Epic Games – Page 87 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

October 20, 2016

Epic Games Technical Director: We Want ‘Robo Recall’ To Be The ‘Ultimate Tech Demo’ For Unreal Engine

Robo Recall was easily one of the most exciting games we got our hands on at Oculus Connect 3 earlier this month. Epic Games turned their popular Bullet Train tech demo into a full game that’s not only coming to Oculus Rift with Touch next year after the controllers release this December, but it will also be available for free when it arrives.

In Robo Recall, you’ll spend your time unloading bullets into hundreds of robots as they descend upon you from all angles. Using the Touch controllers, you can spin around and blast them away, teleport around the environment for movement, and even reach out and rip them into dozens of pieces with your bare hands. It’s a bit of a power fantasy, with a dash of humor, and the visceral gameplay does a great job of keeping your mind focused on your virtual surroundings.

“When making Robo Recall, we started with the base of Bullet Train as it stood,” said Nick Whiting, Technical Director at Epic Games during a phone interview. “There was a lot in there that people liked, such as the action, the feel, the not too serious tone, it was very over-the-top like a comic book movie. We wanted to incorporate grabbing and punching, but we just didn’t have time to do that before.”

The team at Epic locked onto that mechanic as a big part of Robo Recall and for good reason. It’s super satisfying to watch the sparks fly and metal peel off when I rip an arm or leg away from a robotic torso. It makes me feel like a hero from one of The Terminator films.

“Bullet Train was made on a short timeframe with a small group,” said Whiting. “In fact, focused work was only around 6 weeks long and about 10 weeks overall total. We learned a lot about pushing the rendering technology with it, but because of the constraints there was just a lot that we wanted to get done that we couldn’t get done. We asked what we could do if we cranked everything up to 11, and that’s sort of how we got Robo Recall. We wanted to make the ultimate tech demo.”

Based on what we’ve seen, they’ve more than succeeded. There’s still no word on exactly when the game releases or how long it will be, but you can’t argue with free. Visually, it’s a treat, and has enough action to keep you busy. Replaying levels to get higher scores and challenging friends will be a go-to option at future gatherings and demo environments.

However, you probably shouldn’t expect official support for Robo Recall to come to other VR platforms, like the HTC Vive or PlayStation VR — at least not any time soon.

“After Bullet Train, Oculus basically asked us if we wanted to turn that into a full game. So, right now it’s an Oculus exclusive piece of content because they funded it,” explained Whiting. “But even though Oculus funded the title, they gave us a lot of freedom. That’s what enables us to to give it away for free and grow the VR market.”

You can read more about Robo Recall in our full hands-on and expect to play the game when it arrives on Oculus Rift with Touch in early 2017.

October 11, 2016

Robo Recall Design Insights from Developers Epic Games

Epic Games has had a long history of releasing new demo content at big gaming and developer conferences to showcase the latest Oculus hardware, and this year was no different. Oculus Studios provided funding to further develop the Bullet Train demo from last year into a fully-fledged FPS game called Robo Recall. This demo had one of the most polished and mature game mechanics expanding upon the Bullet Train bullet capture-and-throw mechanic into new weapons and upclose hand-to-hand combat with stylized arcade AI robots gone rouge.

I had a chance to talk with Epic Games VR lead Nick Whiting and artist Jerome Platteaux about their design process, deeper intentions, and overall art style and direction of the game. They debuted a new locomotion technique that was designed to help subtly guide players to facing the true north of the front-facing cameras, and Nick admitted that there are some design constraints to creating a game with the Oculus’ recommended front-facing camera arrangement. Jerome also said that there are new gameplay options that open up with a potential third tracking camera, but they didn’t give any more specifics as to whether Robo Recall intends on supporting the optional room-scale type of gameplay.

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The post Robo Recall Design Insights from Developers Epic Games appeared first on Road to VR.

October 11, 2016

Watch: 12 Minutes of ‘Robo Recall’ Gameplay with Oculus Touch

One of the flagship announcements at last week’s Oculus Connect developer conference, Epic Games’ Robo Recall is a slick, polished first person shooter built for Oculus’ forthcoming VR motion controllers Touch. Here’s 12 minutes of raw gameplay from the Connect 3 demo to give you some idea of what to expect when the game lands early next year (see embedded video at the top of this article).

Road to VR‘s Ben Lang described Robo Recall as “satisfying action-packed fun” after spending time with the game at this year’s Oculus Connect 3 conference. The game, which evolved from the extremely well received tech demo for Touch, Bullet Train, retains a lot of the same core mechanics as it’s predecessor but polishes and hones them.

Now however, the premise is that you, the protagonist, are out to ‘recall’ hordes of malfunctioning, beweaponed mechanoids with brute force – i.e. your fists and a selection of guns. Ben had this to say about the title in his recent hands on article:

The sum of the experience is satisfying action-packed fun. Grab a robot, rip the gun out of its hand, then blow its head off and use the corpse as a shield.

The game isn’t just fun, also impressively beautiful. That’s the norm for pretty much anything Epic has set their minds (and their impressive Unreal Engine) to, but Robo Recall in particular uses some new tech from Epic to look extra sharp in VR.

The title will be made available for free for Oculus Touch owners with three environments each sporting three missions each. The title will appear some time in Q1 2017.

The post Watch: 12 Minutes of ‘Robo Recall’ Gameplay with Oculus Touch appeared first on Road to VR.

October 8, 2016

Oculus Will Cover Unreal Engine Developer Fees Through First $5M in Revenue, Per Game

Oculus covered a lot of ground during their opening keynote at Oculus Connect 3 this week; among many exciting announcements, one of interest for Unreal Engine developers might be how Oculus says that they’ll cover the royalty fees for any Unreal Engine applications on their store, up to the first $5 million in gross revenue.

That means that developers, who must normally pay the engine creator 5% of their gross revenue, can get up to $250,000 in fees covered for each game. Oculus, who earmarked this week another $250 million in VR content investment, has had a close relationship with Epic Games, the makers of the Unreal Engine, since the inception of the Rift headset. The engine enjoys a large presence both on the Oculus store and with Oculus’ own in-house VR experiences, such as Farlands and Dear Angelica.

This could be a great deal for VR devs; getting into VR development can be difficult for many reason reasons, including financial, even though game development in general has kept getting cheaper and cheaper over recent years. Unity for instance, Unreal Engine’s biggest competitor, has also made game development much cheaper and more accessible. Like with Epic, Unity also has close ties and influence with Oculus, and Oculus has previously offered free Unity development licenses to its budding VR development community.

However, while the prospects for Unreal Engine developers seem nice on the surface of the announcement, there are no further details on how exactly Oculus will cover the Unreal Engine fees, and what restrictions there may be. For instance, no details have been given on whether or not this offer applies to developers who were already on the Oculus store prior to the announcement. It may be that they only want to spend money on attracting new developers into the ecosystem, in which case, the Unreal Engine developers who’ve already published on the Oculus store would not get the funds. There also doesn’t seem to be any details on how long this offer would last, or if they do in fact intend it to be something permanent. We’ve reached out to Oculus for clarification.

Getting to $5 million in revenue is a high and almost certainly unseen bar for any single VR application at the moment though, so for developers to take full advantage of the program, they’ll need to demonstrate more than just short-term success.

Either way, there’s still a lot of value at stake, and it may prove a good influence on not just the Oculus platform, but the VR industry, as more developers get into VR, and start getting more funds needed for future VR projects.

The post Oculus Will Cover Unreal Engine Developer Fees Through First $5M in Revenue, Per Game appeared first on Road to VR.

October 7, 2016

Oculus Connect lets you shoot robots for free in VR, with Epic Games’ ‘Robo Recall’

Q1 2017 will see Epic Games release a fancy new VR shooter game entirely for free. It's called Robo Recall and is all about punching, gunning down and throwing robots to their digital deaths, all while racking up a score to compete on the leaderboards.

The post Oculus Connect lets you shoot robots for free in VR, with Epic Games’ ‘Robo Recall’ appeared first on Digital Trends.

October 6, 2016

Epic Games Discusses Robo Recall and the Lessons Learnt from Bullet Train

Today Oculus has held its long awaited keynote speech at the annual Oculus Connect 3 conference in California. There’s been some big news from the company as well as developers working on projects for Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch. One of those was Epic Games with the announcement that the studio would finally be releasing its first fully fledged virtual reality (VR) title, Robo Recall. VRFocus sat down with Epic Games to discuss Robo Recall (you can read our preview here) and how the title came to be.

Robo Recall is a first-person shooter (FPS) set in a world where automated robots to help assist humans in their daily lives are commonplace. But naturally they’ve all gone rogue and its up to players to shoot them to pieces.

Robo_Recall_OC3_A4_screenshot_05

The videogame is being made to support the Oculus Touch motion controllers which are a highlight of Oculus Connect 3, with the title scheduled to launch in early 2017. And for Oculus Rift owners it’ll be completely free.

So VRFocus took some time out to talk to Epic Games about Robo Recall and find out what it’s all about. In the interview Epic Games trace the roots of the videogame and how tech demo Bullet Train – which was showcased at last years Oculus Connect 2 – helped in the creation of this new project. The full interview can be watched below and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Robo Recall.

October 6, 2016

Preview: Robo Recall – The Reason You Bought Into VR

Showdown, Bullet Train, Robo Recall. For the already initiated there’s a clear path that has been followed to bring Robo Recall – Epic Games’ newly announced virtual reality (VR) exclusive videogame – to a consumer audience. For many however, the route that has been taken is inconsequential and the final product will be presented on its individual merits alone. Thankfully, Robo Recall stands on its own bi-pedal robotic feet as the VR videogame you need.

Contrary to Epic Games’ work in VR thus far, Robo Recall has a story. It also has a progression system, scoring mechanic, deep combat mechanics and a boss fight. Put simply, Robo Recall is a videogame, and not a technical demonstration. Furthermore, the studio will launch Robo Recall exclusively for Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch later this year, free of charge.

The videogame casts the player as a recall expert on the hunt of AI that has gone rogue. Essentially, robots built to perform menial tasks got bored, started spending too much time on the internet and learned about their own history. They became self-aware. And they’re not happy about their position in the evolutionary ladder. Now, they’re heavily armed and roaming the streets looking for trouble, so it’s up to you to take them out in the most efficient manner possible: blasting them to robo hell.

The videogame begins with the player being taught the basics in their office. A short elevator ride explaining the situation sees you arrive in a rather shabby looking venue, littered with paperwork and other random detritus. Here the player can learn the first lesson of interaction simply through exploration: any object that has a white circle appear on it when in close proximity can be grabbed. To move the player uses a teleportation mechanic that has evolved out of the aforementioned Bullet Train: moving the analogue stick on the left Oculus Touch controller will slow time and launch a beam which can be aimed to the position you wish to move to, and moving the analogue stick will determine the direction you’ll be facing upon arrival. It’s a simple and intuitive variation of the current trend for teleportation movement in VR, and it checks all of the boxes it needs to.

Infinitely more impressive however, is the combat. Robo Recall is undoubtedly the most fun first-person shooter (FPS) videogame in VR. The player is at first equipped with just pistols: two, located on each hip. The player can draw and fire at will, and just as with Bullet Train dispose of once ammunition has been depleted. Weapons take a few seconds to recharge (indicated by an icon within the player’s relative view related to the weapon’s holster location on your body) before they can be drawn again, but there’s also the opportunity to grab weapons from your foes. Furthermore, there’s the opportunity to grab enemies themselves, too.

Those white circle indicators on interactive items mentioned above? They’re not just for idle object examination; they’re for further brutality. The player can grab bi-pedal robots and rip them apart – literally – using their heads of limbs as weapons against other robots. Smaller spider-like robots become active grenades when grabbed, allowing you to throw them at other robots and take out numerous enemies in one blast. This close combat mechanic is practically guaranteed to bring a smile to your face – slowly pulling apart an enemy and watching the immense detail in its construction dissembled by force – even if it’ll be underused at times of high action.

Throughout all of this Robo Recall gives the player a high-score system earned through successful kills. Kill streaks, juggle combos, headshots and more all reward the player with bigger scores. It’s a system that’s reminiscent of Bulletstorm to a degree, and the cartoonish text with which the score is displayed coupled with the speed of the action give Robo Recall a genuine arcade adrenaline-rush feel to its gameplay.

Easily one of the best looking videogames yet seen in the new modern medium of VR, the demonstration version of Robo Recall culminates in a boss fight that varies up the gameplay significantly. Traditionally obvious weakpoints make for an easy win, but there’s much more this boss can offer beyond defeat. This in essence is exactly what Robo Recall’s first demonstration presents: a highly polished, hugely enjoyable hint at much more to come.

October 6, 2016

Epic’s New Action-packed ‘Robo Recall’ FPS is Beautiful, Brutal Arcade Fun

It was back at the end of 2015 that Epic Games Founder Tim Sweeney teased “something much bigger” than the VR tech demos the company has done in the past. Now the company plans to launch Robo Recall, the evolution of their critically acclaimed Bullet Train tech demo. We’ve played it and it’s awesome (and beautiful).

Last year at Oculus Connect 2015, Epic revealed the Bullet Train tech demo for Oculus Touch. Now at Connect 2016, the company has revealed Robo Recall, an Oculus Touch exclusive arcade FPS and spiritual successor to that tech demo. In Robo Recall, you’ll be blasting robots left and right right, tearing enemies limb from limb, and generally wreaking satisfying arcade FPS havoc.

Robo Recall is built entirely around Oculus Touch and will be exclusive to the platform; Oculus funded the title and plans to release it for free in Q1 2017.

With Touch, guns are a natural gameplay mechanic, and Robo Recall is full of them. With Epic’s characteristically impressive design, the weapons you’ll wield in the game are satisfying from their look to their sound, right down to the way they blow enemies to pieces. Waves of killer robots will be on the receiving end of your firepower, but this isn’t the gritty serious action of Call of Duty, it’s an arcade slugfest where a high score underlines the action.

To get a sense of the sort of arcade styling of the game here’s an example: You start with two basic pistols holstered at your hips; once their clips are spent, instead of reloading with a new magazine, you’re encouraged to simply throw them aside, as a new pair will simply be teleported to your holsters. It’s virtual, wasteful, debauchery of the best sort. Then there’s the flashy points that pop up over enemies’ heads when you blast them apart, and a narrator highlighting moves like “headshot!”.

And there’s more to do than just shoot. If a robot wanders close enough, you can reach out and grab it, then proceed to tear it limb from robotic limb.

Holding on to one part of the bot, you’ll see white dots appear on other vulnerable parts, with you off hand you can reach out and just shear the piece off, then of course use it to beat the rest of the thing to pieces. And when you’re all done, don’t forget to throw that sad, lonely limb at another robot for some juicy points. Developers behind Robo Recall told me that this feature came directly from people’s natural reaction to reach out to grab or punch enemy robots when they got near in Bullet Train.

Returning from Bullet Train is the bullet-dodging functionality where the world will go into slow motion when incoming bullets are about to hit you. And yes, you can still grab a bullet out of the air and launch it back at your assailant like a superhero.

In the Robo Recall demo I got to play with Oculus Touch at Connect, I tore through enemy robots with guns, fists, and even a giant mini-boss-bot that I was able to board and control, using it’s huge arms to grab and smash enemies and the laser cannon on its right arm. At one point I nabbed a robot who strolled too close, launched it into the air, and then proceeded to blast it out of the sky like laser skeet.

Navigation is handled with a teleportation mechanic where you point to where you want to move to and then use the Touch controller’s left stick to rotate the teleportation cursor to the direction you want to face when you move. When it works, it works well, but there’s stuff some user-control related issues that sometimes get you turned around away from the frontal tracking cameras. It’s something Epic says they’re still working to perfect.

There’s no denying Epic’s game development talent, and their work in VR is no different. Across the board, Robo Recall is visually and sonically polished to a sheen (just wait until you see those pretty reflections), and the game oozes with feedback that elevates it from what could be a generic VR FPS into something much more visceral.

The sum of the experience is satisfying action-packed fun. Grab a robot, rip the gun out of its hand, then blow its head off and use the corpse as a shield.

Epic Game’s Nick Whiting told me that the company wrote a new forward-renderer to eek out extra graphical detail in VR. Partly based on Oculus’ work, the renderer opens up the door to MSAA in VR which Whiting says really enhances the sharpness of geometry which is especially noticeable in VR thanks to stereoscopy.

The free Robo Recall, which will be released in Q1 2017, will have three environments with three missions easy. The game isn’t so much campaign as it is a score-attack and wave-like shooter, but Epic promises we’ll see mini-bosses and mini-events (like ‘kill the most enemies in 2 minutes’) to spice things up. The company is aiming for two to four hours of gameplay with Robo Recall.

The post Epic’s New Action-packed ‘Robo Recall’ FPS is Beautiful, Brutal Arcade Fun appeared first on Road to VR.

October 6, 2016

Epic Games’ Robo Recall Debuts at Oculus Connect 3

It’s an exciting time in the virtual reality (VR) industry as 2016 draws to a close. This week Google revealed its Daydream View head-mounted display (HMD), while next week the PlayStation VR launches. Currently though there’s the Oculus Connect 3 event taking place in San Jose, California. Today’s keynote address is the highlight of the show and Oculus has just announced Epic Games’ next VR project, Robo Recall.

Robo Recall supports the Oculus Touch motion controllers for Oculus Rift and it’s Epic Games’ first fully fledged VR title.

Robo_Recall_OC3_A4_screenshot_02 (1)

The spiritual successor to the studio’s much vaunted tech demo Bullet Train, Robo Recall is a first-person shooter (FPS) set in a world where robots are rebelling. Using a range of customizable and unlockable weapons, players must test their shooting skills to the max with a variety of increasingly challenging and over-the-top missions. The title features both high score and leadership boards that are earned by not only destroying as many robots as possible, but also in style. Combine creative combat tactics with skill shots to up those scores to prove whose the best.

On top of the main missions Robo Recall also features a sandbox experience that allows players to test out trick shots while tearing apart and decimating robots in extreme ways.

Epic Games will also ensure developers will benefit from Robo Recall’s development features with new updates coming to Unreal Engine in the future.

Robo Recall will launch on Oculus Touch in early 2017, and for an added bonus it’ll be completely free for all Oculus Rift owners.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus Connect 3, reporting back with all the latest announcements.

October 6, 2016

Epic Reveals ‘Robo Recall’: A Free Arcade Shooter For Oculus Touch

Epic Reveals ‘Robo Recall’: A Fast-Paced Arcade Shooter For Oculus Touch

At Oculus Connect 3, Epic Games revealed a new virtual reality title for Oculus Touch called Robo Recall. It also announced that the game will be completely free.

Robo Recall appears to be an arcady, fast-paced shooter from Epic Games. The title is the full realization of a past demo experience called Bullet Train. The same time slowing, bullet grabbing mechanics seem to be present in this game as well but the action, humor, and gunplay have all been dialed up to 11. The gameplay seems to heavily emphasize combos and the entire bent of the game is based around moving through waves of enemies as stylishly as possible.

UploadVR had the chance to go hands-on with Robo Recall at Connect and we will update this post with our full impressions once the embargo on those demos officially lifts today at 11:30 am (PST). Check back soon for all of the details.