Los Angeles-based creative studio Magnopus has a prestigious back catalogue, working on a multitude of XR experiences. When it comes to virtual reality (VR) content the company has created the likes of Disney Pixar Coco VR (2017) and more recently Elixir (2020), the magical experience designed to showcase Oculus Quest’s hand tracking. These have all been single-player experiences but a new job listing indicates the studios’ intention to get into multiplayer gaming.
Currently, Magnopus is looking for a “Senior Backend Server Multiplayer Engineer” to join its team in LA, someone who can “Design, develop, and maintain a highly distributed, scalable, low-latency multiplayer environment.” As is always the case when trying to glean new project details from job listings there’s very little to go on. However, it does note that it’ll bode well for applicants: “Past experience working with VR/AR content and understanding what makes these mysterious worlds so enticing.”
Co-founded in 2014, by Ben Grossmann, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor, to date Magnopus has created over 80 immersive projects, some of which have made it to home VR headsets. The company recently made the news thanks to its acquisition of British XR specialist REWIND, which it has previously worked with on several projects.
REWIND built projects like Danny MacAskill’s VR Ride Out and Universal Monsters Presents: Bride of Frankenstein holoride. When talking about the announcement Grossmann did mention: “The team is brimming with talent so this acquisition has just given us a turbo boost on our journey toward big things we’ve been cooking up.” There’s always the possibility that with such a rich talent pool to draw from Magnopus is creating its own in-house experience which would be exciting.
As VRFocus learns more about Magnopus’ future VR plans we’ll let you know.
Last week was Oculus Quest’s first birthday and as part of the celebrations, Facebook officially brought hand tracking out of the ‘Experimental Features’ section as it looks to foster widespread adoption. Developers have been able to play with the option for several months now and the roll-out saw two titles add the feature – The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets and Waltz of the Wizard – while a third called Elixir provides a hand tracking demo. With The Line arriving this week to add to the roster, it’s easier to see the benefit of the technology and the challenges still ahead to make this a viable control scheme.
Hand tracking is nothing new, with companies like Ultraleap (formerly Leap Motion) having been in this corner of the market for a number of years. But with native integration of hand tracking into Oculus Quest thanks to its four cameras that step towards consumer adoption felt a little closer when the announcement was made during Oculus Connect 6 (OC6) in 2019.
However, from the four titles which support hand tracking, there’s a noticeable difference between those that have added it and those which support it natively.
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
A short but sweet puzzle experience from Fast Travel Games, VRFocus enjoyed playing The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, with its stop-motion graphics and storybook nature. Being able to spin the floating 3D worlds, interacting with miniature trains and treasure chests, solving puzzles to find the pets seemed an ideal fit for hand tracking.
Currently, the tech doesn’t do so well with fast movement – wave your hands around and you’ll see why – so the slower nature of this videogame plays right into this. It’s a simple case of raising your hand and then using a pinching gesture to spin the island or using the same motion to grab an object like the hair dryer.
The problem was that these actions weren’t always consistent. Trying to spin the level sometimes took several attempts or even both hands. It did seem like the system would get confused as to which hand was in control, if the other was relaxed and not being used at that particular moment.
There were also issues with collecting some of the more ingrained coins deep in the islands, as if the digital hand was being obstructed. What this created was frustration, where originally there was none. The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets loses a lot of its smooth gameplay experience with hand tracking (maybe there’s too much going on?) better suited to Oculus Touch controllers.
Elixir
On the other hand (pun intended), Magnopus’ Elixirshows how a title natively designed for hand tracking works very well. This is a basic demo where you can change the design of your hands by grabbing or touching various objects located around a small alchemy lab. Pop your hand in the cauldron to turn them green or on the hot plate for some flaming hands.
As this is a hand tracking demo there’s not much in the way of gameplay just interacting with a few environmental features. The most interesting part is how Elixir employs movement using hand tracking. This is achieved via teleportation, bringing both hands up to select a floor tile to move to followed by a dual pinch which initiates the action.
It’s ideas like this which will make hand tracking a far more feasible choice when it comes to more expansive adventure titles, imagine Journey of the Gods with hand tracking?
The Line
Coming from Brazilian studio ARVORE – the team behind Pixel Ripped 1995– The Line is due to be released on 28th May and comes with hand tracking as standard. Now, this is in between both aforementioned titles as it’s a short interactive experience whose story follows Pedro and Rosa, two miniature dolls who follow the same path day in and out.
Previously winning Best VR Immersive Experience for Interactive Content at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, The Line encourages roomscale interaction although you can play it seated. Set out like a trainset atop a table, again all the hand interactions are kept simple, turning a handle, pulling a lever, so there’s little to worry about or go wrong.
The Line is a great experience for those who love miniature VR like Ghost Giant – anther one which would suit hand tracking – but do realise this is like a film short, only lasting around 10 minutes. It’s also a perfect intro into VR and hand tracking for those new to both.
Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition
The other main videogame which now comes with hand tracking as an option is Aldin Dynamics’ Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition. This is by far the best example of hand tracking on Oculus Quest when it comes to gameplay and interaction.
As a magical sandbox where you can create spells, uncover puzzles and generally learn to become a powerful sorcerer, Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition plays right into the technology’s wheelhouse. All the hand actions feel as solid as they can be – there are occasional moments where grabbing an item can be a little hit and miss.
Much like Elixir, it’s the movement in Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition which shines, just better. The studio recently introduced an update to its Telepath locomotion system to improve its versatility. Now with features like Arc Roll, drawing a path with your finger becomes intuitive, especially in combination with arm swings to increase speed or putting both hands up to stop. Definitely well worth a trial.
VRFocus wasn’t expecting the launch of hand tracking to set the world of VR on fire – and it hasn’t – but there’s enough to be positive about. There are certainly issues on Oculus’ side to be resolved such as both hands disappearing due to occlusion or loss of tracking at full arms stretch – my arms aren’t that long – so there’s still plenty of progress to be made.
Elixir is a free hand-tracking demo game for Oculus Quest developed by Magnopus and Facebook Reality Labs. You can download it and play it right now!
We went over some early impressions of the hand tracking and Elixir itself back at Oculus Connect 6 last year, but now that Elixir is out for the public as well you can download it for free. I just played through the entire short demo experience in about 10 minutes — it’s basically a very simply puzzle game.
You’ll need a reasonably sized playspace to move around, roughly 6.5 by 6.5 feet, and your hands. That’s it. No controller required!
Things start out simply enough with you learning how to teleport using hand tracking by making a triangle with your fingers, Tien style, and then pinching both your index fingers to your thumbs. It’s neat, but isn’t ever used again after you learn how to do it. The actual experience is fully roomscale.
There’s a sorceress that wants to hire you as her new apprentice, but naturally, all you can manage to do is muck stuff up. Every time she tells you not to do something, you’re expected to do just that thing until everything in her dungeon is exploding and messing up. It’s very cute, pretty funny, and full of lots of clever interactions that morph your hands into various things.
For a free app that shows a bit of what you can do with hand tracking, it’s certainly worth the download. And if you really like this brand of whimsical fun, consider giving Waltz of the Wizard a try, which just got full hand tracking support today too.
Oculus Quest’s hand tracking has been available as a beta feature since December, providing limited functionality across system menus and first-party apps. Today, Oculus has announced that the technology is moving into general release with third-party apps adding hand tracking later this month.
Hand Tracking has been an optional extra which Oculus Quest owners could switch on via the Experimental Features section. It never meant you could put away your Oculus Touch controllers, simply helping you see where the tech was heading.
With the anniversary of Oculus Quest’s launch this week, that experimentation begins to change. On 28th May, Oculus will begin accepting third-party titles that include hand tracking to the Oculus Store, starting with Elixir from Magnopus; The Curious Tale of the Stolen Petsby Fast Travel Games and Aldin Dynamics’ Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition.
Elixir puts youin an unstable alchemy lab where you can cast spells, mix potions, and poke a nauseated dragon. Actions allow you to obtain new and powerful hands, altering their anatomy in the process. Puzzle title The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets has been available for a while, with the developer previously teasing hand tracking capabilities. The same can also be said for Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition which recently rolled out new locomotion updates.
“Hand tracking really does enhance immersion and is the perfect fit for The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets“, says James Hunt, Creative Lead on the game in a statement. “It adds a whole new level of connection between the player and the miniature worlds with all their interactive elements. Things like picking up snowballs, waving a magic wand or just petting the pets once you’ve found them feels more real – and fun! – than ever before.”
In addition to those three videogames, Oculus will also be launching the Cinematic Narratives Set featuring Gloomy Eyesand The Line. Two award-winning immersive experiences, their official Oculus Quest launch with native hand tracking will be on the 28th.
SideQuest has allowed developers to release hand tracking features (Tea for God, Interdimensional Matter)for Oculus Quest users since the SDK went live but this will be the first time via Oculus Store. Where appropriate – not all games will suit the tech – the store should see an influx of hand tracking over the summer, allowing gamers to put their controllers down for the first time.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus Quest and its hand tracking, reporting back with further updates.
