Category: Combo

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Create and Race Your own AR Tracks With Room Racer

UK-based indie developer Combo has released two augmented reality (AR) experience to date, the rather quirky Pigeon Panic and the rather scary dARk: Subject One, both for iOS devices using ARKit. Today, the studio has launched its third title, a Micro Machines style AR videogame called Room Racer. 

This miniature AR racer has a single-player mode so gamers can race on 12 pre-created tracks, clocking up their best racing times against a CPU, all of which will be registered on the leaderboards. Players can gain advantages by using one of four power-ups to overthrow their opponent like missiles or a giant laser.

If you don’t happen to be on your own then there’s always the multiplayer mode for a proper challenge against a mate.

The core of the title revolves around the fully-featured track editor. This allows you to build unique tracks wherever you are, making them as complicated or as simple as you like. You’ll also be able to add scenery such as trees for a more authentic looking race track then share and race on them with friends, or against the CPU.

Additional features include the lap leaderboards also working for custom tracks and players being able to win custom paint jobs for their cars.

Room Racer has launched today for $1.99 USD/€1.59 EUR/$1.99 CAD/£1.29 GBP, compatible on all iPhones 5SE+, and iPad Pro models (2017) and later. Check out a short gameplay video below to see what Room Racer is all about. For any further updates from Combo on future AR titles, keep reading VRFocus.

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AR Horror dARk: Subject One Launches on App Store

Combo Studio received significant attention for the team’s first ARKit experience, Pigeon Panic, and now the studio are back with a second release. dARk: Subject One is a short horror story set in the player’s own home using augmented reality (AR).

dARk: Subject One screenshotIn dARk: Subject One, players will tear open the rift and step inside and into a dark, parallel universe. Cast as Subject #03; players will soon discover that they are nothing more a test subject given the task of embarking on a dangerous mission to recover a lost colleague. There’s a disturbing, unknown world behind the portal entrance, and the player must discover clues leading to their missing ally, uncovering the dark story behind their colleague’s disappearance.

dARk: Subject One uses environmental elements as key to its design, placing objects in and around your living space to tell its story. A unique take on the horror genre, dARk: Subject One will undoubtedly find an audience hungering for deeper use of the ARKit platform than a simple mini-game, or collection thereof.

Developed using ARKit for iOS devices, dARk: Subject One is available to download from Apple’s App Store now. Combo Studio’s previous ARKit title, Pigeon Panic is also available.

Due to the AR elements of the videogames brought about through ARKit, both dARk: Subject One and Pigeon Panic require an iOS device running the iOS 11 firmware. Compatible devices include iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation) and 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

dARk: Subject One screenshotARKit has birthed a slew of unique AR experiences for iOS devices, including well received titles such as Luden.io’s Arrived and Directive Games’ The Machines. There’s even the suggestion that exciting mobile titles will receive AR elements thanks to ARKit, with Warhammer 40,000: Fireblade set to benefit from the addition of AR technology.

While no further projects have yet been announced, it’s highly likely we’ll see more ARKit applications from Combo Studio in the future. The official trailer for dARk: Subject One follows below and you can be sure VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details.

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‘Pigeon Panic’ Proves That AR is Only Going to Make the World a Stranger Place

As first to market with a robust augmented reality function baked right into its mobile operating system, the various projects we’ve seen using Apple’s smartphone-based AR platform have tended to range from the useful, to the artful, to the downright silly. Targeting the ‘downright silly’ category is Pigeon Panic, a deliciously strange game from AR studio Combo that lets you chase virtual pigeons through the park, making everyone around you wonder what the hell you’re doing with your life.

To play, all you have to do is pick a spot on the ground, chuck out a mass of hamburgers, donuts and pizza, and watch as the dopey virtual pigeons arrive for the feast. Waiting for just the right moment, the objective is to scare off as many of skyrats as possible before the timer hits zero.

The game, while not exactly high on replay value, demonstrates AR’s unique ability to immerse you in an invisible digital world that really leaves people wondering why you’re having so much fun running around the park. While it doesn’t offer the sort of game mechanics you’d stick around for like Pokemon Go, it certainly gives you a taster for what’s in store for the future of AR games.

Sam Piggott, developer on Pigeon Panic and co-founder of Combo, recalls the moment when the idea was born. “Pretty much the day after the announcement at WWDC, we were sat in an East London coffee shop, coming up with a concept for the new game; something fairly simple to grasp in concept, but dependent on AR for execution. There were a bunch of pigeons outside pecking at some bread outside the coffee shop window, and one of us was like, ‘what if….?’”.

“The whole experience was designed to be quite silly,” says Piggott. “We wanted to pull together an experience that let anyone relive that juvenile feeling of scaring off flocks of birds – without the crushing fear of judgement from onlookers.”

“In retrospect, it’s probably equally as strange to be seen running around open spaces with an iDevice, though”, he added.

Pigeon Panic is free, and currently available for download on the App Store for most devices that can run iOS 11.

The post ‘Pigeon Panic’ Proves That AR is Only Going to Make the World a Stranger Place appeared first on Road to VR.

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Combo Announces ARKit Title Pigeon Panic

Ever since Apple unveiled its augmented reality (AR) software ARKit tons of developers have jumped on board, creating all sorts of projects. One of the latest to be revealed comes from Combo, with the studio announcing Pigeon Panic. 

The title looks like a madcap, point scoring race where players need to collect/scare away pigeons as quickly as possible. As the early preview video shows, players are given 20 seconds for each round, with every bird worth ten points. Along the way time increase tokens can be collected that add five seconds.

Pigeon Panic is due to launch at some point this autumn, probably around the same time as iOS11 gets released. Combo also has several other videos showing some of the team playing Pigeon Panic in the office via its Twitter account.

Expect there to be quite a few titles available for iOS11’s launch with Luden.io’s ARrived a possibility, Apollo Box’s AR shopping app and Directive Games’ The Machines.

As further ARKit projects are revealed VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.