IRIS VR has today revealed the next virtual reality (VR) videogame that the studio is working on. A follow-up to the hugely popular TECHNOLUST, TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title) is a first-person roguelike experience featuring procedurally generated environments and encounters.
Deemed to be in the vein of NetHack, IRIS VR’s fourth VR videogame is set in the walled city of New Kowloon. The player will wander the cavernous alleys of New Kowloon trying to make a living on the streets. However, breaking the tradition of the genre, TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title) won’t emphasise the combat element of the videogame; instead allowing players to make their fortune however they see fit. Looting, hacking, crime fighting or opposing the authorities are all potential paths to wealth, if you feel you’ve adequately equipped your character to do so.
Working on the idea of procedural gameplay, TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title) will offer a different experience to each player, or with each individual playthrough.
“I want to solve what I see as the biggest problem with VR games right now: content. The procedural nature of the game will keep people coming back. No two users will have the same experience,” stated Blair Renaud, CEO at IRIS VR, when speaking with VRFocus. “It’s in the same universe as Technolust, but not a continuation of any story. The first game was (without spoiling anything) rather self contained. That’s not to say there won’t be familiar faces, worn out places, etc.”
A multiplayer mode has also been suggested for TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title), however the videogame is still in the early stages of development, and as such it’s not yet been confirmed whether this co-operative gameplay element will make it into the final release version.
No details on which head-mounted displays (HMDs) TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title) is in development for are currently available, however TECHNOLUST itself has launched on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, with an interest having been expressed in bringing TECHNOLUST: Scanlines to PlayStation VR. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on TECHNOLUST: New Kowloon (working title) and other VR projects from IRIS VR.