The dates of the biggest player-hosted gathering of EVE: Online fans have announced the dates of its upcoming event. Evesterdam will be coming to Amsterdam on 4-5th November, 2017.
The Evesterdamn event was first held back in 2013 as a small meetup organised over Facebook to allow EVE: Online players to get together. The event has grown exponentially since then, and is now recognised as one of the biggest EVE fan events in the world.
As well as the expected social meet ups to drink and swap stories and chat with fellow EVE: Online fans, there are also presentation planned for the developers at CCP Games, along with demonstrations of virtual reality (VR) spin-off titles EVE: Valkyrie and EVE: Gunjack. Players who have not previously had the opportunity to play those titles will have the chance to try it out.
Players will also be leading presentations, and the organisers are looking for EVE:Online players who have an interesting idea of what they can talk about on stage to a crowd of eager attendees. Those who are chosen to be presenters will be given free entry to Evesterdam. In addition, prizes will be on offer for in-game competitions for those who choose to engage in the tournaments that will be going on through the weekend.
Evesterdam will be held on November 4th and 5th at the Compagnietheater, Kloveniersburgwal 50 in Amsterdam. Tickets have not yet become available. Previous events had tickets to the event priced at €70 (EUR) for the standard ticket. Further information and updates can be found on the Evesterdam website.
VRFocus will bring you further updates on VR-related events as they become available.
You may well recall a story put out by VRFocuslast week where we told you about the various new graphical tweeks and updates given to CCP Games’ flagship virtual reality (VR) videogame EVE: Valkyrie, part of the famed EVE universe made popular by EVE Online.
NVIDIA VRWorks technologies had been brought to bear on the title and as a result a number of improvements were announced relating to graphical fidelity, dynamic lighting changes (including the addition of so called ‘godrays’) and more.
Now the computer graphics firm has released a new video on YouTube where they show these improvements off and explain just what was done. Presented by GeForce Channel Executive Producer Chris Turner, the video goes through each notable upgrade with gameplay footage and side-by-side comparisons. You can see the video below.
This is just the latest update made to the VR space dogfighter, formerly known as EVE-VR. With previous significant content updates including Gatecrash, Wormholes and Groundrush. With work continuing as always VRFocus will bring you news on any future updates and upgrades as we get it. For more on EVE: Valkyriecheck out our interview with Lead Game Designer Andrew Willans on the Groundrush update and CCP Games’s thoughts on the future of VR.
Oculus’ massive price drop that saw the cost of Rift + Touch slashed to only $400, is still going on for the next 4-5 weeks—but if you purchase through BestBuy.com, you can get EVE: Valkyrie, normally costing $40, for free.
Note (07/21/17): Best Buy is currently out of online stock. Individual stores however post in-store availability for pick-up. Many stores are quickly running out, or have already ran out, but list when they expect stock to return.
Featuring near-constant updates from EVE Online developers CCP Games, the studio’s multiplayer arcade dogfighters has gotten a slew of new maps and gamemodes since launch in 2016, making Valkyrie a solid investment in both time and money—but if you can get it for free, why not?
This of course includes the free games you’ll already be getting when you activate Rift + Touch including:Robo Recall (2017), Luckyʼs Tale (2016), Quill (2017), Medium (2017), Dead and Buried (2017), and Toybox (2017).
Diese Woche am 12.7.2017 erschien der Patch 2017_R3 für EVE: Valkyrie. Dieser bringt einige Neuerungen ins Spiel. Dazu zählen Verbesserungen der AI, Balanceveränderungen, Verbesserungen der Stabilität und vor allem neue visuelle Optimierungsmöglichkeiten. Dadurch können Besitzer stärkerer Nvidia-Grafikkarten die Ultra Settings aktivieren.
Neues Update für EVE: Valkyrie
Das Hauptaugenmerk des Patches liegt auf den neuen Grafikoptionen. Diese ermöglichen für Besitzer einer GTX 1070, GTX 1080 oder GTX 1080 Ti in den Optionen die neue Ultra-Einstellung zu aktivieren. Grundlage für die bessere Grafik sind Nvidias VRWorks. Durch die Ultra-Einstellungen werden im Spiel beispielsweise die God rays durch volumetrische Lichteffekte hinzugefügt. Zudem verbessern sie die Schatten und Reflexionen, die Beleuchtung und Effekte innerhalb des Cockpits sowie die VFX der Projektile. Durch Nvidias Multi-Sample G-Buffer Anti-Aliasing werden geometrische Kanten noch schöner dargestellt.
Neben der neuen Grafikoption haben die Entwickler auch einige Verbesserungen am Gameplay vorgenommen. Die Erfahrung neuer Spieler soll sich verbessern, indem alle drei Standardschiffe (Wraith, Spectre und Banshee) von Anfang an zur Verfügung stehen. Das entfernt unnötige Barrieren, sodass neue Rekruten sofort das passende Schiff für den entsprechenden Spielstil finden können.
Zudem wird die Rollfunktion auf dem rechten Analogstick für neue Spieler zunächst deaktiviert. Diese kann man jedoch manuell im späteren Spielverlauf wieder aktivieren. Außerdem werden den Spielern in den Proving Grounds Kopiloten zur Seite gestellt, um gegen die AI zu bestehen.
Zudem integrierten die Entwickler neue Wurmloch-Events. Um welche neuen Ziele es sich dabei handelt, müssen die Spieler laut den Entwicklern aber selbst herausfinden.
Zusätzlich gab es einige Balanceanpassungen. So wurden einige Kartenveränderungen vorgenommen, u. a. ein neues Echo auf einer Karte hinzugefügt. Zudem legten die Entwickler Hand an die Schiffe und passten die Rüstung und der Schaden an unterschiedlichen Schiffstypen an und behoben einige Bugs. Dazu zählen die Verbesserung der AI und des Matchmakings sowie ein Fehler bezogen auf die Kamera. Die genauen Patchnotes befinden sich hier.
As part of this week’s EVE: Valkyrie update, which includes AI improvements, balance tweaks, and stability fixes, the game has also received some visual optimisations courtesy of Nvidia VRWorks. Suitable for higher-spec Nvidia cards (GTX 1070 and above), the new ‘Ultra Settings’ option enables ‘God rays’, improved cockpit lighting and projectile effects.
The latest ‘2017_R3’ patch for EVE: Valkyrie rolled out yesterday, detailed on the game’s official site. According to an Nvidia press release, it is Valkyrie’s support for VRWorks’ Lens Matched Shading rendering technique (only possible on the Pascal architecture) that maintains the level of performance required to render these higher quality visuals.
CCP Games have incorporated Nvidia Volumetric Lighting to achieve the ‘God rays’ effect, along with a new anti-aliasing technique developed by Nvidia called ‘Multi-Sample G-Buffer Anti-Aliasing’, which reduces visible aliasing of geometry edges and specular highlights. ‘Ultra Settings’ also improves the fidelity of reflections and shaders, adds dynamic lights to projectiles, and upgrades the lighting and shadowing “in every area and level”.
If you’re looking for a virtual reality (VR) experience that truly makes the jaw drop and quickly clues you in to the benefits of a 360 degree viewpoint you can’t do much better than checking out the wonders (and dangers) of outer space courtesy of EVE: Valkyrie. Whether it’s the basic game or any of the many additions to it since launch, such as Gatecrash, Wormholes or Groundrush the immersion level of CCP Games‘ spaceship dogfighter is already a pretty compelling spectacle.
Well, the good news for owners of EVE: Valkyrie is that they may well be able to experience it at an even greater level of clarity – and soon. With improvements to surface fidelity and reactivity, the addition of “God ray” style shafts of light and other dynamic lighting and shadowing.
This is all thanks to the support of NVIDIA VRWorks technologies, whose continued work has enabled the team at CCP Games to consider and implement a new ‘Ultra’ graphics setting. Bringing much higher graphical fidelity, and by extension an even better sense of immersion to this fast-paced slice of the EVE Online universe. This improvement has been made achievable thanks to a number of developments by the NVIDIA team that CCP Games have implemented, with CCP already using NVIDIA’s Lens Matched Shading technique for rendering and GeForce support.
For instance, anti-aliasing has been improved, this is thanks to Multi-Sample G-Buffer Anti-Aliasing – a new technique developed by the team at NVIDIA that “improves anti-aliasing by further reducing visible aliasing of geometry edges and specular highlights, giving players a superior visual experience”. NVIDIA Volumetric Lighting has also been used to add to the realism of the cockpit view and making projectiles look even more impressive as CCP Games look to build on the wow-factor of a hostile, but beautiful, universe with
Pilots keen to see the changes in action should look for Ultra mode as part of the latest update to EVE: Valkyrie, VRFocus will bring you more information on the ongoing developments at both NVIDIA and CCP Games in the near future.
Single-player games can immersive and rewarding, but when the campaign is done and all the AI foes have been slain, you need to know when you finally hit that ‘multiplayer’ button that can play with actual human beings. Here we take a look at multiplayers games that will let you play together—be it on PC VR headsets through Steam or Oculus, or on PlayStation VR.
VR’s overall playerbase—even across the major headsets—is still a pretty small community in contrast to console/PC gaming. So while the multiplayer lobbies won’t be busting at the seams like you’re used to in flatscreen games, you’re still bound to find a group of casuals, die-hards, and try-hards populating the servers.
Here’s what we think are the best cross-compatible games for Rift, Vive, Index, or Windows MR players on PC, and for console players on PSVR. You’ll find a longer explanation below our top 5 list detailing more about PSVR cross-play (spoiler: there’s only a few).
5 – Sparc
CCP’s 1v1 sports game Sparc was their last virtual reality title before shuttering their VR studios late last year. While CCP has basically called it quits on VR for now, there’s still plenty of reasons to pick up Sparc if you’re looking to connect up with a buddy.
Sparc is by all measures a great game, but it’s even greater that you can play mano-a-mano against any one of your VR headset owning goons you call friends. Sparc suffers from the same issue as many cross-platform VR games though, i.e. no support for friends lists outside of the platform you’re on, but you can always host a game and hope for matchmaking serendipity—the silver lining to a smaller user base means you’ll probably be able to match up with your friend easily.
Catan VR (2018) brings the best-selling board game Settlers of Catan to pretty much every VR headset out there, with dedicated community of players on PC VR headsets, PSVR, Oculus Go and Gear VR. You’re certain to meet Catan-lovers from all over the world, so who knows how your game will improve or what friends you’ll make along the way.
Although online play is the main focus of Catan VR, there’s also a single-player mode with ‘Catan AI Personalities’, which were designed with guidance from Catan creator Klaus Teuber.
Space Junkies (2019) is a team shooter from Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio that puts you into zero-g for some pretty familiar Unreal Tournament-style action. Although Ubisoft pulled the plug on development only a few months after the sci-fi arcade-style shooter was released, there’s still a sizable chunk of meat on the bones here, making it one of VR’s most finely-polished and fun team shooters out there.
Full cross-play adds some disparity in input; PSVR players could technically have a leg up on the competition due to DualShock 4 allowing for quicker target acquisition, although you may just find dual-wielding with motion controllers way easier and ultimately more satisfying.
You don’t have to be a Trekkie (or Trekker) to see why sitting at the bridge of a star ship, cooperatively taking down hostile aliens is a really engrossing way to lose an entire afternoon/evening. With its 4-player multiplayer, you can go through the game’s half-dozen campaign missions, or alternatively experience an infinite number of procedurally-generated missions in the company of other PC VR and PSVR-owners.
Created by Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment, Star Trek: Bridge Crew is worth it if only to say you’ve been where no man’s gone before.
Social apps are a fun way to talk and interact with people in VR, but if you don’t have something fun to do while you’re actually there, the novelty ultimately wears off. Anti Gravity’s Rec Room is a great way to experience fun activities like paintball or dodge ball, but the real meat of the game likes in their co-op ‘Quests’ and PvP battle royale game Rec Royale. Of course all of this is served up in a lovable cartoony environment while you have a chat with people from all over the world, or just your best buddies if you so choose. Did we mention it was free. Yeah, we can’t believe it either.
Rec Room isn’t only a great game, but it allows all players regardless of platforms to meet up, create friends and sally forth to take on all activities without the issues we mentioned above.
Let’s face it: there aren’t many other cross-play multiplayer titles that currently work on all three major headsets. It’s a fact we’ve been living with since the headsets launched in 2016, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better due to two very real roadblocks outside of the friends list issue a large portion of cross-platform games suffer from. While platform exclusives wall out a large percentage of would-be users, the ugly truth is studios simply aren’t going head-first into VR multiplayer games like they once were. Time after time, VR games that primarily feature multiplayer support have fallen to the wayside because of low hourly active user numbers, and perfectly fun games like Werewolves Within and Eagle Flight stand as testament to this.
If you buy a game and the servers aren’t populated with players, you probably won’t wait around too long for a match; it creates a vicious cycle that tends to spell the death of a game if a hardcore playerbase isn’t built-in due to things like active Discord servers or subreddits to keep people engaged outside of the matchmaking screen.
Thankfully for SteamVR headsets owners, Steam is a great resource for guaranteed cross-play on multiplayer titles; many games available through Steam offer VR support for Rift, Vive, Valve Index, and Windows VR pretty much on a de facto basis. Conversely, with a SteamVR headset and ReVive at your disposal, many Oculus Rift multiplayer titles are technically cross-play capable if you’re looking to hack your way in. It’s a pretty strange way of vaulting over the friends list roadblock, but entirely feasible if you’re motivated.
Update (January, 20th 2020): We’ve done a long-due overhaul of the list reflecting the latest developments in the games, and their cross-play abilities. We’ll be periodically updating this list as new games come out.
Ask virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts what some of their favourite videogames are on any headset platform and the likelihood of CCP Games’ sci-fi shooter EVE: Valkyrie appearing is very high. Available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, the videogame has built up a dedicated community of players, so much so in fact that a recent Wormholes map saw a group of pilots relax their trigger fingers and instead engage in some formation flying.
For those unfamiliar with Wormholes, the mode was added earlier this year, bringing with it a new set of rules to master – modified game modes, unusual environments, special upgrades, new visuals and more – every weekend. Recently the Nightyard map made an appearance and with it two different effects Rainbow Trails and Superboost.
So one dedicated player and community contributor, Salsaketchup, decided to mastermind a video with a difference, getting a group of pilots to showcase their flying prowess with some coordinated formation flying, producing a ballet of light and colour in a videogame designed for carnage and destruction.
CCP Games contacted Salsaketchup asking how all of this came about. “Thoughts of flying in formations first popped into my head within the first couple of weeks of playing Valkyrie. There were times that I would be flying real close to squad mates such as Mittko and other PSVR pilots and I would just think how cool would it be to charge in as a whole squad. To look out of your cockpit and see your team up-close before all hell breaks loose,” said the player.
When quizzed on the logistics of it all Salsaketchup responded: “As soon as I heard it was a Nightyard wormhole I wrote the post on the forum and took to Twitter and discord, I mean what else could make formation flying look better than rainbow trails out the back of the ships!? The rest all happened on the fly as we ended up with 13 pilots on comms and the results looked great and the EVE: Valkyrie Soundtrack – Tempest adds the extra punch needed to tie it all together nicely.”
Checkout the video below to see the formation flying for yourself, and head over to the EVE: Valkyrie blog for the full Q&A with Salsaketchup. As ever keep reading VRFocus for the latest updates from CCP Games.
Sit back, relax and catch up on the latest virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) news from around the world. Every Thursday Nina from VRFocus brings you bite size juicy news, giving you a little round-up video that encapsulates the last seven days, so you don’t have to.
EVE: Valkyrie (2016), one of the first games to launch on the Oculus Rift (and eventually found its way to PSVR and the HTC Vive), is getting a big price cut.
Eve: Valkyrie is a sci-fi spaceship dogfighting game that debuted on the Rift in 2016. Following that launch, developer CCP Games has put out a number of large expansions increasing the scope of the game, and also brought the title to PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive, with crossplay compatibility across all three headsets. Now, a little more than a year after the game hit its first headset, it’s getting a big 33% price cut, bringing the price on all platforms down $40 permanently, down from the original $60 asking price.
As a ‘seated’, controller-based game, Valkyrie holds a reasonably good rating of 3.9 on the Oculus store, and just about the same on the Playstation Store. On Steam, the game hasn’t been received as well, holding a ‘Mixed’ review rating, with only 62% of of users giving it a positive grade.
Valkyrie has been praised for its AAA visuals which have held up well even a year after the game’s launch. As one of the most expensive VR games on offer, the $60 price point was a point of contention, especially on Steam, where many of the user reviews reference the price, a surprising number of which specifically recommend a $40 price point.
Now at $40, and including a year’s worth of added content, it’s certainly a more compelling package. It will be interesting to see if the game’s ratings change over time in response to the price cut.
NVIDIA VRWorks technologies had been brought to bear on the title and as a result a number of improvements were announced relating to graphical fidelity, dynamic lighting changes (including the addition of so called ‘godrays’) and more.
Well, the good news for owners of 
