Category: CloudGate Studios

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Island 359 Comes to Oculus Home Early Access

Cloudgate Studios’ Island 359 has today launched on Oculus Home, debuting as an Early Access title for the virtual reality (VR) format. Compatible with Oculus Touch, Island 359 throws the player into a dinosaur-infested jungle tasked with shooting – or punching – large scale foes in order to survive.

 

Island 359 - T-RexRoarsIsland 359 features a number of cruel and unforgiving gameplay modes, including Mercenary mode, as you follow the map scrounging for kills; Big Hunt Mode, a stealth bow-hunt where you’re looking for the big kills of Allosaurs and Triceratops; and Arcade Mode, where you’re battling dinos to the death all while competing on a global leaderboard against Island 359 players around the world.

Having launched on Steam back in August 2016, the Oculus Home edition of Island 359 has a never-before-seen vicious Stegosaurus for you to dominate as you explore the sprawling jungle. With recently added weapons, a new valley map that requires surviving during a thunderstorm, movement modes for increased controller flexibility and varying comfort, and reach assist to increase accessibility, Island 359 is coming to Oculus Home in a seemingly almost-complete state.

Island 359 is now available on Oculus Home for $19.99 USD. Cloudgate Studios has launched the Early Access edition with a sale at 33% off ($13.39). VRFocus has been hands-on with Island 359 on Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch, and will bring more details very soon.

 

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Island 359 Heading to Oculus Home Next Month

Cloudgate Studios’ well received Steam Early Access launch of Island 359 has lead to a great deal of attention. Experiments with the forthcoming HTC Vive Tracker puck have no doubt helped with the studio’s agenda, but now so too will an Oculus Home release.

 

Island 359 - RaptorsOnTableStranded alone in the jungle with no easy way out, Island 359‘s unforgiving world can be experienced through several gameplay modes, including Mercenary mode, which sees the player follow the map scrounging for kills, and Big Hunt Mode, a stealth bow-hunt where you’re looking for the big kills of Allosaurs and Triceratops.

Island 359 will come to Oculus Home as an Early Access title next month, bringing with it a never-before-seen vicious Stegosaurus for you to dominate as you equip yourself with all of the recently added weaponry on a new valley map that requires surviving during a thunderstorm. A variety movement modes for increased controller flexibility and varying comfort and reach assist have also been added to increase accessibility.

Island 359 will be available on Oculus Home for $19.99 USD from 6th July 2017. The videogame will launch on sale at 33% off ($13.39). VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Island 359, including a new hands-on with the Oculus Home edition coming soon.

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Vive Dev Shows How Trackers Can Provide ‘Full-Body Presence’ In VR

Vive Dev Shows How Trackers Can Provide ‘Full-Body Presence’ In VR

From fire fighting simulators to local multiplayer shooters, developers are already getting inventive with the HTC Vive’s new Trackers, and now the creators of Island 359 have something impressive of their own to show off.

CloudGate Studio this week posted a video demonstration of its ‘Fullbody Awareness’ experiments in VR. The system brings a player’s entire body into the virtual realm, in this first test using four Vive controllers. Two are held in hand as per usual and another two are taped to President and Co-Founder Steve Bowler’s feet as he walks through the demo. Such a system wouldn’t be viable for consumers but, as Bowler points out on Twitter, replacing the bottom controllers with the Trackers may yield interesting results.

Still, what’s here right now is impressive. Using the system the developers were able to create what Bowler describes as “a pretty good facsimile of a human body in VR”. That includes torso, legs and arms, and not just the floating body parts we’re used to seeing in so many VR experiences right now. While not perfect, Bowler is able to accurately replicate a wide range of motions in VR like lifitng a leg up and even touching his toes.

The developers are even able to portray the player’s shadow within VR, and Bowler puts it to the test by dancing around before he starts to kick items in the virtual world. He also mentions that a third Tracker could be placed around the hips to more accurately track crouching, which he describes as “pretty good” in its current form but ultimately just “guessing”.

“Think about what this would look like for multiplayer, for social aspects, for everything, right?” Bowler says as he stares down at his virtual self.

It is an enticing thought, remdinding us of the Perception Neuron MOCAP system to an extent, which places multiple markers around the user’s body. The Vive trackers aren’t exactly designed to be worn on a user’s feet, though, so we do question just how useful this solution could ultimately be.

Bowler, however, doesn’t seem to be phased. Over on Twitter he suggested that the company might have “a plan”, possibly for special shoes that would fit the Trackers. “It’s easier than you think,” he said.

It’s certainly an option developers could start to provide to VR enthusiasts once the trackers start shipping in Q2 2017. Would you strap three extra Trackers to your body to fully dive into VR?

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