MultiBrush Is A Free Multiplayer Version Of Tilt Brush Out Now For Quest

Thanks to Tilt Brush going open source, we already have Multibrush from Rendever, a free multiplayer version of the groundbreaking VR app available now for Quest via SideQuest. It’s also coming soon to App Lab so you won’t have to sidelaod it.

We figured it was only a matter of time before someone released a multiplayer version of Tilt Brush, but admittedly I thought it would take a little bit longer than a week and a half or so. Luckily, the ingenuity of VR developers knows no bounds.

MultiBrush is out now on SideQuest, where you can sideload the app onto your headset to check it out and collaborate with other VR users online. This is an early 0.01b version of the app so you should expect some issues here and there.

According to the developers from Rendever:

“When Google announced it was open sourcing Tilt Brush last week, Rendever Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Tom Neumann immediately went to work developing a multiplayer version of the popular app that gives creators a way to make art in virtual reality. Within 10 hours, the team developed a working prototype of multiplayer – a feature that has been eagerly requested by Tilt Brush users for years. Given Rendever’s mission to improve health through social VR experiences, Neumann and his team were able to leverage their extensive expertise to develop this version in record time.”

Since Rendever have already confirmed the app is definitely coming to App Lab very soon, you could just hold off if you wanted to avoid sideloading. It hopefully won’t be too long before you can just access it directly from an App Lab page. Here’s more details on how to download App Lab games onto your Quest without even needing a PC at all.

Or you can grab it now on SideQuest. Let us know what you think!

3 Ways VR Could Make Microsoft Flight Simulator Even Better (And 1 Thing To Watch Out For)

Microsoft Flight Simulator is out on PC today and, even without the impending VR support, it’s a true marvel.

Using Bing Maps data, Azure AI and its own game engine, Flight Sim offers large-scale, authentic and photorealistic replicas of the real world to glide across. But, as great as Flight Sim is today, the promise of VR support in the future is far, far more exciting.

We know that Flight Sim will launch as a timed exclusive for Windows VR headsets when the latest entry into that catalog, the HP Reverb G2, arrives later this year. Support for other headsets will roll out later on. Having spent time with the game on launch day, though, there’s already a handful of areas that it’s clear VR support could have a big impact on.

The Camera

The camera in Microsoft Flight Simulator is a little bit of a fiddle, depending on your playstyle. With a controller, it’s easy enough to twist your head, but most control schemes also need you to go back and forth with the keyboard to find the best angle for you. In VR, that would simply be a case of sitting how you want to sit. It sounds simple but this really should be one of the biggest improvements VR support brings to the game.

The Controls

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Details are thin on the ground about exactly how Asobo will integrate VR support into Flight Sim, but we’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll see proper motion controller support in there. The existing robust controller support is great, and I’m sure many will still want to play with a HOTAS, but only VR motion controls can give you a direct connection to the cockpit you sit in.

We want to reach out to flick every switch, steer with our hands and wave as we skim past the Space Needle. If Asobo can pull off this level of integration, Flight Simulator will be a true VR marvel.

The Views And Immersion

Microsoft Flight Simulator Cockpit

Suffice to say the main reason we’re looking forward to playing Flight Sim in VR, though, is the views. Asobo has done a truly fantastic job bringing many of the world’s most iconic locations to life using Microsoft’s tech; cities are accurate and hold up to close detail, while forests, canyons and oceans bring out vibrant color and stunning draw distances. We can’t wait to hop into a headset and see it all come to life in VR.

Combine that with the highly-detailed cockpits, an area VR often shines brightest, and there’s hope for a truly immersive experience here. Hopefully we’ll get the same thrills as we did from seeing Google Earth in VR, only now with a game to keep us there too.

But Performance Is A Concern

If there’s a negative to level at Flight Sim right now, it’s performance. Many outlets have reported issues with framerate in the game’s busier areas using even the best hardware on the lowest settings. We’ve been playing the game with a 2060 Super on multiple settings and seen issues right across the board even in the training levels. Never has it made the experience unplayable, but it certainly has us concerned about where recommended specs for the game in VR might land. It might be that the rumored new Nvidia cards are a fair bit more essential if you’re hoping to see this one in VR.


What are you most looking forward to in Microsoft Flight Simulator’s VR support? Let us know in the comments below!

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Statik Dev ‘Sad That More People Didn’t Experience’ PSVR Puzzle Gem

One of the developers of little-known PSVR puzzling gem, Statik, recently acknowledged they were sad that more people didn’t get to try the game.

Developed by Tarsier Studios, Statik was a PSVR exclusive puzzle game that launched back in 2017. The game used position-tracking on the DualShock 4 controller to great effect, locking players’ virtual hands into boxes with various puzzles on them. It was an amazing concept, bolstered by an ambiguous plot, and it’s been a mainstay on our best PSVR games list for some time.

But, speaking to Superjump, Head of Communication, Dave Mervik expressed regret that more people didn’t get to try the inventive title. “I loved what we tried to do with Statik, and am only sad that more people didn’t get to experience it,” he said.

It’s not clear if Mervik is referencing the game’s sales or the fact it was only available in VR, but we definitely agree more people should try Statik. It didn’t come to other VR headsets, though none of those feature tracked gamepads, only their dedicated motion controllers. As for Tariser itself, the developer is currently working on Little Nightmares 2. Could it ever go back to VR? Mervik says with the right idea and opportunity, it would.

“Messing with people in that way, playing with their expectations and sense of ‘self’ was something we could only do with VR, and I would only want to go back to VR if that opportunity presented itself again,” he said. “I’m just not a fan of VR for the sake of it, it reinforces this notion that it’s novelty tech, when it could offer so much more.”

A little nudge, then, to check out this ace VR oddity if you’re ever searching for something new to play on PSVR.

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Beat Saber Linkin Park DLC Launches Today

A new Beat Saber Linkin Park DLC releases today, offering the first new tracks for the hit VR app in a little while.

As teased on Friday, a total of 11 new songs from the band launch today. Three of them — including Bleed It Out and Paper Cut — are taken from the seminal Hybrid Theory album, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Factor in different difficulties and play types, and there are 55 new Beat Maps included in this pack. You can get them all for $13.99, or each song for $1.99.

But the full tracklist (which you can see below) spans the band’s entire career, also including essentials like One Step Closer and Numb. As usual, you’ll also get a new themed environment for these tracks. Check it out in the brief trailer below.

Beat Saber Linkin Park DLC Tracks

  • Bleed It Out
  • Breaking the Habit
  • Faint
  • Given Up
  • In The End
  • New Divide
  • Numb
  • One Step Closer
  • Papercut
  • Somewhere I Belong
  • What I’ve Done

By our count, this marks Beat Saber’s seventh premium DLC pack and its fifth based on popular artists. Earlier this year we saw a Timbaland pack featuring all-new music and Imagine Dragons, Panic! at the Disco and Green Day have all seen the Beat Saber treatment in the past. It’s been a pretty healthy balance of rock and dance tracks, especially when you factor in the free tracks added later too.

Last year Facebook announced the acquisition of developer Beat Games, a move that surely helped secure some of these bigger names. Since launch in Early Access a few years ago, Beat Saber has sold over two million copies.

You can expect the pack to hit on all of Beat Saber’s existing versions. That means Quest, Rift, SteamVR and PSVR. Will you be picking up the Beat Saber Linkin Park DLC today? Let us know in the comments!

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Sensational VR Movie BattleScar Comes To SteamVR In 2020

Last year we wrote about BattleScar, a sensational VR movie that recaptured the magic of the platform. A year on, it looks like everyone will finally get to see it for themselves.

BattleScar has been listed on SteamVR for release later on in 2020. There’s no exact date, but the Steam page says to expect it towards the end of the year. It’s not clear if the app will arrive anywhere else, though creator Atlas V has recently put other experiences like Gloomy Eyes on Quest, so fingers crossed.

Directed by Martín Allais and Nico Casavecchia and created by Atlas V in collaboration with ARTE France, 1stAveMachine, RYOT, Fauns and Kaleidoscope, Battlescar follows Lupe. Voiced by Rosario Dawson, she finds herself suddenly immersed in the 70’s New York punk scene alongside Debbie, a friend she meets in juvenile detention. Together the two set out to make a name for themselves in the scene, leading to a lot of hectic adventures.

We were big fans of BattleScar. The film is erratic and unpredictable in its delivery, fast-firing new kinds of storytelling techniques at you over the course of its 30-ish minute runtime. If you have any interest in VR filmmaking its a must-see and, even if you just like great VR content, we’d still recommend it. Check out our coverage of the film in the first episode of The VR Culture Show from last year.

Will you be checking out BattleScar when it launches on Steam later this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Hitman VR Is Gamepad-Only, PSVR Exclusive At Launch

The upcoming VR support for IO Interactive’s Hitman 3 looks to be exclusive to PSVR for now, and won’t use the headset’s Move motion controllers.

The gameplay we’ve seen from Hitman 3 in VR thus far suggested that the player would use two Move motion controllers to handle Agent 47. Yesterday’s development update saw the player swinging out with a crowbar for melee attacks for example. But it turns out this is actually being done with motion tracking on the DualShock 4 controller, not the Moves.

“The current version of the game is not using move controllers it’s using the dual-shock,” Senior Game Designer Eskil Møhl explained in a recent Reddit AMA. “We are however utilizing the motion controlled tracking and gyro to the max. There are many reasons for us ending on this decision but to be honest we think that we have found a perfect fit for the game through this hybrid control scheme.”

IO isn’t, however, ruling out Move support as a possible inclusion in the future.

After the support was revealed earlier in the month we also saw a lot of people ask about a possible PC VR version. Based on one response from IO Communications Manager, Travis Barbour, though, it sounds like the game’s only coming to PSVR for now.

“For VR, what I can tell you today is that HITMAN 3 will include PS VR support at launch,” the message reads. However the developer also noted that the PC platform held a lot of significance for the Hitman series, making it seem like VR support could be on the cards later down the line. Sony has in the past arranged timed exclusives for games like Skyrim VR.

Though it might be disappointing to hear that Hitman won’t support Move controllers and isn’t coming to PC yet, IO is still promising a meaty experience here. Alongside all of Hitman 3’s content, every level from the previous two games in the series will also be playable in PSVR. Hitman 3 launches with PSVR support in January. It’s coming to PS4 and PS5, but IO still hasn’t clarified if both editions of the game will support the headset natively.

Were you hoping for a Hitman VR PC edition? Would you wait for one? Let us know in the comments below!

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Watch: Onward 1.8.2 Update Improves Suburbia On PC, Makes Gunshots Louder

A new update for Onward is here and, though it’s still early days, it includes some key tweaks for Quest and PC VR players.

When Onward launched in late July we loved the Oculus Quest version, even if developer Downpour and publisher Coatsink had to make heavy technical sacrifices to get it on the system. In fact, we just rated the game highly on our updated Best Oculus Quest Games list. But the PC edition of the game also saw those same setbacks, resulting in a dramatic downgrade on maps like Suburbia.

This week’s 1.8.2 update doesn’t reverse the situation but does take some positive steps forward. Suburbia, for example, has seen some of its vegetation added back in on PC and had some lighting tweaks. Check out the update in the video below – it’s still a ways off the original but undeniably better than the original 1.8 update.

Another much-requested fix concerns gunfire. Fans weren’t happy with the muffled audio 1.8 introduced, but 1.8.2 makes gunshots louder, with further improvements to come. Plus there’s a range of other key fixes, like instances of player collision, broken map voting and voice chat issues. You can see the full changelog for the game here.

Following the outcry from the 1.8 update, Downpour made it possible for PC VR players to roll back to earlier versions of the game, but hopefully improvements like these will convince more players to migrate back to the most recent version of the game. Does the new Onward update make big strides for you or are you waiting to see what else is around the corner? Let us know in the comments below!

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Oculus Store Leaks Revamped Version Of Venues With Horizon-Style Avatars

Facebook appears to be revamping its Oculus Venues app with new features and avatars that could well be the same used in its Horizons social VR platform.

A new version of Venues is showing on the Oculus Store for some accounts, though who exactly can access it appears to be limited. I could find the app in the store, for example, but not download. Some on Reddit say they’ve been able to download it, but UploadVR Video Editor Zeena Al-Obaidi couldn’t find it listed at all. The app is listed as a Beta Early Access, and the current Venues app is still there as a separate listing.

Oculus Venues Revamp 1 Oculus Venues Revamp 2 Oculus Venues Revamp 3 Oculus Venues Revamp 4 Oculus Venues Revamp 5

Venues has long been Facebook’s platform for live events in VR, hosting sports games and concerts. That’s still the core of this new version, according to the store description, but the service has seen a massive visual overhaul. For starters, the user’s avatars step away from the original Oculus avatar system and adopt a more cartoonish look. It’s very likely that these are one and the same avatars being used in Facebook Horizons, the new social VR app revealed late last year.

Judging by the screenshots, it looks like Venues will now have a hub to visit different broadcasts from, sort of like a theater. Art from Oculus Story Studio classic, Dear Angelica, is also being displayed in 3D in one shot.

We’ve reached out to Oculus for more information on this new app. It’s not clear if anyone was meant to see this revamped listing — there’s been no official communication about it — but it could suggest that Facebook is getting ready to roll out Horizons itself. The app was promised for beta in spring 2020, but we’ve heard very little about it since its reveal at Oculus Connect last year. The next Connect is set to take place as a digital event next September, so there’s a good chance we’ll hear more there.

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Muse Simulation Theory VR Concert Experience Coming Exclusively To Oculus Quest

Stage Inc., creators of the the virtual entertainment app Stageverse, announced that rock band Muse will be bringing their 2019 Simulation Theory tour to virtual reality as part of a new experience developed for mobile devices and VR.

‘Muse’s Simulation Theory: Virtual Experience’ will launch on iOS and Android mobile devices this fall through the Stageverse app, and will launch for VR exclusively on Oculus Quest later this year. Stage told UploadVR that there’s no set release date for the Quest version at the moment, but the team is currently looking at sometime in Fall.

The Muse event will be the first event held in the Stageverse app, which creates virtual event spaces powered by the company’s proprietary engine. Users will be able to attend the event with a custom avatar, meet up with other attendees and experience a version of the band’s 2019 Simulation Theory tour in a “purpose-built virtual concert venue.” The event will use 360-degree footage captured last year at the band’s sold-out Madrid show combined with “show visuals reimagined for a 3D space” to create a new virtual event. Users will also be able to experience the show from multiple viewpoints and purchase “exclusive virtual merchandise from the band.”

Interestingly, it sounds like this will merge captured footage with new effects in environments designed specifically for virtual viewing. This marks a difference from other virtual live music offerings such as Oculus Venues, where you simply watch a recording in arena-style virtual seating, surrounded by other users who you can interact with.

Stage confirmed that while the main concert experience will be paid, users will still be able to explore the virtual Muse venue for free, which includes “some audiovisual experiences, virtual merch and interactive toys.”

“The music of Simulation Theory was conceived as a 50/50 blend of analog and electronic instruments, so our goal has always been to create experiences that redefine the human role in programming and technology,” said Muse frontman Matt Bellamy. “We can’t wait for our fans to be able to truly immerse themselves in our Simulation Theory world and take full advantage of everything that the Stageverse experience will offer.”

Muse’s Simulation Theory: Virtual Experience is set to launch soon for mobile devices, and will come to VR exclusively on the Oculus Quest this Fall. Keep an eye out for more details.

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The Walking Dead Onslaught Will Be Forward Compatible With PS5 For PSVR

Yesterday, Survios announced the long-anticipated release date for The Walking Dead Onslaught. The zombie survival game touches down on September 29 on PC and PS4 with support for VR headsets. But you’ll also be able to play the game on the upcoming PS5.

In a press release announcing the release date, Suvios noted that “The Walking Dead Onslaught’s PlayStation 4 version will also be compatible with the next-gen PlayStation 5.”

To our mind, that makes Onslaught the first PSVR game to be confirmed as backward compatible on PS5. Note that this wording makes it clear that we’re not talking about a native version of the game on PS5, but instead the PS4 version running on the console.

Why is that news? Well, simply put, we don’t know how far backward compatibility on PS5 will extend. Sony initially suggested that most of the PS4’s most-played games would work on the console, before later specifying that the ‘vast majority’ of the older console’s entire library would run on the device. Onslaught seems to be the first PSVR game we can count among them.

Last week Sony also confirmed that all your existing PSVR peripherals will work with PS5 to play PS4 games. The PlayStation Camera will need a special adapter to work (which Sony says it will ship out for free), but the DualShock 4, Move controllers and Aim controller can all still be used.

Wide-ranging backward compatibility support will be crucial for PSVR on PS5, but we’re also wondering if new PS5 games will support the headset. Last week IO Interactive announced that Hitman 3 would support PSVR, but is yet to clarify if that’s on PS4, PS5 or both. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation as we lead up to PS5’s holiday 2020 launch. Onslaught, meanwhile, is available to pre-order on Steam and Oculus now, with PSVR pre-orders coming soon.

 

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