects or are you leaning towards a more traditional ‘all-at-once’ approach?

    We went episodic because it meant we could experiment with format and build each episode for its time. With Starseed, we built a game for people to ease into VR, without completely knowing how long people would want to stay immersed. As such, our first release felt more akin to an interactive movie in length and pacing. With Emberstone, we were able to complicate exploration and be more ambitious with storytelling. With Episode 3, we have an experience with more complex physical interactions that require an understanding of the foundations from these first years of VR.

    With The Gallery having reached the halfway point for the series, were there any particular lessons learned from the development of Episode I and II that the team is incorporating in future entries?

    I mean, all of it! We are fortunate to be one of the few teams in VR that have been here since the very beginning. We have a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t in VR and you can’t start breaking those rules without knowing them first. Now that we have a strong foundation of interactions and storytelling, we can spend more time utilizing what we know and breaking conventions. We have some truly interesting things coming up in Episode 3 that take all the groundbreaking stuff we introduced in the first two episodes and combines it for a really unique experience.

    Both episodes of The Gallery feature some pretty trippy and challenging puzzles. Were brain-teasing objectives something the team always envisioned for the series, or did that element naturally evolve as a result of developing the story you sought out to tell?

    Myst was a huge inspiration, and we wanted to use these kinds of puzzles to break up the pace of the game. We also wanted the puzzles to make sense in the context of the world, so that solving them wasn’t just unlocking the next area, but unravelled something in the narrative — solving a mystery, while at the same time engaging you with a full, spatial experience only possible in VR. It made puzzles more complex to build and solve, but they also make a lot of sense for room-scale; moving around the space and investigating objects is a completely different experience in VR.

    The Gallery seems to deal a lot with the duality of complicated sibling relationships. Was this an intentional motif , and something your team wants to continue exploring? If so, why?

    It’s a bit broader than that even. I think the duality of siblings just came with writing about conflicts of faith and science, magic realism, ostracization in a common culture. We try to explore how these sides are both flawed but powerful. Elsie the reckless adventurer, Alex the ponderous rescuer. Sebastian the man of science, Sarah the woman of faith. The things that seperate us are the things that should ultimately bring us together. In Episode 3 we want to push into that core theme–it’s integral to the world of The Gallery.

    Music plays a big part of establishing the atmosphere and tone of The Gallery – the soundtrack being provided by award-winning composer Jeremy Soule.  Tell us a bit about how that collaboration came to be. Were there any particular influences on the style and mood, either from your team or from the composer or both?

    We were at an event in Seattle with one of the earliest versions of The Gallery and met Mr. Soule there. He tried the demo and told us he loved it–he saw the same future in VR that we did and felt that The Gallery offered an ideal entry point for the art he wanted to make. As a master of magical realism, we couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect fit for what we were working on.

    Are there any tidbits you can share with fans of The Gallery as to what they can expect from Episode 3 (maybe a release date wink wink)?

    Episode 3 is a journey which plays with the fabric of reality itself and our personal journeys through it. We’re going to give you tremendous power in shaping that reality through the gauntlet you received in Heart of the Emberstone, leading to an ultimate resolution. That’s all I can say for now.

    Once your team has completed The Gallery, what’s next on the horizon for Cloudhead Games? Will you continue to experiment with what’s possible in the world of interactive narrative VR experiences or possibly explore other genres?

    We’ve learned so much about VR over the past 5 years and are ready to bring even bigger things to the platform. We’re excited to break the mold and push familiar ideas toward a paradigm shift. We’re a very cinematic team, but we have projects coming that are outside of our usual fantasy/adventure style. If you know us at all, you know that we’re always trying to push the limits of VR, and we’ve got a number of ideas in store that I hope to be able to talk more about soon.

    Thank you so much for your time!

    The Gallery Episode I: Call of the Starseed and Episode II: Heart of the Emberstone are on sale 50% off during the Viveport Anniversary Event, and are also available via Viveport Subscription

    Website: LINK

  • VIVE Arts’ ‘Up the River During Qingming VR’ Brings National Treasure to Life

    VIVE Arts’ ‘Up the River During Qingming VR’ Brings National Treasure to Life

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Today HTC VIVE announced a next step in its partnership with Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, one of the major institutions dedicated to preserving human historical artefacts — in bringing the world renowned masterpiece – Up the River During Qingming to life in virtual reality. Starting October 15, A Journey Inside Paintings and Calligraphy: VR Art Exhibition, will showcase the innovative capabilities of the VIVE Pro headset in not only delivering a unique viewing experience, but to actually traverse the famed painting, offering unprecedented recreation and interaction.

    Up the River During Qingming VR, marking another major step for the VIVE Arts program, continues its mission to transform how art is experienced. VIVE Arts titles are now deployed at the most prestigious institutions across the world, such as the Royal College of Art, Tate Modern, the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, the Newseum, the State Hermitage Museum, and the National Palace Museum. With Up the River During Qingming VR, VIVE Arts is again marrying cultural richness and state-of-the-art immersion/interaction.

    This partnership between Taiwan’s National Palace Museum and HTC Vive was established in 2015, when the two institutions had co-developed VR artwork projects including “The Spirit of Autobiography” (based on Tang dynasty Huaisu’s cursive script – Autobiography), and “Roaming through Fantasy Land” (based on Yuan dynasty painter Zhao Mengfu’s “Autumn Colors on the Qiao & Hua Mountains”). Seeking to redefine exhibition standards with the help of modern VR technology, the partnership also brings VR content to rural and remote townships.

    Running October 15 to December 15, 2018, the A Journey Inside Paintings and Calligraphy – VR ART exhibition, alongside the current exhibit Another Look at National Treasures: Select Masterpieces of Painting and Calligraphy in the Museum Collection, will be located at the Northern Branch Exhibition Area 210.

    ”Up the River During Qingming, especially this version by Qing dynasty court painters, is one of the most exquisite and beautifully rendered genre paintings,” said Lillian Lee, AVP of HTC Vive and Producer of the Up the River During Qingming VR project. “Through the VIVE, we make this content both educational and entertaining. While the viewers are having fun, they learn the historical heritage of the painting at the same time. We look forward to bringing this experience to the museums, galleries, and art exhibitions around the world through location-based business collaboration.”

    Up the River During Qingming VR is a dual experience including 8K High-Res artwork display and interactive sessions:

    Hidden details revealed through VR

    Scroll through the high-res painting at your own pace, zoom out for an overall view of each scene, and get close to appreciate every detail. Many “Scenic Spots” are located throughout the painting, and the Emperor Qianlong himself will provide related knowledge and anecdotes.

    A World Brought to Life

    Viewers walk into the lively worlds portrayed in the artwork, searching for characters, playing mini games throughout the ancient world.

    The Rainbow Bridge

    The iconic “Rainbow Bridge” scene consists of the hustle and bustle of a crowded market and passing cargo boats. Interact with the fascinating people and shops in a game, and take on a mission to assist a stranded boat to gain a better understanding of river transportation.  

    Outdoor Theater: “The Phoenix Pavilion”

    Portraying the ancient story from the “Romance of Three Kingdoms”, traditional Chinese opera is a favorite for all market goers as they bustle about to get a better view. Help dress up the actors for the show to commence.

    • Golden Orchid Restaurant

    The Golden Orchid Restaurant is situated at a prime location in front of the city entrance, offering a spectacular view of the river. Here, you can immerse in the house duties and learn about the origins of iconic Chinese dishes.

    This special exhibition includes:

    1. Up the River During Qingming VR: Rainbow Bridge
    2. Up the River During Qingming VR: Outdoor Theater
    3. Up the River During Qingming VR: Golden Orchid Restaurant
    4. “Roaming through Fantasy Land” & “The Spirit of Autobiography”

    About the National Palace Museum

    The incredible troves of historical artifacts in NPM’s collection are not only the important remains of Chinese civilization but are also of immeasurable value to mankind at large. NPM shoulders the great mission of preserving and educating people about traditional culture and hopes to continue to build upon historical foundations.

    Website: LINK

  • Battle X brings authentic military combat to VR

    Battle X brings authentic military combat to VR

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Battle X: Birth of The Alliance brings high fidelity and accurate military combat and tactics to the world of VR. With a cinematic story campaign and a deep and evolving multiplayer component, developer Naviworks utilized their background working in military training software to make the jump into crafting immersive digital entertainment experiences. We sat down with them to find out all the juicy details on the making of Battle X.

    Interview by Nathan Ortega, Vive Staff

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PcB0hTrYzQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    For those unfamiliar, tell us a bit about the Battle X Team at Naviworks?

    Our team is an incredibly diverse and talented group of individuals who all came together in some extraordinary ways. The idea of Battle X came about through the military training simulations we’d previously developed. After putting together a very early prototype, we discovered we needed to expand our team in order to navigate the unique world of digital entertainment. We contracted with Sam Immersive who helped us develop all the different aspects of the game. Our team members include Steve Won, CEO, Angela Park, Global Head of Marketing, Louisa Spring, Founder of Sam Immersive and Tim Shiner, Head of Innovation at Sam Immersive.

    Battle X provides an authentic action combat experience based on real-life military training and equipment. Can you speak a bit about what influenced this creative direction?

    As we had started as a military training contractor, we’re continuing to work within that field. While developing software and technology for those applications, we found that many of our developers were also gamers and knew how to design engaging, replayable experiences.

    We’ve worked with the military closely and respect them so much we have even included StackUp.org as our official North America and European charity in which we will donate $1.00 from every US sale to them. StackUp helps veterans by supplying them with games, equipment, technical help and cultural assistance. It is this charitable vision that helped us craft Battle X.

    The foundation of our company is tied to our work with the military, so we will always be devoted to them, but we have also found that we have the talent to develop amazing entertainment experiences. With the help of Louisa Spring and Tim Shiner at Sam Immersive, we were able to break into the US and European market and connect with StackUp.org. Sam Immersive bridged the cultural differences between South Korea and the US/Europe.  

    What kind of research did your team do during the development of Battle X?

    Through our military contracts, we have extensive technical research at our fingertips! Battle X: The Birth of the Alliance relies on game mechanics and strategies based on our military training work. But, unlike other first person shooters, you are limited by your ammunition, similarly in the real world. You are put in situations where you must be creative and think strategically while under fire.

    Sam Immersive helped with our cultural research and were invaluable in helping us bring Battle X to a global audience. By working with game testers and evaluating other first person shooters, we were able to make modifications and improve elements for a superior player experience.

    Battle X stretched our skills developing military training software into entertainment, which was not always easy. VR being a rapidly evolving gaming platform means we’ve had to be flexible and responsive to what is now becoming a more standardized VR user experience.

    Creating a satisfying multiplayer shooter is always difficult, doubly so when working with cutting edge technology like VR. Were there any particular challenges you encountered during development that you hadn’t expected?

    As we mentioned, the entertainment field is not where we started, so working with our expanded team of talented individuals who have a long and distinguished entertainment background helped us over some of the more difficult hurdles. As I am sure it is the same with the American military—it is a large bureaucracy, so change takes time—we’ve had to learn how to be nimble and quick on our feet to meet some of the challenges that are now required for on boarding the game to various outlets. It is a work in progress and we look forward to continuing to learn and grow along with our new audience.

    Battle X features a cinematic campaign written by by award-winning writer Susan O’Connor of Gears of War and BioShock and starring action film legend Casper Van Dien. Tell us a bit about how that collaboration came to be and what the process was like crafting a compelling narrative in an immersive VR action experience?

    It was our US counterparts that helped secure both Susan and Casper! Tim Shiner worked with Susan on story and directed Casper in the audio booth and Louisa Spring negotiated all the intricate deals allowing us to work with these amazingly talented individuals. The level of professionalism, creativity and sheer passion for their work made for an exciting and rewarding experience.

    Having Casper join us at GDC 2018 was an exceptional honor. He brought his enthusiasm for the game and the military along with his unwavering love of his fans and engaged at a level that we could not have anticipated.  We are honored that this was his first voice over for a game and are looking forward to hearing more from him!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I85Ql2ue-yY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Now that Battle X is out in player’s hands, have you been surprised by any of the feedback you’ve received so far?

    One of our most surprising and best bits of feedback came in the form a live stream from VR Power Hour by Machinima against a Viveport team and some of our developers—where they had initially thought that our sprinting forward in 3rd person sounded “interesting”—but were completely surprised and actually very excited by it after they got in the game.

    VR is notorious for issues regarding motion sickness—and our unique mechanic of 3rd person sprinting seems to have quelled at least part of the issue with quicker movements in VR.

    How long did Battle X take to develop and how many people were on the team throughout the process?

    We have been working on it for awhile now, but have seriously been putting a lot of effort in for the past year. We have taken some of our developers off of our military projects to help support Battle X when needed. We are far from being complete as it is an ever advancing, changing and challenging game.

    Were there any weapons/locations/scenarios you wanted to work into the game but couldn’t make it happen?

    We wanted to start off with real-world weapons, since we deal with military training—and wanted to give a wide range to the player. During the development, we were working on the story which could now allow for further exploration with additional entries, allowing us to be as creative going forward as well as delving into the past. So, basically, no—we haven’t left anything out yet, but we are excited to see where we go next!

    Are there any exciting additions on the way you’d like to share with players?

    Firstly, Battle X is a cross platform game, and as we have also noticed—gamers love to jump into a large arena and test their gaming prowess— so in early 2019 we will be releasing a major update, a Battle Royale with one large map where 80 players will battle it out! We have already been compared to another VERY popular PVP game and cannot wait to share our Battle Royale mode with players! We have also integrated an amazing wearable haptics system by bHaptics, one of the most consumer friendly systems out there. It allows you to further immerse yourself in the world of Battle X!

    What’s next for Naviworks? Any plans to further explore possibilities in the world of VR?

    Developing content for VR has been amazing so far – so that would be a resounding YES to us exploring new potential in the world of virtual reality. We are currently looking at various properties that we feel have amazing potential for us to create engaging and immersive VR experiences that reach bigger and more diverse audiences than ever before. Virtual Reality provides the ability to bring the world’s most iconic stories and turn them into groundbreaking immersive experiences. It is the dawning of a new age of storytelling, and Naviworks intends to lead the charge!

    Thank you for taking time to chat with us!

    Battle X: Birth of The Alliance is now available on Viveport and via Viveport Subscription

    Website: LINK

  • Vive Studios Celebrated for Immersive Storytelling at Raindance Film Festival

    Vive Studios Celebrated for Immersive Storytelling at Raindance Film Festival

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    VIVE Studios is pushing the boundaries of immersive storytelling, taking on the challenge of elevating the medium and using the latest technology to tell engaging stories in VR. Last week, VIVE Studios was recognized for its contribution to this new medium as two of the content publisher’s upcoming cinematic titles were shown at the Raindance Film Festival in London. By the end of the week, the newly announced 7 Miracles won the ‘Spirit of Raindance: VR Film of The Festival’ award while Start VR’s Awake: Episode One received a ‘Special Jury Mention in Best Interactive Narrative!’

    Raindance marked the first public viewing of 7 Miracles, VIVE Studios’ 7-part episodic film based on the story of the seven miracles of Jesus Christ. Donning VIVE headsets, festival attendees experienced this well-known story for the first time in virtual reality with some scenes completely captured using photogrammetry for a fully immersive experience.

    “In the nearly thirty years I’ve been running Raindance I have seldom witnessed a project that combined inspiration and innovation in the way 7 Miracles has,” said Elliot Grove, Founder of Raindance Film Festival. “In the flattie world of Raindance I was instantly floored by Pulp Fiction (1994) then Blair Witch Project (1999) and then memento (2001). 7 Miracles is doing to VR what those three seminal films did for flatties. Sublime.”

    The team behind the film, Rodrigo Cerqueira, Marco Spagnoli (Hollywood Invasion, Hollywood on Tiber, Walt Disney and Italy – A Love Story), Enzo Sisti (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Passion of the Christ) and VIVE Studios’ Joel Breton (Pirates of the Caribbean, Unreal, Anno 1602, Terrarria) gave a panel discussion at the event giving a behind-the-scenes look into producing a feature-length VR film. The conversation included insights on the unique equipment used in production to how acting in a 360 degree captured video is similar to the theater.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDMZOcvFMFI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Part of the VIVE Studios’ portfolio, Start VR’s Awake: Episode One also participated at Raindance this year competing in the Best Interactive Narrative category. Awake: Episode One is an ambitious cinematic experience that fuses interaction with immersive storytelling and advanced production techniques. Awake is a character-driven interactive cinematic VR series that blurs the line between dream and reality, as you are drawn into the perplexities surrounding space, time and the human psyche in its most vulnerable state. Start VR announced the November 15 launch date of Awake: Episode One for the VIVE and VIVE Pro on Viveport,  HTC’s VR platform.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIqclFVHVk]

    Website: LINK

  • Playing along with Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR

    Playing along with Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    There’s something undeniably compelling about mixing music, movement and virtual reality, and Popstic VR – with a little help from Hotel Transylvania – is trying to do something different with the formula. We chatted with Ryan Pulliam and Morris May from Specular Theory about how some pieces of PVC pipe became a VR game.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8S6fapmDoE]

    Tell us a little bit about yourself and the team at Specular Theory.

    Ryan Pulliam: Morris and I met a few years ago and he taught me how to kiteboard. We have completely different backgrounds; Morris worked in Hollywood for 25+ years as a CG/VFX supervisor and I spent 15+ years in marketing. But we’ve always shared a passion for storytelling and technology. When I first tried VR at his house, I was completely blown away. I quit my job the next day and we started our company, Specular Theory, in 2013.

    We are one of the few companies that was built from the ground up for VR. All of our technology and tools are custom-built for VR, and we have a team of native immersive creators. Building our tools and team from scratch has given us the freedom to create content for a new medium in an authentic way, and to push the boundaries both creatively and technically. This is something we strive for in everything we do, regardless of category; entertainment, training, e-commerce or gaming.  No matter what type of experience we are creating, our goal is always the same – to create and deliver engaging immersive experiences that you can’t achieve through any other medium.

    Popstic VR is your first foray into game development. So to start with, what is Popstic?

    Ryan Pulliam: Popstic is a brand, a platform, and a gaming accessory!  It’s sort of like the Nintendo Wii of VR, in that we are creating fun games for mainstream audiences, and we have built a prototype accessory (the ‘Popstic’ or ‘Stic’)  that easily pops on and off a Vive controller.

    The Popstic is great because it eliminates the need to hold a controller or press any buttons. It offers a new way to play VR games, and benefits everyone from complete novices to experienced gamers. And we are creating a whole new series of ‘Stic-based’ VR games for music, dance, fitness and sports.

    We have had a ton of fun working on this, and so far the response has been amazing. Almost everyone who has a Popstic prefers it to their standard controllers, including users in China, Russia, Korea, Canada, and the US. Right now it’s just a prototype made out of PVC parts, but we are working on manufacturing a real consumer product very soon.

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR

    How did the Popstic come about?

    Ryan Pulliam: The idea for Popstic was really a culmination of different ideas that Morris and I had been batting around. Morris actually had the idea to create a rhythm game after watching videos about how pro surfers train. They were using different-colored balls in the ocean to improve things like reflex and coordination. I have always been excited about using VR for fitness, so I loved this idea.

    I had no idea what Morris was thinking in terms of the creative, but I had been thinking about controllers and how much I hated using them. In VR, whenever I have to think about what to press, what combo of buttons to use, and/or when to release the trigger, it disconnects me from the experience. I also started thinking about poi and fire spinning. A few days later, Morris comes into the office with a Nerf noodle wrapped around a broomstick,  and he tells me he’s got an idea. Fast-forward to now, and here we are!

    So to answer your question…. Popstic is a VR gaming platform that’s creating a new category of “Stic-based” games, using our proprietary gaming mechanic and custom peripheral attachment to create endless amounts of gameplay across music, dance, fitness, training, and sports. The games are inspired by EDM, poi dance, martial arts, fire spinning, and flow arts.

    Hotel Transylvania is a beloved animated film series. Tell us a bit about how this partnership came to be and what it was like working with Sony Pictures to bring Drac and the gang to VR.

    Ryan Pulliam: We are really excited to partner with the team at Sony Pictures Virtual Reality on this game, and they have been an amazing studio to work with.  Most of the successful VR titles have been generated by small indie studios, and we feel this partnership between marks a new shift in the industry, with major studios tapping indie producers to create truly immersive and entertaining content for studio IPs.

    When you watch the Hotel Transylvania films, there are always fun music and dance scenes. We extended that to our VR environment. In our game, the characters become DJs, and players can interact with them in a whole new way.  It’s fun to think about integrating movies into VR and creating something new and authentic, rather than just recreating scenes from the film. I love seeing the DJs’ personalities – each brings their own style of music and flair.

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR started as an arcade experience. Were there any particular challenges your team experienced bringing the title to homes?

    Ryan Pulliam: Fortunately we had a pretty smooth launch in the home market. One initial challenge was regarding the Popstic, i.e. how to bring it to the home market. Since the device is a prototype, we wanted to be able to offer it to players but not require it. We solved this by optimizing the gameplay for Wands mode, which uses two standard controllers, but also offering a Popstic mode. This makes the Popstic more of a cool added bonus, and something to make gameplay more fun. Since we are a small indie studio and this is our first hardware product, we also had to figure out shipping and fulfilment. Fortunately we had some things figured out from when we launched the game for arcades.

    Right now the item is backordered, which is a good challenge to have, but it’s something we are working to improve. It’s great to see that so many people interested in playing with it!

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR

    Now that Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR is out, both at home and in arcades, have there been any user responses that surprised you?

    Morris May: Honestly, not really….  we tested it quite a bit and are happy. We were surprised by how many people were holding the Popstic incorrectly at first, but we were able to quickly fix this in our outreach. Since it’s also a really fun workout that gets your heartrate up, we are surprised that we haven’t seen more workout comments. But we just launched, so maybe we will see that soon.

    How many people worked on Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR and how long was the development process?

    Morris May: We have a small full-time team (less than 5). We started developing Popstic as an in-house passion project about a year and half ago, but had to put it on hold while we focused on other pieces. When the opportunity came up to partner with Sony and make a Hotel Transylvania themed version of the game, we were able to  integrate the assets and complete development on a pretty fast timeline.

    Are there any updates planned for Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR that you can share with us?

    Morris May: We frequently make updates based on the feedback we receive from the community. The latest updates have included minor tweaks, like being able to see the song title during gameplay, up to major ones like adding whole new levels: Extreme Mode and Death Mode. We also have some big updates that we will be announcing soon… be sure to follow us on social media @popsticvr on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on upcoming news and fun giveaways! Sony sent us a ton of Hotel Transylvania swag which has been another awesome benefit to partnering with a major studio/IP.

    Where can people get one of those awesome Popstics? I’m very tempted to build one out of a broom stick after seeing your prototype!

    Ryan Pulliam: Haha, yes it’s exciting to see how far we’ve come! You can purchase a Popstic prototype on our website at www.popsticvr.com (note, it currently only works with the HTC Vive controller). Or if you are feeling extra creative, we encourage anyone to make their own Popstic and share their creations with the community! Tag us @popsticvr or use the hashtag #popsticvr to share on social.

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR

    What’s next for Specular Theory?

    Morris May: We are working on a series of new games and Popstic titles, some with big IP and some original titles. We also have an exciting multiplayer game we are working on.

    Thanks for talking with us, guys!

    Hotel Transylvania Popstic VR is available on Viveport, and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • Going retro in VR with Trakker

    Going retro in VR with Trakker

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    One part retro-cyberpunk aesthetic, one part old-school gameplay and all brought together with a great soundtrack: this is GalactaVision’s Trakker. We chatted with Nathan Thorin and Greg Corcoran about their latest project. Questions by Nathan Ortega.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBef4EoLBRU]

    Tell us a bit about yourself and the team at GalactaVision.

    Nathan Thorin: I founded GalactaVision in 2013 after graduating from game design school in Madison, WI. Since then, our small team have created game software specifically built for Virtual Reality. We have continuously promoted VR by demoing and testing it in public throughout the Midwest over the last 5 years.

    My portfolio includes being a team lead, artist/art director and assistant programmer/game designer on three of our published VR titles. Our current project is Trakker.

    Greg Corcoran: I’m the kind of person who likes making things. My grandfather built a houseboat in his backyard, my father was a designer at Harley-Davidson and now I’m making VR games. It just feels like the right thing to do.

    I previously worked as a software developer at IBM Watson Health Imaging. My department managed most of the business and we would maintain, extend and integrate with many different systems that the department’s needed to function.

    Of course, that resulted in working with many different technologies, languages and integrations, all with their own unique quirks. A pretty good grounding for VR development!

    Trakker

    Trakker is steeped in retro science fiction and computer aesthetics. What were some of your main influences?

    Nathan: I’m a total Sci-fi enthusiast. I read William’s Gibson’s Neuromancer in high-school and never turned back from my affinity for the cyberworlds and metaverses. From the Tron movies to the cartoons, Ghost in the Shell‘s depiction of internal digital landscapes to the influence of the future-retro take in modern Synthwave, aesthetic and glitch art movements. I’ve lived, played and worked in cyberspace and arcades for years. This is us having some fun with it and building the game we’ve wanted to play for the last three decades.

    We’re attempting to re-invent, drawing from the things we love and combining the old with the new. It’s a gameified soundtrack in a way. It’s a high-score quarter plunker in another. It’s a VR arcade game from an alternate reality of 1997.

    Greg: I love the cyber-punk aesthetic and nearly everything that touches on it draws me in. Some of the largest ethical questions we’ll be facing in the next century will be related to technology, but that’s not a theme we’ve involved in the game yet.

    Trakker

    Trakker combines gameplay elements that are reminiscent of several distinct eras of retro arcade games. Were there any particular titles that inspired the core concepts of Trakker?

    Greg: I spent some time thinking about what has worked well in VR and what hasn’t. One of the design concepts that is pretty nailed down is the wave shooter. Outside of that, it’s less obvious and less consistently well done. I thought trying to get back to the arcade basics would be a good start to seeing how things would play out in VR.

    Pac-Man, obviously being one of the more iconic classics, is an inspiration for the game. When you think of games like that you may not have a lot of options as a player, but those options are massively important. Trying to make simple actions feel important is one of the things the classic arcade games did best, and that’s what the aim was from the start for Trakker.

    Trakker uses a very clear way of handling navigation, having players shake their Vive controllers as if they are taking each step to frantically run around the labyrinth. What inspired that?

    Greg: There have been other games that have worked with the arm swinging mechanism, but I wanted to try to really hone in on it. I was looking at anything and everything other than teleportation or some of the other movement methods I’ve found that often break the immersion for me. Then, after it felt right, it was a matter of what I thought would be the most satisfying game for it. Slowly it was becoming a game of running down corridors and maze like environments, and Trakker was born.

    The music in Trakker is funky as heck! How important was an era specific soundtrack to your team in order to create the perfect 80s cyberpunk experience?

    Nathan: As a producer with a large background in the 80s arcade scene, general media fanatic, music and film buff, music has been heavily integrated as a lead character in every project.

    Greg: Music is absolutely critical, especially in VR. Every VR environment is a sensory experience and without the right music and audio nothing will feel right. We are so lucky that Dashcam was willing to help us out here. He’s been absolutely incredible to work with.

    Trakker

    Were there any particular design challenges you and the team ran in the process of bringing an immersive, retro arcade style experience to VR?

    Nathan: We built it as large as we could, with as much animation on the maze walls as older GPUs would allow for, then found where we had to adjust and scale it back with the addition of static walls to optimize performance. Using the simplified graphics as a style choice allowed us to push other elements and focus on the fun of the game with a lot of public feedback.

    Greg: We did a ton of public testing to see how people would respond to Trakker and made alterations from there. Trying to make things as intuitive as possible but not explicitly putting the user through a tutorial to see how well people caught on to game mechanisms. We’d need to make sure people who have never used VR could figure it out, so there were numerous little tweaks to make it more obvious.

    For example, we have portals to the levels. And while most people would eventually figure it out and run straight to them, others were confused and asked how to start the game. As a result of that playtesting, we added in a trail to the first level if nothing was unlocked yet.

    Simple concepts in other games suddenly become entirely new problems without obvious solutions in the VR world. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy the medium. It’s fun trying to come up with the answer.

    Were there any cool enemies or design concepts that you wanted to include in Trakker but just couldn’t find the right place for them?

    Nathan: Definitely! We have several additional enemy types that we’ve been throwing around, as well as a new blaster and increased environment features. Will this show up in the final version of Trakker? Not sure yet.

    Greg: Nathan made a few other awesome enemies, and I was playing around with a few other weapon and level designs, but things haven’t quite fit together the way I’d like. We also had thoughts around multiplayer functionality in various different forms, but some design choices that were made very early on have made some of these options difficult to implement.

    Trakker

    Are there any exciting updates planned for Trakker that you’d like to share?

    Greg: We’re going to do an official arcade release, work out Oculus support and revisit some of the things we wanted to add earlier. If we can make it work, we’ll make it happen.

    What’s next for GalactaVision?

    Greg: We have some ideas, but we’re currently focused on making Trakker the best VR experience we can. We’ve kicked around some fun ideas and I look forward to seeing which direction we take.

    We had some pretty lofty ideas for Trakker and we made something we’re incredibly proud of. Still, can we do it bigger and better? Are we going to be able to resist scratching that itch? We’ll see!

    Thanks for talking with us, GalactaVision!

    Trakker is available on Viveport, and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • The Great C breaks the mold for a new kind of VR story

    The Great C breaks the mold for a new kind of VR story

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Science fiction legend Philip K. Dick’s work has been adapted many times in many mediums, but none of his original material has appeared in VR form. Considering Dick practically invented the ‘reality is not real’ subgenre of SF, it’s surprising more of his works haven’t debuted in virtual worlds.

    That might change with The Great C, developed by Secret Location, and releasing today on Viveport (also launching in Viveport Subscription).

    We managed to track down several Secret Location team members to quiz them about the story behind The Great C and why Dick’s work seemed perfect for VR.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf3hlqpB9RI]

    Who are Secret Location (if it’s not secret) and where are you based?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: Ha! We actually have two (not so secret) locations. We are based in Toronto, and also have a satellite office in Los Angeles. We were founded in 2009 and acquired by Entertainment One in 2016. We focus on both the creation and distribution of our own and partner VR content. On the content side, we launched the hit bullet hell shooter, Blasters of the Universe, with VR puzzle game Transpose also coming this year. And on the distribution side, the team is getting ready to launch some exciting new features for our VR distribution platform, Vusr, which is currently being used by a number of major publishers.

    Tell us about The Great C.

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: The Great C is set in a bleak future, where most of humanity was wiped out by a mysterious apocalyptic event called “The Smash.” The remnants of society live in humble tribes and are ruled by an all-powerful supercomputer known as the Great C. Each year, the village is forced to send a young person on a pilgrimage to appease the mysterious machine, a journey from which no one returns.

    Dick’s original story follows one man on that pilgrimage. Our story features an original character called Clare. She’s a young woman whose fiancé is summoned for this year’s pilgrimage, and the story details the choices she makes to try to disrupt this vicious cycle.

    The Great C

    The Great C was originally published in 1953, making it one of Philip K Dick’s earliest published works. What made you think it would work well in VR?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: There were a number of elements in the short story we liked. We were drawn to the post-apocalyptic setting, which we thought would be a really engaging environment for VR. The story of a youth getting sent off each year to certain doom was a compelling premise, and then there were the interesting themes and motifs; the David and Goliath scenario, Man versus Machine, and the concept of having a ‘duty’ to do something when there’s no chance of success – or even a totally clear idea of why you have to do it. 

    Surprisingly, your adaptation of The Great C is entirely story-led, rather than interactive. That’s an unusual choice for VR. What led you to that choice?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: As this is the first Philip K Dick property to be adapted into VR, we wanted to deliver a cutting-edge cinematic experience that would help push the medium of VR forward.

    The original story of The Great C is fairly limited in scope, so we focused on creating a rich and substantial narrative for our VR version. The final result has a runtime of 37mins, a variety of characters, and spans over 20 different environments. That scope makes sure it’s a rewarding piece of standalone content.

    Along with that, we made it a goal for our version of The Great C to ‘feel’ like a cinematic experience. We focused on adapting film language and techniques, like editing, composition, scene transitions, camera movement, and pacing for VR, to give the piece the tempo and excitement of a big screen movie.

    A large part of achieving that goal was working with terrific collaborators, like noted film composer Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Tomb Raider). The score is a big part of what brings the piece to life.

    The Great C

    How does a story-led experience work in VR, practically?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: The Great C is a fully animated, fully volumetric, real-time experience. But it’s also a highly orchestrated, highly authored narrative, where we closely control the presentation of the story, manipulating time and space in the same sort of way as films. Like most films, The Great C is presented in the third person and we use camera cuts to tell the story, moving the viewer quickly through time and space. 

    In a practical sense, this means The Great C was designed as a passive seated experience, where the viewer is invited to take in the presentation of the story, as opposed to driving the story forward themselves. The viewer is certainly still free to look around the space, taking advantage of that amazing aspect of VR, but we put the emphasis on a higher tempo form of storytelling that focuses the viewer’s attention on following the tightly orchestrated scenes.

    Did you always want to adapt The Great C in that way, or did it evolve during development?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: We actually started off developing the project with a lot more interactivity in mind. The very first version of The Great C was a lot more like a game, where you controlled a character the whole time.

    After that, we played around with ideas of dividing the piece up into passive and interactive portions, but along the way we started gravitating towards making a more cinematic experience and kept finding that the handoff between the interactive and passive portions was getting in the way of that.

    Eventually, we made the decision to go all in on the authored, cinematic approach.

    The Great C

    What inherent advantages do you see in VR versus a 2D adaptation?

    Steve Miller, Director: Different mediums, be it books, movies, TV shows or live theatre all offer unique opportunities for storytelling.

    For us, VR’s strengths of immersion and intimacy between viewer and story were an exciting fit to adapt a narrative with such a fantastical setting and characters whose journey we really wanted the audience to feel a part of. 

    One of our biggest goals on this project was to find ways to adapt and translate cinematic storytelling principles into VR. We really wanted to push what is possible in terms of editing, shot composition and camera movement. Especially as VR audiences become more accustomed to the medium, we believe evolving these sorts of tools will pave the way for even more sophisticated VR storytelling.

    Did you make any specific choices during development to ensure the story of The Great C worked well in VR?

    Steve Miller, Director: We were always sensitive to creating an optimal viewing experience throughout the production. We did extensive user testing and refinement of our editing choices.

    Initially, we played with allowing the user some control over camera switching, but ultimately concluded that the most rewarding experience was to architect the central action to always play out in the front 180º of a user’s field of view.

    Of course we also appreciate that an inherent benefit of the VR medium is it’s replay-ability appeal for discovering all the little details about the world around you!

    The Great C

    Tell us about the production of The Great C; how big was the team and how long did it take to put together?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: The production team would fluctuate in size, but on average there were around 12-14 people working on it full time. The production cycle started with a discovery phase that lasted a few months early on, and then a smaller team spent a month or so prepping the build for shipping and distribution. The core production phase lasted 9-10 months.

    I have to give huge credit to the team, because I think they accomplished a ton of work in a short amount of time. The production cycle was very similar to the other VR projects we make, like our upcoming puzzle game Transpose. Secret Location just has a knack for getting a lot done in a short amount of time!

    The Great C was your first Unreal Engine project. Was that a deliberate goal of the studio, or were there specific things Unreal could do you wanted to exploit?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: We’d always wanted to try making something in Unreal, and with The Great C being an artist heavy team, we thought the engine would be a good fit. We wanted to let the team use the mature and powerful visual and animation tools available there.

    Congrats on being selected to the Venice Film Festival. Do you feel there’s more of a future for computer-generated projects, as opposed to 360 video, in film festivals?

    Luke Van Osch, Producer: Venice was a great experience. It was really encouraging and rewarding to see how much emphasis they put on the VR section there, totally incorporating it as an equal part of the festival.

    The Programmers for Venice VR do an incredible job at showcasing a wide variety of innovative content ranging in format and genre. It was amazing to see and get to experience that breadth of work in one place.

    In these early days of the medium, I think everyone is still figuring out what’s possible, and it’s most important to just bring general awareness to VR and encourage the people that are making it. Eventually, the different sub-formats and genres will divide up and be compared on their own. I’m guessing that will sort of happen naturally, and will be a great sign that the industry has matured.

    And finally: anything you can tell us about upcoming projects from Secret Location?

    Kathryn Rawson, Head of Content: We are currently in pre-production on a free roam project and are excited to explore the untethered world of VR. We are also developing a slate of additional projects, also focused on the location based entertainment space.

    Thanks to everyone at Secret Location for answering our questions!

    The Great C is available now on Viveport, and as part of Viveport Subscription.

    Website: LINK

  • A Look at Sense Arena, VR’s First Pro-Level Hockey Training Tool

    A Look at Sense Arena, VR’s First Pro-Level Hockey Training Tool

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We sat down with Bob Tetiva, founder and CEO of Sense Arena, a Czech startup  that seeks to bring the ice rink to hockey players’ homes, gyms, and training centers. Catch their virtual-reality-based training platform mid-October 2018.

    Where did the idea of using VR for athletic training come from?

    Well, for starters, my son plays ice hockey and I’m an amateur coach. (I’m just your typical hockey dad!) But one day, I was thinking about the length of your average training session, which is about 60 minutes. With 20 players on the ice, that means, statistically, each player is only in action for about 10 minutes. Then, the average player only handles the puck for about two! That’s no way to learn how to play.

    That’s when—with the help of my son—it hit me. What if we made hockey training virtual? The experience could focus on hard-to-learn, hard-to-train-for skills and drills while making it fun for the players.

    What can you tell us about the training and skills players will focus on in this experience?

    The player holds a standard hockey stick connected with a VIVE Tracker. They then see the 3D model of the stick in VR and perform all sorts of drills, just as they would on the ice. The player then gets to focus on agility, scoring, teamplay, and develop instincts on their own time.

    One of the most unbeatable advantages, when compared to being on the ice, is the ability to setup challenging conditions and situations that you can’t always replicate in real life. It’s the perfect tool for coaches who have been there.

    What equipment is needed to set up the Sense Arena training?

    It’s your standard hardware setup for the VIVE Pro, plus our special hockey stick with an attached VIVE Tracker and Sense Arena haptic feedback technology. A real breakthrough for us was the arrival of the VIVE Wireless Adapter. Our athletes perform workouts typically in a room that is 25 x 25 feet, skating sometimes on synthetic ice. They run all around the room, sweating it up like they would in a gym, all without a tether to hold them back.

    What can you tell about player feedback or any results you’ve seen?

    After only three months of Sense Arena use at Charles University in Prague, we found a 10-15% improvement in cognitive and physical abilities specific to hockey. Currently, there are five installations of Sense Arena in the U.S. and Europe. However, we expect to see more in the future. We received some good feedback at CES (The International Consumer Electronics Show) in January, albeit from a sport journalist and an ex-player: “This is the first useful application for VR I’ve seen so far.” Talk about high praise.

    To find out more about Sense Arena, visit https://www.sensearena.com.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8o90Jf_djM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Website: LINK

  • Masterworks: Journey Through History Provides A Transformative Educational VR Experience

    Masterworks: Journey Through History Provides A Transformative Educational VR Experience

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Masterworks: Journey Through History is an educational VR museum where users can explore four culturally significant sites in full roomscale aided by the power of photogrammetry.  Developed by FarBridge and published by CyArk, MasterWorks authentically transports users to places not easily accessible, and leverages actual archaeologists and historians to discuss the significance and meaning of these locations and their artifacts.

    John Ristevski, CEO of CyArk, talks about Masterworks and how their first VR experience ensures that these places continue to inspire wonder and curiosity for years to come.

    First off, tell us about MasterWorks and what users should expect when they try it out for the first time.

    MasterWorks is a journey to 4 incredible locations created using fully navigable 3D environments created from photogrammetry rather than simply 360 video or hand modeled environments.  The result is an experience the user can move through in real time, exploring every portion of these amazing historic sites.  The result is an experience unlike anything else, creating a real sense of place.  This incredible visual experience is made more interactive through audio hotspots where you can learn from the people who care for these sites about their history and the challenges they face today. 

    How did you come to pick the locations that you did, and what particular significance do they have? 

    The four locations in MasterWorks represent a diverse range of sites both geographically and temporally, spanning almost 3000 years of human history and 3 continents. Users can discover the fate of the ancient capital of Thailand, the mysteries of a pre-Incan temple in the Peruvian Andes, the astonishing Native American cliff dwellings of Colorado, and the monumental stone carvings of Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. These are also some of the most visually impressive sites in our archive with some especially interesting stories and I think users are going to have a great time exploring these places in VR.

    Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

    Tell us about Cyark’s greater mission, and how VR fits in that mission relative to other mediums.

    CyArk is a non-profit located in Oakland, California and we capture, share and archive the world’s cultural heritage. We have captured over 200 sites on all 7 continents. Our vision as an organization is to “ignite wonder, curiosity and a shared understanding of our past” and I see VR as a really important technology in helping us achieve that. When someone is truly immersed in these places it can convey that same sense of awe that you have when you visit it in person, and I think VR is unique in its capability to convey that.

    As MasterWorks is your first official VR title, what key challenges and learnings emerged from this experience?

    We have a lot of experience in capturing these places accurately in 3D but capturing the narrative and story associated the physical site is a new experience for us. We spent many hours interviewing archaeologists, conservators and site managers to extract these stories and it was quite the task to distill this down into bite size chunks that were both interesting and still conveyed the complex and rich historical story of these sites.

    Given the amazingly rich cultural context of Cyark’s existing content, what other stories do you think need to be told?

    We have many more sites in our archive and some with some fascinating and compelling stories. We just recently completed projects at Normandy in France, the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne and the team is currently documenting the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. All of which are fascinating sites with rich histories. 

    Will there be additions to the Masterworks VR title?  What’s next for Cyark and VR?

    It is definitely a possibility. We have received some great feedback about the application already and I believe VR is the perfect medium for the presentation of the data we collect so we would love to grow the library of available sites in the future.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrdXaBxdyCk?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=730&h=411]

    Website: LINK