‘AirMech’ Studio Teases New Multiplayer VR Strategy Game Code-named ‘Cake’

Carbon Games, the studio behind real-time strategy game AirMech Command (2016), is currently developing a new VR project that they say will be a lighthearted, team-based game.

Carbon announced the game in an Oculus Developer video which highlights some of the talent behind the company’s growing library of games, and their recent move into a larger office with dedicated spaces for VR testing.

There’s only a few details for now, but the studio maintains the game will be another strategy-based game, and will be both lighthearted and focus on team-based action.

Studio co-founder James Green says the code name ‘Cake’ is in direct reference to Fat Princess (2009), a third-person RTS that gives each team a princess that they must protect by feeding so she’s too large to be carried away.

Looking at the short clip in the video, it’s clear ‘Cake’ is borrowing a lot from Fat Princess, including the visual style, various combat classes, and the game’s focus on large player numbers

“It’s a class-based, team-based game that’s kind of lighthearted but has real depth. Strategy is involved. It’s just something we’ve always wanted to do after AirMech,” Green explained.

Healthy dose of speculation here: like AirMech Command, Project ‘Cake’ looks very much like a gamepad-style affair. According to the video, it appears to feature high player numbers, so Carbon may be looking to extend their reach by offering the game as a cross-platform title supporting a wide class of devices such as Oculus Rift, Go, and even the upcoming Oculus Quest.

The post ‘AirMech’ Studio Teases New Multiplayer VR Strategy Game Code-named ‘Cake’ appeared first on Road to VR.

January 21, 2018

Something for the Weekend: RPGs and Futuristic Racers on Sale on Steam

Let us guess, you need a brand new virtual reality (VR) experience to get you in the mood for the weekend, right? Of course you do! Below we’ve listed some of the very best VR videogame you’ll find on Steam, and they’re all discounted too! HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality users will find plenty to get excited about in the list below…

Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel

Vanishing Realms - Rite of Steel screenshot

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Got an urge to go cave spelunking in virtual reality? Well good news, Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel might be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s still in early access, but with a nice discount and overwhelmingly positive reviews, there’s not much to lose out on here. Even we think it’s a fascinating experience.

At £8.99 down from £14.99 it’s a good time to jump into Vanishing Realms.

The Sniper VR

Sniper Rust VR screenshot 1

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Go on a variety of missions and snipe your opponents from afar in The Sniper VR. Here you’ll have to keep a steady hand to aim your rifle and shoot down opponents from miles away. You’ll get 16 unique sniper missions, 6 rifles, 7 scopes and much more with The Sniper VR, and at this price it’s hard to argue with what it offers.

The Sniper VR is now £4.94, down from £10.99.

Redout

Redout image 2

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Redout is a love letter to the futuristic racers of the past, and also a statement of intent for the future. Boasting some of the nicest, most impressive graphics of any racing game, combining that with blitzing speeds, great visuals and arcade-like controls and you have yourself a modern VR masterpiece.

With 50% off Redout is only £14.99, so get it now.

AirMech Command

AirMech: Command screenshot

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Take control from above the ground in AirMech Command, where you’ll be looming over a holographic battlefield, moving around your infantry units and turning the tides of war. Play solo, with friends or against them in this action RTS.

AirMech Command has 60% off, making it only £6.00 right now.

Mervils: A VR Adventure

Mervils A VR Adventure screenshot

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Take your crew on a VR adventure in Mervils, the RPG platformer built so you can experience all of the action in VR. Defeat Balazar the Evil and save the four Mervil worlds. This experience will last you between 6-8 hours and you’ll have loads of fun along the way.

Mervils: A VR Adventure is now only £7.49 on Steam.

MineSweeper VR

minesweeper vr

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

Okay, so yes, it’s Minesweeper but in VR. We’re not trying to trick you here, the use of 3D game board and flag you can place yourself make MineSweeper VR the most interesting and interactive version of the classic game yet.

On top of that, it’s only £1.95. Not bad!

The Town of Light

The Town of Light screenshot

Compatability: Oculus Rift

The Town of Light isn’t exactly a light hearted experience to get you through the January blues, instead it’s a much more somber experience that asks you to patiently understand the woes of living with mental health issues, and takes a different approach to the horror genre.

The Town of Light is now only £4.33 on Steam.

Starway Fleet

Compatability: HTC Vive

Take your ship to the outer reaches of our galaxy and shoot down your foes in Starway Fleet. Take part in missions either by yourself or with a few friends, and soon you’ll dominate the universe.

Starway Fleet is now only £5.03.

Warpaint

warpaint

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

Warpaint is a physics based board game where you use dwarves to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. Fling catapults and siege enemy fortresses and you climb the online rankings.

Warpaint is now only £3.49.

TO THE TOP

to the top

Compatability: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality

TO THE TOP is essentially a VR obstacle course where you’ll have to fling yourself through 35 levels in order to get yoursefl TO THE TOP. The challenge doesn’t stop there though, as you compete online for the best times – there was a multiplayer update back in November, too!

TO THE TOP is 20% off on Steam, making it £15.19.

June 21, 2017

SteamVR Home Gets Virtual Collectibles, an Intriguing Glimpse at the Future of Achievements & Digital Goods

Valve has added the first wave of SteamVR Collectibles to SteamVR Home, unlockable rewards which can be used to decorate your virtual Home space or modify your avatar. This new feature further expands the rich customisation and interactivity found in the SteamVR Home Beta, the recent major advancement to the SteamVR launch interface, and is a vision of what ‘achievements’ might look like in the future.

Announced via the SteamVR News page, Valve says the first wave of items are awarded based on ‘ownership or playtime’ of a selection of VR titles, but it seems likely that this could grow to support more skill-based unlocks or integrate with Steam’s existing Achievement and Trading Card systems, offering a much more tangible reward for specific challenges within Steam games.

Valve’s real money Community Market already features items for sale that have been unlocked for SteamVR Home, such as this AirMech model. It seems likely that Sony are paying close attention to Valve’s progress here, as PSVR would be the logical way to revive some elements of the PS3-based social platform PlayStation Home, which was also stacked full of virtual items and avatar customisation.

Virtual items have been a feature of Valve’s VR developments since the launch of the HTC Vive, demonstrated with various props found in The Lab, some of which made the transition to SteamVR Home. The first selection of Collectibles are mostly static, but it is possible for them to be interactive, such as the farting Neko toy from Fantastic Contraption.

Tangible collectibles in virtual reality is a very interesting idea for showing off one’s gaming achievements. Valve’s real-money take on trading compounds this interest; some of the most coveted and interesting items could be exceedingly rare based on how difficult they are to unlock, though those not wanting to spend the time (but with available means) could choose to purchase the item at a market-determined rate. That’s further down the road, but certainly spurs interesting questions about what a future virtual reality economy might look like, like how to retain reasonable value in digital goods when they can technically be copied indefinitely.

for now Valve has initially partnered with select developers to create virtual items based on characters and props from the following VR-enabled titles:

Job Simulator
Fantastic Contraption
Space Pirate Trainer
Audioshield
The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed
Arizona Sunshine
Onward
AirMech Command
Serious Sam: The Last Hope
Hover Junkers
The Lab
Dota 2

The post SteamVR Home Gets Virtual Collectibles, an Intriguing Glimpse at the Future of Achievements & Digital Goods appeared first on Road to VR.

March 9, 2017

‘AirMech: Command’ Gets Major Oculus Touch Update, Launches on Steam VR

VR motion control comes to AirMech: Command, and the game has been released on Steam with support for multiple VR headsets and controllers through OpenVR. The game originally appeared as a launch title for the Oculus Rift in March 2016.

Drawing direct inspiration from pioneering real-time strategy title Herzog Zwei, AirMech started life as a free-to-play game on PC in 2012, where it has remained an open beta. Optimised for gamepad control like the Mega Drive/Genesis game, AirMech naturally found its way to Xbox and PlayStation consoles in the form of AirMech Arena in 2015. As Oculus launched the Rift with a seated, gamepad-controlled focus, the game was again in an ideal position to transition to a new platform, and AirMech: Command became an exclusive launch title for the headset on March 28th 2016. The game was largely well-received, showcasing VR’s suitability for the RTS and MOBA genres.

Today, Carbon Games released a major update, adding support for Oculus Touch controllers (existing owners of the Rift version receive a free update). And with the timed exclusivity complete, the product has also launched on Steam with full OpenVR support. As shown in the teaser trailer, the motion controls allow for brand new ways of interacting with units and navigating around the battlefield, described by the creators as ‘a huge game changer for RTS games in VR’.

By using two virtual cursors, Carbon have devised a way of amplifying hand movements for faster control, and the zoom and rotate functions mean that you can play in a single spot like a board game (seated VR is still supported) or walk around a massive world in room-scale VR.

The post ‘AirMech: Command’ Gets Major Oculus Touch Update, Launches on Steam VR appeared first on Road to VR.

February 21, 2017

Carbon Games Adding Oculus Touch and HTC Vive Support to AirMech: Command

An original launch title for Oculus Rift, Carbon Games’ AirMech: Command enabled early adopters to engage in real-time strategy (RTS) multiplayer, and has now confirmed that expanded support will becoming to Oculus Touch and HTC Vive.

Releasing a teaser trailer this week, the studio has kept details to a minimum, merely stating: “Available on Vive the same time as the Touch release, coming very soon!” So while its not clear when AirMech: Command will get motion controller support you can at least see what that involves.

AirMech Command - Touch & Vive_1

While most teaser trailers tend to reveal very little gameplay footage, generally going for cinematic cuts, Carbon Games went for pure gameplay footage showcasing what the added controller functionality will bring to the title. Units can be quickly selected, either individually or in groups, the entire game board can be spun around for the optimal viewpoint or zoomed in or out with a simple hand gesture. While these mechanics aren’t new for virtual reality (VR) it should certainly bring a new dynamic to the title.

AirMech: Command is a single-player, multiplayer and co-op experience with 13 maps to complete. There are nine AirMechs to unlock with over 60 cosmetic enhancements with which to personalise it with.

Carbon Games doesn’t state if the footage is from the HTC Vive or from the Oculus Touch build but as VRFocus continues its coverage of AirMech: Command, we’ll report back with any further updates.

February 21, 2017March 9, 2017

AirMech Command is Now Available for Oculus Touch And HTC Vive Vive (Update)

Update: AirMech Command is now available for Oculus Rift with Touch support, HTC Vive, and OSVR platforms. The game can be downloaded on Steam for $19.99 with support for all three headsets, as well as gamepad or tracked motion controller input methods.

Original Story: Remember AirMech Command? It was one of our favorite launch titles for the Oculus Rift last year, showing what VR could do for the real-time strategy (RTS) genre beloved by many a PC gamer, and it’s coming back soon in a big way.

Carbon Studios, the team behind the game, released the below trailer, showcasing an update for AirMech Command that will add Oculus Touch motion controller support. This version of the game is also going to launch on the HTC Vive ‘very soon’, according to the video’s description, though no date has been given yet.

Motion controller support doesn’t appear to be a quick addition here like it is in other previously gamepad-only games such as Lucky’s Tale. You can use either Touch or the Vive wands to issue commands on the battlefield, like selecting units, pointing to where you want to move them, and targeting enemies to attack. The game’s UI is fully compatible with the controllers, too.

AirMech Command is the next iteration in Carbon’s franchise. It offers single, multiplayer and co-op modes along with 13 maps, 60 units and even a Spectate mode for those that just want to watch. Even a year on, it’s one of the meatier VR experiences you can have right now.

Sadly, there isn’t any word on if the game could come to PlayStation VR (PSVR) just yet. We’ve reached out to carbon to ask about a possible version for that headset, as well as if Vive and Rift players will be able to play together.

When it launched last year we labelled AirMech Command as “a brilliant combination of the RTS and MOBA genres” that “uses VR in some really inventive ways that not only improve the game as a whole, but doesn’t feel forced or restrictive.” Hopefully these latest updates will bring the game to an even wider audience then before.

Tagged with: airmech command, htc vive, oculus touch, rts

September 17, 2016

Insomniac Games’ Feral Rites Reduces in Price, Oculus Compensates Existing Owners With 6 Free Games

Especially in this day and age prices for videogames can seem a bit much, and it often gives the stigma of the higher the price the higher the quality. Insomniac Games may have initially fallen into this trap, but now it has resolved it in a more than agreeable way.

Feral Rites was originally set at a price that most AAA games hold, but after not even a week of being on the Oculus Store there have been complaints, and Insomniac Games has listened, taking the price down from $49.99 (USD) to $29.99. “As we do with all our games, we’ve paid careful attention and responded to player feedback so far.

Feral Rites - 2

“We appreciate the support from everyone who has experienced Feral Rites, and we understand the concerns as well — especially about the game’s price. Effective immediately, the price of Feral Rites is $29.99. The game’s original price was largely based on all the work that went into it. We’re proud that Feral Rites is among the largest VR games of its kind available today.”

If you have already bought a copy of Feral Rites for the Oculus Rift, then you may feel a little bamboozled. Oculus will quickly help you get over these feelings with not four, not five, but six free games. These are: AirMech Command, Damaged Core, Defense Grid VR, Chronos, Edge of Nowhere, and The Climb. As you can see by the reports made by VRFocus on these titles, they’re not just fillers, but rather chunky games which will more than fill the hole, one of which is Insomniac Games’ first VR title.

You can expect these games to turn up on your library tomorrow, 18th September.

For more on the latest developments of Oculus Rift titles, as well as all the news, updates, and features in the world of VR, make sure to check back with VRFocus.