Those who are old enough to remember classic arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) title Marble Madness may be interested to know that one of the earliest examples of the physics puzzle videogame is being brought into the 21st Century by incorporating the simple concept into a virtual reality (VR) environment with Marble Land.
Marble Land is designed to be a classic level-based experience, where the puzzle in each level needs to be solves before the player can progress. The concept is simple – guide a marble through a series of obstacles towards the goal. The player cannot directly interact with the marble, but must instead interact with the environment, using objects such as teleporters or ‘bouncers’ to send the marble in the correct direction.
The developers at Carbon Incubator have chosen a design style of the title that makes it resemble a large structure recreated in miniature, somewhat like a model train set. There is no time limit on the puzzles in a deliberate decision to try and remove urgency and allow players to approach puzzles from different angles. There are plans for 45 levels with a total playtime of more than five hours.
Carbon Incubator were keen to avoid the simulator sickness issues experiences by some players in VR, so have chosen to use fixed camera angles and simple controls to make the experience as comfortable as possible.
Marble Land is due for release in Autumn of 2017 on all major VR platforms, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream.
The developers are planning on showcasing the title at the Gamecom event next week. Attendees can find them in the entertainment Area in Booth 061A.
VRFocus will bring you further information on Marble Land and other upcoming VR titles as it becomes available.