Category: Augmented Empire

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Oculus Reveals 6 New VR Titles for Gear VR & Rift at GDC 2017

Debuted at GDC 2017 and announced via their official blog, Oculus offer a first look at some of the titles coming to Rift and Gear VR in 2017. This includes 6 new game reveals across multiple genres, with 4 optimised for Touch and 2 “must haves” for Gear VR.

Having recently teased ‘months of high-profile VR content’ starting with Rock Band VR, Oculus have begun to deliver on that promise at this week’s Game Developers Conference, revealing a list of 2017 titles, including 4 new games for Touch and 2 for Gear VR.

Oculus Rift Games

Blade & Soul

The way of battle is simple: summon the units by grabbing them with your hands. Choose your units wisely, have a strategy of your own and fight until the end. Strong units are crucial to winning the battle. Strengthen your units by training and upgrading them in the lab.

  • Designed by: NCSoft
  • Genre: TCG, RTS
  • Platform: Touch
  • Release Date: TBA
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort: TBA

Brass Tactics

Brass Tactics takes real-time-strategy to the next level by placing you in the middle of the action on a fantastic clockwork battlefield. Experience the thrill of directly moving and interacting with your clockwork creations: grab structures and place them on the battlefield, and direct your units with the sweep of your hand. Just when you think you’ve mastered the game, raise the stakes by teaming up with other players in co-op mode or go head-to-head in PvP mode.

  • Designed by: Hidden Path Entertainment
  • Genre: Classic Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
  • Platform: Touch
  • Release Date: Fall 2017
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort: Comfortable

From Other Suns

Your own ship. A crew. Steady work. Things were going well until the Collapse. Now you and half of humanity are trapped on the far side of the wormhole with ruthless pirates, scheming corporations, and worse—new threats from outside known space.

There’s danger at every jump on this side of the wormhole. You and up to two of your friends will tour the sector, upgrading your ship, stockpiling weapons, and fighting for your lives. And when you all die, you’ll discover new challenges in your next playthrough.

Fight and try to save humanity, or just joyride through the galaxy until its extinction. Your call.

  • Developed By: Gunfire Games
  • Genre: Action Adventure
  • Platforms: Oculus Rift and Gear VR
  • Release Date: Fall 2017
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort Rating: Comfortable

Mage’s Tale

Welcome, apprentice. Don your wizard’s robe and become a mighty conjuror. The corrupted wizard, Gaufroi, has kidnapped your master, Mage Alguin, and it’s up to you to save him. To win the day you must conquer eleven dungeons, from the stinking sewers of Skara Brae to the living tombs of the evil Charn. Mind bending puzzles, terrifying traps, and deadly monsters stand in your way, all perfectly capable of sending you to an early grave.

But worry not. You wield raw elemental power in the palm of your hand, allowing you to sling gouts of flame, javelins of ice, arcs of lightning, and swirling tempests which can finish off any fiend that stands in your way– from the snarkiest goblin to the burliest giant. And as you delve deeper into the depths you’ll find forgotten secrets, ancient lore, and powerful spell reagents with which you can craft increasingly exotic spells to defeat even greater foes. Yes, you may be an apprentice now, but to save your master, this must become your Mage’s Tale.

  • Designed by: inXile Entertainment, Inc.
  • Genre: VR Adventure, Puzzle Solving, Action RPG
  • Platforms: Rift
  • Release Date: TBA
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort: TBA

Gear VR

Augmented-Empire-5Augmented Empire

Augmented Empire is a story-driven tactical RPG set on the island of New Savannah, an isolated neo-noir city divided into three tiers by a social grade system. While the citizens deemed of high societal value live in luxury at the summit, outliers and criminals are forced to live in squalor at the island’s depths.

From the armchair of your secluded hideout, command a team of 6 bioelectronically-enhanced misfits in ‘augmented reality;’ a diorama-scale version of the city rendered before your eyes. Explore the city, develop your skills and battle law-makers and law-breakers alike to mastermind the Revolution.

  • Designed by: Coatsink Software
  • Genre: Strategy, Action, Adventure
  • Platform: Gear VR
  • Release Date: TBA
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort: Comfortable

Term1nal

You are Flynn Lightman, a highly skilled Avatar Pilot who can control androids from the safety of his apartment using advanced VR hardware. You are contacted by a client to infiltrate STRIDE Industries, a company that specializes in data security and advanced robotics. Your journey takes you into the depths of a heavily defended, high-tech facility as you discover its darker intent.

Dual-character 3rd-person stealth gameplay and immersive 1st person puzzles designed exclusively for Gear VR.

  • Designed by: Force Field VR
  • Genre: Action Puzzler
  • Platform: Gear VR
  • Release Date: Q2 2017
  • Price: TBA
  • Comfort: TBA

The new titles add to a list of compelling upcoming content for the Oculus platform, promising to deliver ‘depth and polish’, covering genres such as RTS, RPG, stealth, puzzle and shooter. Announced via the Oculus Blog, the ‘Year of VR Gaming’ is showcased in this new montage, with more news coming tomorrow.

The post Oculus Reveals 6 New VR Titles for Gear VR & Rift at GDC 2017 appeared first on Road to VR.

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GDC 2017: Here’s Every New Game Oculus Announced Today

GDC 2017: Here’s Every New Game Oculus Announced Today

Oculus has said before that 2017 is all about content for its VR headsets, and it sure proved it today. As part of its showcase for this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), the company revealed a slate of new titles heading to both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR in the coming year. There’s a lot of them to get through, so we thought we’d list them below.

We’ve got impressions of each of these games live now, so make sure to follow through for more information and deeper thoughts on each. One thing’s for sure: Rift and Gear owners have a lot of goodness heading their way. Let’s take a look at some new Oculus games.

Augmented Empire, from Coatsink
Gear VR

Esper developer Coatsink is back with this brand new strategy RPG for the Gear VR, channeling classic games like XCOM and Mass Effect 2 for what it says will be a much deeper experience than anything it’s made before. Expect this to be a truly hardcore offering for the mobile VR audience, which isn’t something we often seen.

Brass Tactics, from Hidden Path Entertainment
Oculus Rift + Touch

Trust the makers of Defense Grid 2 to craft a compelling strategy game for VR. Unlike the studio’s last VR game, though, Brass Tactics is designed for use with Oculus Touch. It’s a multiplayer game that focuses on tactics, getting players to utilize huge armies to wipe out their opponents. It looks like a colorful take on the gengre, and heaps of fun.

From Other Suns, from Gunfire Games
Oculus Rift + Touch

The developer’s of Chronos return with a much more ambitious game. This is a procedurally-generated space adventure that has all the elements you need to make your sci-fi dreams come true. Team up with friends to maintain your ship and visit other worlds, battling dangerous enemies on the way.

Mage’s Tale, from inXile Entertainment
Oculus Rift + Touch

This was technically announced last week but we got a much clearer picture of it at GDC. inXile Entertainment is known for RPGs like the Wasteland series, but it’s turning to another classic genre, the dungeon crawler, for its VR debut. Mage’s Tale will be a lengthy action game that fully utilizes Touch to put you right in the loot raiding action.

Term1nal, from Force Field
Gear VR

The developers of Landfall only just released their debut VR game, but they’re already onto the next. Term1nal is an intriguing entry into the stealth genre for Gear VR, casting you as a hacker that must infiltrate the facility of a massive corporation using robots.

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We also got updated hands-on with some games already announced for both platforms, including Singspace and Dragon Front, which is getting Oculus Touch support. Check out our updated previews below:

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GDC 2017: Augmented Empire Mixes X-COM With Mass Effect

GDC 2017: Augmented Empire Mixes X-COM With Mass Effect

Strategy gamers have to keep on their toes. You need a keen tactical mind to prevail in RPGs like XCOM and the original Fallouts, thinking two steps ahead of the enemy at all times, or suffering the consequences. That’s why it’s important to play lots of them, to keep your mind sharp and your wits about you. If you’ve been playing VR for the past year, then, your brain might need a little warming up.

Fortunately, Augmented Empire is just what the doctor ordered.

This is the latest VR effort from Esper developer Coatsink, and an Oculus Studios title that’s exclusive to Gear VR. The team has been busy porting their past titles and Boneloaf’s Gang Beasts [Review: 7/10] to the Oculus Rift recently, but teased to us last year that it’s working on bigger and better things. I went to visit the Sunderland-based studio earlier this month and, based on what I saw, bigger and better is the right terminology.

In more ways than one, Augmented Empire is a vision of the future. In terms of story, the game’s set in a seedy, neo-noir city named New Savanna, located on a man-made island in the North Atlantic. Its streets are divided into three tiers, and where you live depends on how valuable its government rates you. High class citizens live life up in the fancy districts, while the lower class scrambles around in grimy alleyways and rainy sidewalks. Coatsink CEO Tom Beardsmore describes it as “Hunger Games-esque”, or like an episode of Black Mirror, and the links between 1984 and other Orwellian media aren’t hard to spot either.

You’re not just playing as one character here, but two. Your first protagonist is a mysterious figure that enjoys a cozy office space. But here’s the really interesting bit; Augmented Empire lives up to its name by simulating futuristic mixed reality within VR. The second character, a female protagonist, appears in an augmented diorama, which is where you’ll embrace the game’s strategy elements. It’s sort of like pulling a HoloLens from the future over your eyes.

My demo of the game — on display at GDC this week — focuses on the tactical side of things. I play an early mission that introduces me to the basics, but anyone that’s played the most recent two XCOM games will find this like slipping on a pair of comfy slippers, with the caveat that the slippers might break your ankle if you make even the slightest foot wrong.

A group of militant-like enemies has picked a fight with me, and the first order of business is a golden rule to any SPRG: find cover. The map’s split into tiles that are highlighted in blue, looking very XCOM-ish. Moving around is as simple as looking at a tile that’s within my movement limit and tapping on the Gear VR’s touchpad to move there (gamepad support will be integrated too). Once I’m firmly rooted behind some barriers, I look at an enemy and tap to attack, but I don’t see the usual percentage meter above him, telling me how likely I am to hit. Curious.

Instead of that tried and true system, Empire is going with something a little riskier. As I select attack, a slider comes up and rapidly makes its way from left to right on a meter. To successfully land my shots, I have to tap once when the slider is over a dark blue section of the meter. If it tap in a smaller light blue section next to it, I’ll score a critical hit. If I tap either side those sections, I’ll miss.

Just how large those blue sections are depends on how good of an angle and distance you are from the enemy. It’s still essential to flank and find good vantage points, as it will give you a much bigger opportunity to land a successful attack. This same system is also used to give you the chance to dodge incoming fire.

I’m immensely interested to see how SRPG fans react to this tweak on the established formula. Beardsmore says it came about after talking with Oculus about finding ways to keep the player engaged in every second of the action and not just watching your attacks. Based on my time, I think it’s a good alternative, though I do wonder if players will be able to find their rhythm and game the system so to speak, making it too easy.

That might be the case, but the punishing side of the SRPG genre is still alive and well when it comes to stats. In a second battle, in which I recruit someone to help fight with me, I’m nearly wiped out with my back against the wall and the enemy pressing the attack. Each of their hits carves out chunks of my health, and its only thanks to the second character’s rifle that I’m able to hold them off.

Coatsink says there will be six characters in your team, and you’ll be able to take three out on missions at a time. “Recruitment is a big aspect,” Beardsmore says, shifting towards the non-combat side of the game. While Empire’s battles may be influenced by XCOM, the developer likens its character interactions and side-missions to an RPG favorite: Mass Effect 2.

“The thing I loved about Mass Effect 2 was those missions where you were finding your team,” he says. “They were just glorious with how each one was different and displayed a different aspect of the game.” The team is taking that on board here. You’ll be able to choose your dialogue lines with characters, and your choices will affect the game’s ending, while missions can be tackled in an order of your choosing.

Coatsink also wants to replicate the presentation of Bioware’s epic here, with fully voiced characters that will have their own stories and varied missions. “How we’re going to load that onto Gear VR at the moment we’re not sure because it’s a big package,” Beardsmore explains, reassuring that the team is looking into ways to do it.

In fact, it’s an ambitious game for mobile VR all round; wouldn’t the Oculus Rift have been a safer bet? “Gear VR is many people here’s favorite VR platform, because the limitations allow you to build real quality within them,” Beardsmore says, adding that he believes that Augmented Empire will be viewed as a great game regardless of platform, and says there aren’t any plans for a Rift port yet.

Overall Coatsink is aiming to offer around nine hours of gameplay here, and there’s a lot left to see. The first-person element will play a big role too, but Coatsink is keeping tight-lipped on what it might entail.

“We really want to keep pushing the boat out and keep trying new things while also appeasing our own creative desires to build these kind of games,” Beardsmore concludes. If you’ve been calling out for this type of content, then I suggest you keep an eye on Augmented Empire.

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Esper Dev Reveals Next Gear VR Title Augmented Empire

Today UK-based virtual reality (VR) developer Coatsink Software – the studio behind popular series Esper and Esper 2, as well as Gang Beasts – has announced it’s latest title, Augmented Empire. 

Going for a tactical role-playing game (RPG) this time around, Augmented Empire takes players to an isolated neo-noir city, set on an island called New Savannah. This futuristic metropolis has a society divided into three tiers by the ‘Citizen Grade System’, with citizens deemed of high value to society live an opulent lifestyle at the soaring heights of the city, those seen as less savoury have to live their lives in the squalid depth’s.

Augmented Empire screenshot2 Augmented Empire features a simple and intuitive look-and-click control scheme, whereby players control a band of misfits though top-down worlds, putting them in cover, moving them to flanking positions, putting them in overwatch, or when the time is right, taking out enemy forces.

This plays out a an augmented reality (AR) diorama inside that players office. Away from the AR world, players will be able to interact with the office around them, investigating new developments, making calls, and developing the skills of their team.

An exclusive for Samsung Gear VR, Coatsink plans on releasing Augmented Reality later this year. For the latest updates on Coatsink Software developments, keep reading VRFocus.

Augmented Empire screenshot4 Augmented Empire screenshot3 Augmented Empire screenshot1