Competitive VR Fighting Game Ironlights Hits Kickstarter Goal

Ironlights, the next VR game from experienced developer E McNeill, has officially surpassed its Kickstarter goal of $15,000. It’s a weapon-based multiplayer VR fighting game coming this Spring to Quest, Rift, and SteamVR headsets.

We first learned about Ironlights as the Kickstarter campaign was launching last month and as of this writing there are still five days left of crowdfunding. Currently it sits at just under $19,000 with pledge tiers ranging from $1 to $200 with $15 as the cheapest tier to get a copy of the game at release this Spring.

There aren’t many VR games out there focused on 1v1 multiplayer combat, so Ironlights is definitely filling a void. A few have tried to nail the thrill, but it’s difficult to make this sort of combat feel good since haptics and resistance are tough with current hardware and controllers.

McNeill is aiming to side some of that by designing the game very carefully. For example, during combat time will slow down and force you to move in slow motion, weapons will shatter on contact so there isn’t disconnect between your hand movement and in-game weapons, and the melee is semi-turn-based as opponents trade off between attacking and defending to make things more dramatic.

Currently the game will have five starting classes that each use different weapon sets:

  • Knight (Two-handed Greatsword)
  • Duelist (Rapier & Buckler)
  • Monk (Staff)
  • Ninja (Dual Katars)
  • Crusader (Flail & Shield)

The Crusader sounds like a lot of fun to me personally, getting the hang of the flail’s swing and physics could be immensely satisfying. Since the goal was reached E McNeill has updated the page with a stretch goal in mind: if it can reach $25,000 then the backers themselves will get to vote on what which class is added to the game next.

We’re particularly excited to see how this performs over LAN multiplayer via two Oculus Quests near each other in real-life, a feature not many developers have built into their games yet.

The post Competitive VR Fighting Game Ironlights Hits Kickstarter Goal appeared first on UploadVR.

Dueling Game ‘Ironlights’ Coming to PC VR & Quest in April

E McNeill, the developer behind VR strategy games Darknet (2015), Tactera (2016), and Astraeus (2018), is launching a new VR title next month called Ironlights which aims to bring a strategic bend to the melee combat genre.

Update (February 12th, 2020): The Ironlights Kickstarter passed with flying colors late last month, and now developer E McNeill has announced the official street date for the strategy-based dueling game.

McNeill tells Road to VR that the game has now passed Oculus quality assurance and is currently slated to launch on Quest, Rift, and SteamVR on April 9th for $20, which includes cross-buy for the Quest & Rift versions. All version are said to include cross-play multiplayer. The game will be available on Steam, and the Oculus Store for Quest and Rift.

The original article announcing the Kickstarter follow below:

Original Article (January 15th, 2020): Called Ironlightsthe still in-development game is setting itself apart from other physics-based melee titles by offering up a dynamic ‘back-and-forth’ combat scheme, which is designed to further eliminate careless controller waggling by way of a novel turn-based combat system. During a turn, only the attacker can land strikes while the defender must do their best to dodge or parry the incoming blows.

As a physics-based game, all weapons have weight and momentum. However striking an enemy automatically enters you into slow motion, forcing you move your body in slow-mo in order to maintain “optimal control” of your weapons.

In Ironlights, you’re also only allowed one hit per swing, as weapons shatter after each hit instead of bouncing off. By design, this is meant to side-step the sort of disconnect you might feel when you strike a virtual enemy and your physical controller keeps moving. McNeill says to think of it “sort of like a VR version of Street Fighter or Soul Caliber, mixed with SUPERHOT and maybe a dash of Beat Saber.”

Although Ironlights is said to be nearly finished, with launch slated for Spring 2020, the studio is searching for $15,000 in extra funding via a Kickstarter campaign, which promises a 25% discount off the full game ($20 MSRP) when it goes live later this year on Oculus Quest, Rift, and SteamVR headsets. The funds, McNeill says, will help bring to the game more armor models; backers at the $30 and above will get early access to the game.

SEE ALSO
Hands-on: Pico Neo 2 Could Be the Next Best Standalone After Quest

The game is set to include five classes at launch, which includes the Knight (two-handed greatsword), Duelist (rapier & buckler), Monk (staff), Ninja (dual katar-style daggers), and Crusader (flail & shield). And while it promises a single-player campaign, which will include duels, tournaments, and exhibition matches, the game is also targeting cross-platform multiplayer, featuring online and LAN-based modes.

Starting out in VR development is 2013, McNeill has since produced four VR games, including the early Gear VR hit Darknet. He’s been secretly working on Ironlights for some time now with Rockstar Games veteran Geoff Barber, something he calls his “biggest game yet.”

In addition to McNeill’s VR development chops and Barber’s programming expertise, much of the 3D art was built by SuperGenius, a high-caliber art studio which has worked with Blizzard, Double Fine, and Oculus. The game’s thumping soundtrack was composed by EDM artist Jordan Aguirre (aka bLiNd), who also created a few of the game’s sound effects.

The post Dueling Game ‘Ironlights’ Coming to PC VR & Quest in April appeared first on Road to VR.

RTS ‘Astraeus’ From ‘Darknet’ Developer to Land on Vive, Rift & PC June 7th

E McNeill, an indie developer behind strategy games Darknet (2015), Tactera (2016), and Skylight (2017), announced his real-time strategy game Astraeus, an Oculus Go launch title, is coming to HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PC on June 7th.

In Astraeus, you play as an AI who’s awakened on an asteroid mining control ship after the captain’s death. Filling in for the now deceased captain, you take command fulfilling critically important mining missions, requiring you to build a network of dozens of bases and command thousands of mining rigs as you attempt to corner the market, or eliminate the competition.

Astraeus, McNeill tells us, was originally prototyped for a VR development reality show, the VR Developer Challenge, where it won first place and a $20,000 prize.

As a launch title for Oculus Go (also available on Gear VR), the Steam version will support for Rift, Vive and include a non-VR build for traditional monitors.

Astraeus will be available at a 10% launch discount off the usual price of $15. You can follow along with the game on Steam here.

The post RTS ‘Astraeus’ From ‘Darknet’ Developer to Land on Vive, Rift & PC June 7th appeared first on Road to VR.

Something for the Weekend: Lots of Weekend Treats for Mobile and PC Headsets

Last week’s Something for the Weekend was naturally geared around seasonal holiday Halloween, with plenty of frighteningly good deals on some scary videogames. If you’ve managed to not scare yourself away from virtual reality (VR) permanently then VRFocus has got a new roundup of deals to save yourself some cash.

Circumpaint

Compatibility: Samsung Gear VR

Circumpaint features a hemispherical canvas with a range of painting a colour options. All of which can be accessed through the headsets touch pad, or if you do have a Bluetooth controller shortcuts can be accessed. Circumpaint is currently 50 percent off, retailing for £1.99 GBP rather than £3.99.

Cargo Racing VR screenshot 1

Cargo Racing VR

Compatibility: Samsung Gear VR

In Cargo Racing VR players have to race their vehicle through tracks that twist, turn and undulate all over the place in a bid to get the cargo they’re carrying to the finish line as fast as possible. For this weekend Cargo Racing VR costs £1.11 rather than £2.29.

Darknet screenshot

Darknet

Compatibility: Samsung Gear VR

A videogame that needs very little introduction as it launched on Gear VR way back in 2015. Darknet’s puzzles revolve around you contracting out your hacking skills to retrieve data from the world’s most secure networks. Diving into the Net, you must install viruses, inject code, and hack your way through cybersecurity. For this weekend Darknet will only set you back £3.99 rather than £7.99.

Sneaky Bears Rollercoaster

Sneaky Bears RollerCoaster

Compatibility: Samsung Gear VR

WarDucks released its not so cuddly first-person shooter Sneaky Bears for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive over the last couple of months. Gear VRT won’t get the title as it requires full motion control support, so instead the studio has released a rollercoaster simulator based on the videogame. You can ride around the Sneaky Bears toy factory for £0.79 rather than £1.49.

Counter Fight

Counter Fight SE(Samurai Edition)

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

“Counter Fight SE(Samurai Edition) is a fast-paced VR game where you cook and serve a variety of dishes to eccentric hungry customers.”

For this weekend Counter Fight will only set you back £3.99 rather than £7.99.

Bending the Light

Compatibility: Oculus Rift

“Submerge yourself in a dreamy, atmospheric world filled with brilliant beams of light. Use magnetic orbs and bronze mirrors to bend the light and charge the energy cells.”

For this weekend Bending the Light will only set you back £5.99 rather than £10.99.

Starway Fleet

Starway Fleet

Compatibility: HTC Vive

Starway Fleet is an action-focused space fighter simulator game. Take part in various missions including interception or reconnaissance, provide fighter cover for cargo ships or help rescue the crew of disabled ships.”

Starway Fleet is on sale through Steam for £5.75 rather than £7.19 until 13th November.

Skytropolis screenshot

Skytropolis

Compatibility: HTC Vive

Starting with a small plot of land you will be challenged with building a sustainable and profitable community, creating  everything from the architectural design to every part of the interior for your ideal Skytropolis tower.

Skytropolis is on sale through Steam for £16.56 rather than £19.49 until 9th November.

VR Invaders

VR Invaders

Compatibility: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift

“Dive into a virtual sci-fi world as the freelance hacker Thomas Hall to save a cyber artist that got stuck in virtual reality. Fight legions of enemy drones with your multi-functional loadout. Slow time, transform your weapon and blast through your enemies in this immersive VR shooter.”

VR Invaders is on sale through Steam for £3.66 rather than £13.59 until 6th November.

A Writer And His Daughter

A Writer And His Daughter

Compatibility: HTC Vive

“A VR story exploration game. A young girl discovers a magical fairy tale world and has to decide which world she wants to stay in. Part one of a trilogy.”

A Writer And His Daughter is on sale through Steam for £9.89 rather than £10.99 until 9th November.

Archiact and E McNeill Roll Out “VR Optional” Update for Darknet on PlayStation 4

In March publisher Archiact and developer E McNeill released strategy/puzzle title Darknet for PlayStation VR. Now they’ve expanded support so the PlayStation 4 owners who don’t have the headset can still play the award-winning videogame.

The “VR Optional” update not only means regular PlayStation 4 players get to play as an elite hacker, those with PlayStation VR can now switch instantly between virtual reality (VR) and non-VR gaming. DualShock 4 controller support remains consistent throughout.

Darknet - PSVR_1

“This is one of those opportunities that just made too much sense to pass on,” said Kevin Chorney, Senior Producer at Archiact. “We’ve brought the iconic visuals and mechanics of Darknet’s VR experience to traditional platforms, while retaining the depth and challenge of gameplay that has made the game such a definitive VR title.”

Originally released for Samsung Gear VR in 2015 before coming to HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and Google Daydream this year, Darknet’s puzzles revolve around you contracting out your hacking skills to retrieve data from the world’s most secure networks. Diving into the Net, you must install viruses, inject code, and hack your way through cybersecurity in an experience inspired by a classic cyberpunk vision of the future.

E McNeill hasn’t just been busy expanding support for Darknet, he’s also created two other strategy titles, Tactera and most recently Skylight

Darknet is available through the PlayStation.Store for £8.99 GBP/$14.99 USD. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

E McNeill’s Strategy Puzzler Darknet Hits Google Daydream

Last month it was confirmed that E McNeill’s strategy/puzzle videogame Darknet would be getting a release which subsequently happened on June 8th 2017.  At the same time however it was also confirmed that the title, which we first previewed on VRFocus back in 2014 as an Oculus Rift title, would also be coming to the Google Daydream smartphone based head-mounted display (HMD). This has now come to pass, as the game, though seemingly not yet announced as out is available on the Google Play Store priced at £8.99 (GBP).

Darknet screenshotDarknet is a cyberpunk styled videogame that sees you take on the identity of an elite hacker, who goes on a tear through the web on a mission to steal data via any means necessary without being traced. Using everything from exploits in systems to worms and viruses in order to get in and get out with the digital goods. The popular title, has accumulated over 100,000 hours of playtime on the Gear VR version alone, according to its developer.

As VRFocus described in our initial preview, “Darknet is quick to learn but compelling in it’s mastery. Learning the path that your viral attack will take while also predicting the movement of the security systems is an enjoyable and rewarding task, and when given the opportunity to initiate more than one attack on a single node timing and accuracy become incredibly important.”

You can see a trailer for the videogame below. VRFocus will bring you more news on the various VR projects being undertaken by E McNeill in the near future.

Darknet Gets Steam Release Date, Google Daydream Version in the Works

Since its first announcement all the way back in 2014, VRFocus has extensively covered E McNeill’s much loved virtual reality (VR) title Darknet. The vidoegame is available on Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, PlayStation VR, an very imminently HTC Vive. McNeill also has a Google Daydream version planned as well.

Darknet will be released on Steam for HTC Vive tomorrow (8th June) – which the developer teased back in March – and there will also be a non-VR version available for those keen to play the hacking title but haven’t taken the plunge into VR.

Darknet - PSVR

And for Google Daydream owners there’s good news to. E McNeill has confirmed to VRFocus in an email that: ‘a Daydream version should be launching later this month.’ So keep an eye out for that on the Play Store – VRFocus will let you know a release date once its been finalised.

As if regular readers of VRFocus didn’t know already, Darknet is a strategy/puzzle game that began life as the Grand Prize winner of a VR Jam in 2013. As an elite hacker on the Net, players must plug into cyberspace, using viruses, worms, and exploits to steal the data before their signal gets traced.

E McNeill hasn’t just been busy expanding support for Darknet, he’s also created two other strategy titles, Tactera and most recently Skylight

Darknet is scheduled for release at 9am PT for HTC Vive. For the launch it’ll be discounted down from $15 USD to $10 for a limited time.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of E McNeill and Darknet, reporting back with any further updates.

Grab a Bargain with These PlayStation VR Discounts

With Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) now sorting out the supply issues that dogged the launch of PlayStation VR, more PlayStation 4 owners are now getting the hands on the headset. This month also saw a major videogame release in the form of Farpoint, which raced into second spot in the UK charts. But there are further deals to be had for those wanting to expand their collection with several discounts now available on the PlayStation Store.

Mainly for the UK market – with a couple of US discounts for good measure – there a five new titles on sale until June. If you’re quick there are also four available which end tonight at midnight GMT.

Psychonauts-ROR-011

  • Psychonauts In The Rhombus Of Ruin – £9.79 GBP (36% discount) – UK
  • DYING: Reborn PSVR – £4.99 (37% discount) – UK
  • Darknet – £5.49 (38% discount) – UK
  • DEXED – £3.99 (39% discount) – UK
  • Waddle Home – £4.99 (37% discount) – UK
  • Crystal Rift – £3.69 (53% discount) – UK – offer ends today
  • Resident Evil 7 biohazard – £29.99 (40% discount) – UK – offer ends today
  • Here They Lie – £9.99 (37% discount) – UK – offer ends today
  • Driveclub VR – £15.99 (46% discount) – UK – offer ends today
  • DiRT Rally VR – $34.99 USD (50% discount) – US
  • Mervils: A VR Adventure – $14.99 USD (25% discount) – US

For the last PlayStation VR news from around the world, keep reading VRFocus.

VRTV’s weekly recap includes Samsung Price Drops, a VR gaming convention in VR and more

For VRTV’s fourth episode there’s been plenty going on in the virtual reality (VR) industry during the last seven days. The weekly news roundup is full of stories you may have seen or completely missed, covering the entire breadth of what’s going on.

Whilst there’s no major events taking place but in the news this week there’s been price drops from Samsung, Oculus has had one of the lawsuits against it dismissed, Esper developer Coatsink will be supporting the new Gear VR controller, in-VR plans to be the first VR dedicated convention to be solely attended in VR and loads more.

This week has also seen Nina review I Expect You To Die, interview World War Toons developer Studio Roqovan and talk to Nordic Trolls about its upcoming RPG videogame Karnage Chronicles.

Checkout the next episode below for further info, and stay tuned to VRFocus  and VRTV for more news and videos.

Darknet Coming to HTC Vive, E McNeill Also working on new Gear VR controller support

In a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), indie developer E McNeill has confirmed he’s working on HTC Vive support as well as plans for the new Gear VR controller and Oculus Touch.

During the AMA, the developer was quizzed on SteamVR support for the long running strategy/hacking title Darknet. He responded by saying: “Darknet will indeed have SteamVR support. It’s nearly finished, actually! The game works surprisingly well with motion controllers, and I’ll be doing laser-pointer-style controls on existing platforms too (with Touch and the new GearVR controller).”

Darknet - PSVR_1

While this will mean HTC Vive users will get a chance to dive into McNeill’s hacking world, there’s no confirmation on when this will happen.

Darknet originally launched for Samsung Gear VR back in 2015, as the developer’s first virtual reality (VR) experience. Since then support has been added to Oculus Rift, and through a partnership with Archiact Interactive the award-winning title launched on Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE’s) PlayStation VR on 7th March.

E McNeill hasn’t just been busy expanding support for Darknet, he’s also created two other strategy titles,  Tactera and most recently SkylightVRFocus reviewed both of them, giving the former a 4-star rating, saying: “Tactera is a great example of high production values on the Samsung Gear VR’s limited hardware and is a showcase piece for the strategy genre in VR.” While Skylight got a 5-star review: “Skylight has been perfectly formulated with engaging gameplay, quirky visuals and hours of entertainment.”

The new Gear VR controller was revealed during Mobile World Congress (MWC) at the end of February, with Oculus claiming: ‘more than 70 new controller titles are already in development’. Last week also saw Coatsink Software confirm controller support for its upcoming mobile videogame Augmented Empireand Samsung recently dropped the price of Gear VR and the Gear 360 camera.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of E McNeill, reporting back with further announcements on motion control support.