Lots of you will remember the craze for Tamagotchi pets back in the 90s, or will remember playing Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS. Ridgeline Labs are tapping into that to create RoVR, a virtual reality (VR) pet simulator that is seeking crowdfunding.
RoVR allows users to raise a virtual dog within a VR environment, allowing users to play with, feed, pet and customise their pooch. The developers at Ridgeline Labs are hoping to introduce sophisticated machine learning algorithms to create an AI for the VR dog that can learn how to behave depending on the player’s actions, so the virtual pet will change its behaviour depending on how much care and attention it receives, and the dog can even be taught how to do tricks.
Ridgeline Labs are seeking $30,000 (USD) in funding. Reward tiers range from $5 for a simple thank you note in the credits of the videogame, to the early bird $20 special which will net a backer a copy of the finished title along with a digital copy of the soundtrack and HD PC wallpaper. The standard non-early bird cost for that tier is $25. The tiers go right up to $5,000, which will get the backer the chance to create their own VR dog, an invite to the RoVR launch party, a ‘Creator’ notation in the credits, the chance to design a special dog costume, becomes an NPC in the RoVR world, and ten t-shirts, plushies, stickers, copies of the title and early beta access.
Stretch goals include the addition on multiplayer, an augmented reality (AR) companion app, and the addition of more dogs, and even the chance to add in cats at the highest stretch goal.
The Kickstarter campaign is due to end on 15th September, 2017. If successful, the developers hope to begin shipping rewards to backers in March, 2018. Further information can be found on the Kickstarter page.
VRFocus will continue to report on RoVR and other VR Kickstarter projects.