Indie VR Gem ‘COMPOUND’ Gets Fresh Demo Following a Year of Content Updates

Indie VR gem COMPOUND has taken its Early Access status to heart. Over the last year, the game has seen consistent updates every month which have added new enemies, weapons, bosses, and more to the game. Developer Bevan McKechnie says the game’s demo has been recently updated allowing new players to get a glimpse of the changes.

Compound is an impressive but lesser-known roguelite VR shooter with a deliciously authentic pixel-art aesthetic. Having launched in Early Access on Steam back in 2018, developer Bevan “NotDead” McKechnie has been busy bringing new content to the game ever since.

In the last year alone Compound has seen 17 updates which have added six new weapons, five new mini-bosses, and two major bosses to the game:

Weapons: Dart Gun, Revolver, Sticky Grenade Launcher, Sonic Pulse Generator, Blast Pistol, Laser Pistol

Mini-bosses: Giant Rat, Accountant, Spider Tank, Booster Bruce, Lab Director

Major bosses: CEO Helicopter, Gold Leader

There’s also been feature updates and fixes along the way. v0.5.1 added new hand models to the game with support for Index finger-tracking. v0.5.3 added ‘Mutators’ which change the gameplay in challenging ways:

Mutators:

• Gun Magnet (enemies drop weapons but you can’t reload)
• Damage Amplifier (all enemies die with one shot but so do you)
• People Populator (enemies have less HP, bullets move faster, and more enemies spawn)

v0.5.14 updated the game’s weapons to support ‘momentum reloading’ meaning that you can now articulate many of the hinged weapons (ie: swing shut the Revolver’s cylinder) by swinging them naturally; it also added a new enemy (‘KANi’ Reception Security bot).

v0.5.16 was a key update which added a Save & Continue feature. Compound is all about surviving as long as you can, but that meant that longer runs could become a time investment. With the Save & Continue feature, players can now store their progress between levels and resume at a later date.

Image courtesy Charmander

The game’s latest update, v0.5.17, which went live today, brought balance changes to the game which its creator says were focused on “improving the smoothness of the difficulty curve while also giving Easy and Medium players access to more of the mini-boss content.”

According to today’s update, the game’s free demo has also been updated to bring it in line with the latest version of the game; it’s available on the Compound Steam page.

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We spoke with Bevan McKechnie about Compound’s latest updates and what he has planned for the future. In the near-term he expects to focus on adding more Mutators to the game, bringing the total count to “at least nine,” he said.

“Being a solo dev, my style of development is very organic. I like to add, remove, and change ideas all the time. This means I can never be 100% sure of how the game will turn out,” McKechnie told us as a caveat before listing some of his longer term goals for the game “in no specific order:”

• More map specific ‘hazards’, like the explosive barrels in the sewers.
• More variation to the early game.
• An overhauled unlock system
• A completely new tutorial system with audio and video instructions for clarity, with a bit of fun world building thrown in. The current one has always been a placeholder as no-one wants to sit around reading pages of instruction text.
• AI improvements, overall polish, and misc. QOL features.
• Many more story elements and multiple unlockable ‘endings’
• Some fun secret items for completionists

We awarded Compound the ‘Excellence in Indie Development’ award in our 2018 Game of the Year Awards and are happy to see that McKechnie has continued to show that it was well-earned recognition.

The post Indie VR Gem ‘COMPOUND’ Gets Fresh Demo Following a Year of Content Updates appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/compound-vr-new-demo-content-updates/

Set to Launch in August, ‘Time Hacker’ Will Let You Wreak Havoc by Freezing Time

Indie VR studio Joy Way has announced an August release date for their upcoming title Time Hacker and published a new trailer which shows the game’s time-freezing gameplay.

Joy Way, the same studio behind the upcoming VR parkour action game Stride, plans to launch Time Hacker by the end of August. A new trailer shows the game’s core gameplay which allows you to freeze time and manipulate the world in dastardly ways before letting it all play out. Seemingly inspired by lighting fast superheroes like The Flash or Quicksilver, it’s a concept that seems uniquely well fit for exploration in VR.

Joy Way has been exploring the concept in VR since last year. Initially the studio released a prototype version of the time freezing mechanics in a short demo called Revenge. This was later followed by a more substantial demo earlier this year called Change Ranger.

SEE ALSO

Inspired by 'Mirror's Edge', 'Stride' Looks to Bring Smooth Parkour Action to VR

The studio presents the game as something like a spatial puzzle; players must figure out how to dispatch their foes and save hostages using the environment around them.

Image courtesy Joy Way

The full version of the game will launch as Time Hacker by the end of August, the studio tells Road to VR. Until then Joy Way is running a closed beta of the game which interested players can sign up for here.

The post Set to Launch in August, ‘Time Hacker’ Will Let You Wreak Havoc by Freezing Time appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/time-hacker-release-date/

‘Phantom: Covert Ops’ Earned $1M in “a few weeks,” Studio Teases “Big announcements” by Year’s End

Phantom: Covert Ops, the latest Oculus exclusive game, has reached the $1 million revenue mark “a few weeks” after launch, according to developer nDreams. The studio has also teased post-launch content planned for the game and dropped hints of brand new VR projects in the works.

$1 Million Revenue

Following the game’s launch last month on Oculus Quest and Rift, nDreams CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh confirmed that the title quickly passed $1 million in revenue.

“We did it! Phantom: Covert Ops has smashed $1m in gross revenue within the first few weeks from launch. I think it’s a sign of how far VR has come in the last few years, and shows that it is now a very viable, commercial and exciting space to be in,” he said.

At $30 per game, $1 million in revenue would translate to 33,333 units sold so in a month or less. A good start, but probably not yet enough to break even on the game’s production costs.

Phantom: Covert Ops appears to be faring better with users than its critical reception would have suggested. While the game scored an average of 75% from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic, user reviews currently stand at 90% on Quest and 86% on Rift.

SEE ALSO

'Phantom: Covert Ops' Review – Stealth on the Waterways

Quest vs. Rift

Between the two platforms, it looks like the game has sold much better on Quest than Rift, at least as much as can be inferred by the number of reviews; Phantom: Covert Ops has been reviewed 637 on Quest and 81 times on Rift. Indeed, O’Luanaigh seems quiet happy with the standalone version of the game.

“We’ve been particularly delighted with the Quest version of the game. The headset is phenomenal, but I’ve been blown away with how hard the team have pushed it technically and what we managed to achieve,” he said.

While the Quest version may be impressive compared to other games on the headset, some Rift users assert that it came at the cost of underwhelming graphics on the Rift version of the game, highlighting the challenge of maximizing the potential of two headsets with vastly different levels of computing horsepower.

Phantom: Covert Ops offers cross-buy, meaning that purchasing either version also unlocks the game on the other headsets. That gives Quest players the option of playing with the headset’s onboard processor or plugging into a capable computer to play the PC VR version of the game with enhanced graphics.

Post Launch Content Coming to Phantom: Covert Ops

Image courtesy nDreams

nDreams also teased more content coming to Phantom: Covert Ops. “[…] this is only the beginning… We’ve got some exciting plans for post-launch content which we’ll be announcing more on very soon!” the studio wrote in a post on its website.

Exactly what that content will look like isn’t clear just yet, but there’s a few obvious forms it could take. For one, the game’s ‘Challenge’ missions are short mini-games which challenge the player’s aim, maneuvering abilities, and more. Players are scored on each challenge and ranked on a global leaderboard. It would be relatively easy to add more challenges with an update to the game.

Less likely, but still possible, would be to add additional content to the game’s short four hour campaign. Phantom: Covert Ops is structured in a way that sees players traversing around different areas of a single large map; building more missions around the same space without needing to create a brand new environment seems like it could be an efficient approach to creating more content for the game.

nDreams Teases New VR Games

It sounds like the studio has plans well beyond Phantom: Covert Ops. As a studio with 110 people that’s now “hiring rapidly,” according to O’Luanaigh, nDreams is very large compared to most VR game studios. All of those people have to be working on something…

“I wish I could share a little something on some of the exciting new VR projects that we’re currently working on, but for now all I can say is we’ll likely have a couple of big announcements between now and the end of the year,” he said. “[…] we’re investing an increasing amount in R&D as we explore new mechanics and VR gameplay, and come up with new original VR concepts and prototypes.”

That’s good news, as one of the things we liked most about Phantom: Covert Ops was its totally unique locomotion concept which has the player gliding around in a kayak throughout the course of the game. The whole industry will benefit if nDreams continues to explore innovative movement and game structures in their future VR titles.

The post ‘Phantom: Covert Ops’ Earned $1M in “a few weeks,” Studio Teases “Big announcements” by Year’s End appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/phantom-covert-ops-units-sales-revenue-dlc/

‘The Mage’s Tale’ Studio Announces Team-based Shooter ‘Frostpoint VR’

InXile Entertainment, the studio behind The Mage’s Tale (2018) and The Bard’s Tale series, today announced Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds, a team-based shooter for PC VR which takes place in a mysterious frozen wasteland.

Frostpoint VR is set in a dilapidated military training base in Antarctica where “strange biomechanical creatures now roam,” the studio says.

The game, which will be published by Thirdverse, the successor to Japan-based company Yomuneco, is said to include over a dozen weapons which not only help you fight off the opposing team of players, but also the so-called ‘Reclaimers’, which seem to spawn from the ground.

Check out the announce trailer below:

The studio appears to be honing in on a level of realism—at least with its guns—as you can “realistically hold each with one or two hands, and load, rack, fire, and clear them, as well as change firing modes,” the studio explains. “Tools and munitions help round out your arsenal, including grenades, health kits, armor upgrades, turrets, and tracking upgrades.”

Both a Steam and Oculus Store version are coming; supported headsets include Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index. An open beta is said to arrive “in the near future” in preparation for a launch later this year.

1 of 3

Image courtesy inXile Entertainment

Image courtesy inXile Entertainment

Image courtesy inXile Entertainment

InXile says it’s been working on Frostpoint for a number of years in secret, and that it represents a first for the studio in a number of ways. It’s certainly the studio’s first team-based FPS, which boasts 10v10 gameplay entirely targeted at VR players.

Large-scale VR multiplayer games are risky moves since the pool of potential players is small in comparison to traditional monitor and console games. If the studio can’t manage to bring anything significantly new to the table in terms of gameplay, Frostpoint VR could be at risk of ending up like many (many) multiplayer VR titles before it by either becoming cult classics that manage to attract a hardcore group of players, or a veritable ghost town. We’re certainly hoping for the former.

The post ‘The Mage’s Tale’ Studio Announces Team-based Shooter ‘Frostpoint VR’ appeared first on Road to VR.

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Should You Wait For Oculus Quest 2? All Rumored Specs & My Speculation

Many photos of the NEW Oculus Quest headset was leaked. Today, we’re covering all the rumored specs & speculations thoroughly! ► Check out our VR equipment → https://www.amazon.com/shop/caschary ► Subscribe to see more videos like this one → https://goo.gl/bSJ6L8 Last week, we had an exciting VR week as many new details of the new Oculus Quest 2 headset was leaked. In this video, we take you back to last week and cover every photo and speculation in detail. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 00:48 Leaks on July 22 02:13 Leaks on July 24 06:56 Leaks on July 25 08:44 Hardware Specs Leaks 09:57 My Speculations 12:48 What are your predictions? 13:13 Should You Wait For The New Oculus Quest? LINKS * - Get Oculus Quest here (US): https://bit.ly/oculusquest-cc - Get Oculus Quest (UK): https://amzn.to/2Jip6Zg - Get Oculus Quest (NL): http://bit.ly/2QlCpd2 (Coolblue) SUPPORT THE CONTENT ► Become our Patron (includes exclusive rewards) → http://bit.ly/PatreonCasandChary ► Become a Sponsor on YouTube (includes exclusive rewards) → http://bit.ly/JoinCasandChary ► Check out our VR Merch → http://bit.ly/casandchary-merch USE OUR LINKS TO SUPPORT US ► VRcover → http://bit.ly/CCVRCover ► VR Prescription Lens Adapters (5% discount code: "CAS&CHARY") → http://bit.ly/CCWidmoVR ► Oculus Quest Comfort Counterweight (5% discount code: "CAS&CHARY") → https://bit.ly/studioform500 ► Play PC VR games with your Quest (10% discount code: "JWGTCASCHARY") → http://bit.ly/CCRiftcat ► More on our website → https://casandchary.com/discount-codes-affiliate-links/ OUR GEAR Our VR equipment → https://www.amazon.com/shop/caschary Full PC Specs → https://casandchary.com/vr-equipment/ GET LATEST UPDATES Twitter → https://twitter.com/CasandChary Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/casandchary/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/casandchary/ Join our Discord → https://discord.gg/YH52W2k A special thanks to these Patreon Champs for their support: - BaxornVR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tmq8Y3jC7gNGvW7asmv1Q - Wintceas - Studioform VR - Andy - Albert - Ben P. - Steve Dunlap - Thomas M. Rice - Andy Fidel - VR Balance - Nathan Schmidt MUSIC Music we use is from Epidemic Sounds → http://bit.ly/CCEpidemicSound DISCLAIMER This video was not sponsored. Links in this description may contain affiliate links. We may earn from qualifying purchases from these links (without costing you more). VR on! - Cas and Chary VR #newoculusquest #oculusquest2 #casandchary

Dreams VR Mode Released!! Gameplay First Impressions On PSVR

In Dreams, you can create your own worlds or play those of others, and there are some INCREDIBLE worlds out there. VR mode was just released, let's check it out together! ► Check out our VR equipment → https://www.amazon.com/shop/caschary I know, we usually live stream on Friday, but we have to move it this week too because we're celebrating our 6 years anniversary tomorrow. We didn't want to miss out hanging out with you so we decided to move it to Thursday one more time. Hope to see you tonight! Today's topic(s): Dreams VR update gameplay first impressions on PlayStation VR LINKS - Dreams on the PS Store: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/dreams-ps4/ NORMAL SCHEDULE (except today) Every Friday at: 🕛 12 PM PT 🕘 9 PM CET 🕗 8 PM UK Time SUPPORT US Subscribing and watching our videos is by far the biggest support you can give us. However, if you want to do more - you can also donate. All donations go to improving the channel. BUY US A COFFEE & BOOST THE CHANNEL ► One-time donation → http://bit.ly/DonateCasandChary BECOME A CHAMPION (LONG-TIME SUPPORTER) ► Become our Patron (includes exclusive rewards) → http://bit.ly/PatreonCasandChary ► Become a Sponsor on YouTube (includes exclusive rewards) → http://bit.ly/JoinCasandChary USE OUR LINKS TO SUPPORT US ► VRcover → http://bit.ly/CCVRCover ► VR Prescription Lens Adapters (5% discount code: "CAS&CHARY") → http://bit.ly/CCWidmoVR ► Play PC VR games with your Quest (10% discount code: "JWGTCASCHARY") → http://bit.ly/CCRiftcat ► More on our website → https://casandchary.com/discount-codes-affiliate-links/ OUR GEAR Our VR equipment → https://www.amazon.com/shop/caschary Full PC Specs → https://casandchary.com/vr-equipment/ GET LATEST UPDATES Twitter → https://twitter.com/CasandChary Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/casandchary/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/casandchary/ Join our Discord → https://discord.gg/YH52W2k A special thanks to these Patreon Champs for their support: - BaxornVR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tmq8Y3jC7gNGvW7asmv1Q - Wintceas - Studioform VR - Andy - Albert - Ben P. - Steve Dunlap - Thomas M. Rice - Andy Fidel - VR Balance MUSIC Music we use is from Epidemic Sounds → http://share.epidemicsound.com/zqM3g DISCLAIMER This video is not sponsored. Links in this description may contain affiliate links. We may earn from qualifying purchases from these links (without costing you more). VR on! - Cas and Chary VR #psvr #dreams #casandchary

Somebody Already Made ‘Beat Saber’ Inside of ‘Dreams’

Well that didn’t take long. Dreams, the game-within-a-game-maker, has had its newly updated VR feature for hardly more than 24 hours, but someone has already made a fully functional Beat Saber clone.

Dreams launched earlier this year as the latest creation from developer Media Molecule, whose prior Little Big Planet games thrived thanks to a community of creators that built new levels and completely new content with the in-game tools.

Dreams takes that idea of community-made content and makes it essentially the heart of the game. In fact, the actual ‘campaign’ that you can play out of the box is entirely made with the in-game tools.

This week the game was updated to include PSVR support, which means that existing and new creations can be played in VR. The game also allows creators to make ‘VR Only’ content which requires a headset to play and there’s even a comfort rating system for VR experiences.

Of course, creators making experiences in Dreams are going to start with what’s familiar. And what is more familiar than Beat Saber, one of the most popular VR games to date?

Hardly less than 24 hours after the debut of the PSVR update, creator MonocledRobot has made a functional ‘Beat Saber’ experience which is played with PSVR and the PS Move controllers. It features music, cuttable blocks synced to the beat, and even a working scoring and multiplier system.

What’s especially interesting about Dreams is that almost anything made in the game can be expanded by other players or used as building blocks for other creations. Creator MonocledRobot made his ‘Beat Saber’ experience with community expansion in mind, including the creation of new songs and maps. A 10 minute tutorial by the creator on YouTube overviews how the experience was constructed and how others can add their own songs and beat maps.

Of course, this isn’t a proper replacement for the real Beat Saber. Not only does it not look or feel quite the same, it also lacks many features of the real game. But more than an imperfect facsimile of a full game, it goes to show the breadth of what can be achieved in Dreams. In the creator portal you can already find players building everything from VR FPS and horror games to driving and puzzle games.

With enough time, we wouldn’t be surprised to find some seriously worthwhile VR content inside of Dreams.

The post Somebody Already Made ‘Beat Saber’ Inside of ‘Dreams’ appeared first on Road to VR.

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