‘Until You Fall’ Dev Focuses on Supporting More Headsets, Quest & PSVR Likely Considered

Until You Fall launched in Early Access on Steam and Oculus back in August 2019; the game impressed us with its excellent VR melee combat system. Despite consistently high reviews, the game hasn’t attracted a critical mass of players, pushing developer Schell Games to shift development focus toward support for new headsets. With most PC VR headsets already covered, the studio is likely considering Quest and PSVR.

Earlier this month, Schell Games offered up a look at its 2020 roadmap for Until You Fall. Though the game is one of the best rated VR titles on Oculus PC and Steam, it doesn’t seem to have achieved the traction the studio was hoping for. As such, the studio makes clear that its top priority is getting the game onto more headsets, while simultaneously readying the title for a ‘1.0’ launch out of Early Access.

While the response to Until You Fall has been amazing, the best way to ensure that we can still keep adding content to the game is by ensuring more Rune Knights can take the fight to Rokar.

Fittingly, one of the most frequent requests we’ve received is to bring the game to more headsets. So, we are currently inves­ti­gating the time and resources needed to bring the game to addi­tional platforms (specifics will be announced soon, we’re still pretty early on in our inves­ti­ga­tions).

The studio hasn’t said which new headsets its targeting, but with the game already available on both Oculus PC (Rift) and SteamVR (Index, Rift, Vive) it’s clear that Quest and PSVR are in the studio’s sights for Until You Fall.

We’d guess that Quest is a near certainty—given its input and tracking parity with major PC headsets—while PSVR is more of a wild card due to its restrictive, front-facing tracking volume and the fact that its host system, PS4, is reaching the end of its lifecycle.

SEE ALSO

'Until You Fall' Early Access Review: VR Hack & Slash, with Depth

From our reading, it sounds like Schell Games aims to reach a 1.0 version of Until You Fall that it’s happy with and then launch that version across existing headsets and whichever new headsets the studio settles on.

Image courtesy Schell Games

Since the game’s launch in Early Access, the studio has made a number of large updates including adding new enemies and weapons. In the near-term the studio says it’s still working on some smaller updates for the Early Access version of the game.

During the first part of 2020 the team will be working on some balance updates, tutorial tweaks, quality of life improve­ments, and updating the in-game music with our new mastered tracks.

Timeline and specifics for these updates are still in flux, but we’re shooting to get the first of them out by the end of March.

In the long run, Schell Games says, the studio wants to continue to expand the game, but it needs a critical mass of players to do so, and believes that prioritizing launching the game on more headsets is the best approach to reach that goal.

Like I Expect You To Die [another VR game from the studio], we want to try and continue supporting the game beyond launch with new content.

As such, getting us on as many platforms as possible and ensuring we have a solid 1.0 offering will give us a better chance at making addi­tional content going into the future.

The post ‘Until You Fall’ Dev Focuses on Supporting More Headsets, Quest & PSVR Likely Considered appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/until-you-fall-quest-psvr-development-focus-shift/

‘Boneworks’ Studio Building All-new Quest Game Based on Same Mechanics

Boneworks (2019), the VR shooter-adventure from Stress Level Zero, is now live on the Oculus Store for Rift, although arguably more fascinating is the studio’s intention to bring its physics-based system built for Boneworks to the modest Oculus Quest.

The studio says in an Oculus blog post that they’re “working on bringing ​Boneworks​’ mechanics and core systems to Oculus Quest in an all-new project that we will have more to show from as the year goes on.”

There’s no more info to go on for now, although creating an entirely physics-based game for Quest is sure to present its own challenges; Boneworks is CPU dependent for its physics system on PC VR, so its unclear whether Quest’s modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 will be up to the task. Whatever the case, it’ll be interesting to see just what Stress Level Zero needs to lop off in order to deliver its ‘mechanics and core systems’ for the new game.

In case you haven’t heard of Boneworks, the physics-based shooter-adventure has celebrated its fair share of success, what with its $3 million in estimated revenue earned within the first week since launch.

Here’s a summary from our full review if you’re just learning about it now that although may deflate some sails, pretty much sums up what we think of the game:

Boneworks offers up a rich sandbox of physics-driven gameplay which can be magical when it works right and frustrating (or downright uncomfortable) when it doesn’t. Detailed weapon interactions and enjoyable slow-motion shooting aside, combat is largely devoid of challenge and interesting enemies—the player, it seems, is expected to do the heavy lifting of embellishing the combat with their own sense of fun. Puzzles don’t establish overarching concepts and instead come off as singular moments despite being part of a linear story mode. The totality of the game lacks effective pacing as it bounces back and forth from puzzle to combat with little sense of synergy and no apparent climax. For those that are compelled by Boneworks’ combat, the Arena and Sandbox modes offer up a great opportunity for extended gameplay, though we would have liked to see an emphasis on user-generated levels so that the community might flesh out concepts that didn’t hit their stride in the campaign.

Most recently the studio pushed an update to refine its checkpoint system however, one of the biggest gripes with players after its initial December 10th, 2019 launch. The update also includes some quality of life updates such as climbing and sandbox improvements.

Make sure to check out our full review of Boneworks to learn more about what makes this physics-based game tick, and why we gave it a [6/10], something we consider on our linear rating scale as ‘good’.

The post ‘Boneworks’ Studio Building All-new Quest Game Based on Same Mechanics appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/boneworks-rift-quest-stress-level-zero/

Resolution Games Announces Multiplayer VR Cooking Game ‘Cook-out: A Sandwich Tale’

Resolution Games, the Stockholm-based studio behind Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs (2019), Bait! (2016) and Acron: Attack of the Squirrels! (2019), today announced its next multiplayer VR game, Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale.

Info is still thin on the ground—no trailer or in-game images are available yet—however Resolution says that in Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale, players “cook their way through a wacky and whimsical adventure that requires collaboration and communication to keep the customers happy and progress through increasingly hectic levels.”

Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is slated to release on VR headsets later this year. It’s uncertain what platforms the studio is targeting, although the setup sounds awfully similar to Acron: Attack of the Squirrels!, which pits one VR player against local non-VR players on mobile devices (that’s just conjecture, folks). Acron: Attack of the Squirrels! supports Quest and PC VR, so it’s possible we’ll see similar level of support here as well.

At the time of this writing, Resolution has set up an email notification form, likely to gauge user interest, that lists the following devices: Rift, Vive, Quest, PSVR, and Windows MR.

“We’ve clearly seen that as VR’s popularity is increasing it is also becoming more and more of a medium for unique social experiences that can bring people together like never before,” said Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games. “We feel that Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale will be a great illustration of how players can have a ton of fun when they work together in VR – especially given the frantic environment of a busy restaurant kitchen.”

So maybe a VR version of Overcooked? We’ll be keeping our eye on the game’s website for more info in the coming weeks.

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Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/resolution-games-announces-multiplayer-vr-cooking-game-cook-sandwich-tale/

Update Makes OculusMirror Much Easier to Use, But It’s Still Hidden Away

VR streamers and those capturing VR gameplay footage with Oculus PC headsets know about OculusMirror.exe which lets you customize the VR view displayed on the monitor, including showing things like Oculus Dash and Oculus Home which don’t normally appear in the external window. While OculusMirror.exe is a powerful little tool, its command-line interface made it a hassle to use. The latest update to the Oculus desktop software finally adds a simple graphical interface, making the tool much easier to use.

What Does OculusMirror.exe Do?

OculusMirror.exe showing ‘both’ eye view with FOV expansion | Photo by Road to VR

When you launch a VR game, you’ll also see a window on your computer monitor which shows a view of the game. Unfortunately this window isn’t configurable (except for a few games with built-in options), and if you’re hanging out in Oculus Home you won’t get any window on your screen at all.

OculusMirror.exe is a built-in tool which replaces the external game window with one that gives you much more control over what’s show on your monitor. It several very useful capabilities for configuring the external VR window view for streaming or video/screenshot capture.

• Optional display of system-level elements like Oculus Dash, Oculus Home, Guardian, and notifications.
• Configurable perspective between left, right, or both eyes
• FOV expansion up to 150%
• Captures high-quality screenshots
• And more

OculusMirror.exe GUI Menu Update

Once upon a time, configuring any of these options meant manually typing commands into the command-line interface to change various settings.

With the latest update, a simple GUI menu has finally been added to OculusMirror.exe, making it much easier to dial in your desired settings. Simply click inside the window to expand the menu and access the settings.

Photo by Road to VR

The new version also makes it easy to save your settings so that you can hop between different configurations for different games and use-cases.

When to Find OculusMirror.exe

Though it’s now easier to use thanks to the GUI menu, OculusMirror.exe is still hidden away inside of Oculus folders.

You can find OculusMirror.exe in C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-diagnostics\OculusMirror.exe.

It’s great that this powerful tool is now easier to use, though it would be even better if Oculus would bake these features directly into the external view window from every VR app by default. This would make it easy for general users to configure their external game view for local spectators, and make it that much easier for users to capture and share better looking VR footage and screenshots.

The post Update Makes OculusMirror Much Easier to Use, But It’s Still Hidden Away appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/update-easier-to-use-oculusmirror-exe-folder-location/

Index Will Return to Stock Ahead of ‘Half-Life: Alyx’, but “far fewer units” Due to Coronavirus

Valve today confirmed that the Coronavirus outbreak has impacted production of the Index VR headset and other hardware. While the company tells us it still expects that new stock will be available ahead of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx on March 23rd, there will be “far fewer units” than the company had anticipated.

Valve is the second major VR company following Facebook to confirm that the Coronavirus outbreak has impacted the availability of its Index headset. While demand was already high with the looming launch of Half-Life: Alyx, the illness has constrained supply, the company told Road to VR in a statement today.

“With Half-Life: Alyx coming March 23rd, we are working hard to meet demand for the Valve Index and want to reassure everyone that Index systems will be available for purchase prior to the game’s launch,” a Valve spokesperson said. “However, the global coronavirus health crisis has impacted our production schedules so we will have far fewer units for sale during the coming months compared to the volumes we originally planned. Our entire team is working hard right now to maximize availability.”

The company reiterated that customers can visit the Index page on Steam to sign up for an email notification when the headset returns to stock.

Index has been out of stock globally for weeks now, but the company hasn’t said until now that the Coronavirus was expected to constrict supply.

SEE ALSO

Valve's Gabe Newell: 'We're excited to return to Half-Life, VR has energized the studio'

The Coronavirus, a novel respiratory virus, began in China with the first reported case on December 31st, 2019; health organizations have since designated the strain as ‘COVID-19’ for specificity. The virus has seen more than 75,000 confirmed cases and 2,100 deaths, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization. While COVID-19 has spread to 27 other countries to date, 99% of cases have been confined to China which is a key manufacturing hub for VR headsets and related hardware.

Facebook and Sony today announced they won’t be attending the annual GDC conference in San Francisco next month over Coronavirus concerns. GDC has historically been a key event for Valve’s VR efforts as well; the company hasn’t yet said anything about its GDC attendance being impacted by the virus.

The post Index Will Return to Stock Ahead of ‘Half-Life: Alyx’, but “far fewer units” Due to Coronavirus appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-index-stock-availability-half-life-alyx-coronavirus/

Facebook/Oculus & Sony Are Pulling Out of GDC Over Coronavirus Concerns

Facebook and Sony today announced they won’t be attending the annual GDC conference in San Francisco next month other Coronavirus concerns. GDC has historically been a key event for both Facebook/Oculus and Sony, with major announcements and previews of what would come from each company’s VR ventures throughout the rest of the year. Facebook, at least, says it will still share its planned announcements despite not attending the show.

“Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our dev partners, and the GDC community, Facebook will not be attending this year’s Game Developer Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “We still plan to share the exciting announcements we had planned for the show through videos, online Q&As, and more, and will plan to host GDC partner meetings remotely in the coming weeks. We continue to collaborate with UBM, GDC’s parent company, and our partners, and thank them for their efforts.”

GamesIndustry.biz reported today that Sony made the same call:

“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus). We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily,” the company told GamesIndustry.biz. “We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.”

The Coronavirus, a novel respiratory virus, began in China with the first reported case on December 31st, 2019; health organizations have since designated the strain as ‘COVID-19’ for specificity. The virus has seen more than 75,000 confirmed cases and 2,100 deaths, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization. While COVID-19 has spread to 27 other countries to date, 99% of cases have been confined to China.

In years past, GDC was used by both Oculus and Sony to reveal the latest versions of new VR headsets and content. The show has also been important for Valve and its VR activities; in 2015 it was where Valve and HTC first revealed the Vive, and Valve has frequently used the event to showcase the work of VR developers with games on Steam.

This isn’t the first impact that COVID-19 has had on Facebook and Oculus. Earlier this month the company said it expects its manufacturing operations to be impacted by the outbreak, making Quest more scarce; the headset has been largely unavailable for many weeks now.

Neither Sony nor Valve have said whether COVID-19 is or could constrain the supply of their headsets. Sony’s PlayStation VR seems to have ample stock for the most part, though like Quest, Index has been sold out for weeks on end.

The post Facebook/Oculus & Sony Are Pulling Out of GDC Over Coronavirus Concerns appeared first on Road to VR.

Ream more: https://www.roadtovr.com/facebook-oculus-sony-playstation-withdraw-gdc-2020-coronavirus/

16ft Oculus Link Cable ALTERNATIVE By PartyLink Review

PartyLink recently released a 16ft / 5m cable for ONLY $30. Let's check if it's a good alternative to the official Oculus Link cable for Quest. ► Check out our VR equipment → https://www.amazon.com/shop/caschary ► Subscribe to see more videos like this one → https://goo.gl/bSJ6L8 In this video, we review both PartyLink cables (16 ft and 10 ft) that are suitable for Oculus Link. The PartyLink cables are half the price of the original Oculus cable, so it might be worth looking at them. LINKS - Get an PartyLink 16ft / 5m (US): https://amzn.to/2HEzkRx - Get an PartyLink 10ft / 3m (US): https://amzn.to/2SMIMsB - Our Oculus Link official cable review: https://youtu.be/CU32-wgGeYw - Get an Oculus Quest (US): https://amzn.to/2H5ECGx - Get an Oculus Quest (UK): https://amzn.to/2Jip6Zg - Get an 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 Strap (5% discount code: "CAS&CHARY") → http://bit.ly/CCStudioformVR ► 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: - artArmin: https://store.steampowered.com/app/728110/Board_Games_VR/ - BaxornVR: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1tmq8Y3jC7gNGvW7asmv1Q - Wintceas - StudioformVR - Andy - Albert - Ben P. - Steve Dunlap MUSIC Music we use is from Epidemic Sounds → http://bit.ly/CCEpidemicSound DISCLAIMER Links in this description may contain affiliate links. A small referral fee will go to the channel if you use it which supports the content. VR on! - Cas and Chary VR #oculuslink #partylink #casandchary