InnerspaceVR – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

July 20, 2020

First Trailer for Puzzle Adventure Maskmaker Released

Last month InnerspaceVR announced its next project after A Fisherman’s Tale, another puzzle experience called Maskmaker. A few teasing details were released but now a trailer has arrived giving you a glimpse at what’s in store.

With an art design similar to that of InnerspaceVR’s previous titles, Maskmaker‘s world is a realm ruled by the titular character. You’re his apprentice, learning his secret, magical ways of making masks. Of course, these are no ordinary masks as they allow you to “immerse yourself in the intriguing enigmatic beings within the game,” notes the studio.

This ‘mask realm’ has eight biomes, each with its own culture and mask style. These need to be learnt to open new areas as you journey to learn about Prospero, the very mysterious figure maskmaker. When you wear these masks you can blend with each locations’ culture, inhabiting spirits which have a different role to play.

You’ll be able to use his workshop to craft your first mask and then collect resources to build new ones. The trailer lets you peek inside this workshop, showcasing designs on the wall, vats of colourful dyes and the mannequin where you build your creations.

While none of the puzzles have been revealed yet expect them to be of a weird and wonderful variety, judging by the studios’ other puzzle oriented videogames.

Maskmaker is still a way off at the moment, with a release stencilled in for Q1 2021. Oculus Rift, Valve Index, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR headsets have been confirmed to support the videogame, whilst the interface and subtitles will come with English, French, German and Spanish language options.

As InnerspaceVR and MWM Interactive release further details on Maskmaker VRFocus will keep you updated.

June 25, 2020

Maskmaker, A New VR Title From A Fisherman’s Tale Studio, Releases 2021

Video game publisher MWM Interactive announced that it’s partnering with Innerspace VR, the studio behind A Fisherman’s Tale, to release a new VR title in 2021. The game will be called Maskmaker, set in the magical workshop of a man named Prospero.

A Fisherman’s Tale was one of our favorite games from last year — when it initially launched on PC VR, we called it “a perfect storm of VR puzzling.” The game came to the Oculus Quest system later in the year with a first-rate port, and it ended the year as a nominee in multiple categories for our Best VR of 2019 awards.

We’ve been eagerly awaiting news of a follow-up from French developers Innerspace VR, and today we learned from publisher MWM Interactive that the studio’s next game will be Maskmaker, set to arrive in 2021. According to MWM, the game “transports players into a magical mask workshop to meet Prospero, the maskmaker who tasks them to solve the ultimate mystery behind his masks. As players travel between unique environments, they learn more about Prospero and this strange land, frozen for a moment in time. ”

From that short description alone, it definitely sounds like Maskmaker is going to follow the weird and quirky narrative style that the studio ran with in A Fisherman’s Tale, with some tantalizing puzzles to boot. We also got a peek at some key art, embedded above — it looks appropriately mysterious and a little bit spooky. Color us intrigued!

There’s no word on release platforms just yet, but PC VR seems a safe bet, with potential for Quest and PSVR ports down the line if we had to guess, like with A Fisherman’s Tale.

The post Maskmaker, A New VR Title From A Fisherman’s Tale Studio, Releases 2021 appeared first on UploadVR.

June 25, 2020

MWMi to Publish InnerspaceVR’s Next Project ‘Maskmaker’

MWM Interactive (MWMi) the publisher which has helped create War Remains, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son and the upcoming Gnomes & Goblins has announced its roadmap today. This has revealed a new virtual reality (VR) title in the form of Maskmaker.

Maskmaker is the work of InnerspaceVR, the team behind puzzle adventure A Fisherman’s Tale. This new VR experience will take you to a magical mask workshop where you’ll meet maskmaker Prospero. Tasked with solving the mystery behind the masks he creates, you’ll travel between unique environments, learn about this mysterious maskmaker and a land frozen in time.

Currently, there’s only a singular image to go on. If InnerspaceVR’s previous titles are anything to go by expect a mind-bending experience. Headset support has yet to be revealed but the project is slated to launch in 2021.

“We look for game creators who elevate their art through storytelling, craftsmanship, inventive play styles and more,” said Ethan Stearns, executive vice president of content, MWM Interactive in a statement. “I’m obsessed with Maskmaker‘s ability to use gameplay to take you deeper into its narrative. I am also incredibly excited to be publishing an upcoming game from Night School Studio as I am a huge fan, and we can’t wait to start sharing what Quiet Dimensions is working on soon.”

A Fishermans Tale Chapter04_Characters_Medium3

“We wanted to create an outstanding experience that doubles down on the magic of being in VR,” adds Balthazar Auxietre, creative director and co-founder, InnerspaceVR. “MWMi really believes in the power and importance of VR for storytelling and interactive entertainment. It has been a great experience to work with a team who supports our creative vision through every stage of the development process.”

MWMi’s roadmap includes the aforementioned partnership with Night School Studio, Czech Republic-based Quiet Dimensions and Hidden Fields’ folklore-inspired horror game Mundaun. None of these have been revealed as VR-centric at this time.

As MWMi and InnerspaceVR reveal further details about the upcoming Maskmaker, VRFocus will let you know.

February 18, 2020

WATCH: Developer Shares A Fisherman’s Tale Proof Of Concept Video From 2016

A Fisherman’s Tale was one of our favorite VR games from last year. It was charming, intriguing and featured some mind bending puzzles. This week, game designer Alex Morozn, who worked on the game at InnerspaceVR, shared a behind-the-scenes proof of concept video that goes through a very early version of A Fisherman’s Tale, demonstrating the key puzzle elements in their earliest form.

Fair warning: the following video contains major spoilers for A Fisherman’s Tale — not in the way of the story, but in that it will spoil almost every major puzzle and ‘a-ha’ moment in the game’s campaign. If you haven’t played the game already, this video will explain all of the game’s unique mechanics and we highly advise not watching if you have any interest in playing the game yourself.

The video shows a room that very vaguely resembles the first room at the bottom of the lighthouse from A Fisherman’s Tale, albeit with no art, color or true design. Instead of progressing through the areas of the lighthouse, this early prototype simply presents versions of the same room with new puzzle variations in each. To progress to the next puzzle, you have to locate an in-game VR headset and put it on, unlike the final game where you work your way through the lighthouse to get to the final lantern room at the top.

Perhaps what is most amazing is that all of the most unique and inventive puzzles from the final game are present in this early prototype, which was made some 3 years before the final release. What’s missing is any kind of narrative, artistic direction and style — the titular fisherman and his lighthouse are nowhere to be seen! Despite that, you can easily identify the final puzzles in this bare bones concept — the glass model variation became the game’s final lantern room section and riding the lady bug to grab the key became the section with the fish’s mouth.

In a way, highlighting that the puzzles were conceptualized so early on in development makes me appreciate everything else in A Fisherman’s Tale — the story, the animations, the art style. It’s all so lovingly crafted, and that becomes even easier to appreciate after seeing it striped down to just the puzzles themselves.

A Fisherman’s Tale is available for PC VR on Steam, the Oculus Store, and Viveport, and is also available on the Oculus Quest and PSVR.

The post WATCH: Developer Shares A Fisherman’s Tale Proof Of Concept Video From 2016 appeared first on UploadVR.

August 29, 2019

Review: Corsair’s Curse LBVR

Location-based entertainment (LBE) is becoming an important revenue stream for a lot of virtual reality (VR) developers. It’s why in VR arcades you’ll see well-known titles for home headsets reworked for venues as well as original IP’s. This is sort of the case with Corsair’s Curse a team-based puzzle solver from the Innerspace VR team, who’ve loosely based the LBE title on their last consumer release A Fisherman’s Tale.

Corsairs Curse

Still featuring a nautical theme, rather than being a humble fisherman you’re now placed in the role of a pirate, and what do pirate’s always want? Treasure of course. In Corsair’s Curse you play a greedy pirate cursed by pirate captain Corsair whilst looking for his treasure. Turned into wooden dolls you and your teammates need to solve Corsair’s puzzles to break the curse.

Designed for up to four players, Corsair’s Curse always needs a minimum of two because of the way the puzzles are designed. Using HTC Vive Pro’s, backpack PC’s and Vive wireless adaptors the tech allows for complete free-roaming but the title doesn’t require major amounts of space. This is because once you’re inside the galleon most items are nearby, particularly useful for VR arcades which don’t have loads of space. Plus the fact up to four people need to occupy the area.

As an arcade experience designed to be inclusive no matter the skill level before the main game begins there’s time to get acclimatised to VR, great for new players. Set on a desert island there’s a mirror so you can see your avatar as well as a range of hats to customise your ideal pirate look. Peer past the mirror and your teammate is on the other side, so you can shout, wave or simply taunt them if you wish (great for building that pirate moral).

Corsairs Curse

Inside the ship both players are separated so they can’t directly help each other but they can offer guidance – think of game shows like the Crystal Maze. For those that have played A Fisherman’s Tale then you’ll also notice another theme come into play, scale and perspective. Innerspace VR loves to play with size in VR so in Corsair’s Curse one player was huge while the other was tiny.

Most of the puzzles had a dual effect, completing one would then unlock the next for the other player. For example, playing as the tiny pirate one of the puzzles included firing a cannon. Gunpowder needed to be mixed and put in place, then a cannonball loaded before finding a flaming torch to light the fuse. The target was in the other players’ side, blasting a hole to locate a hidden object.

All of which meant teamwork was key adding to the overall experience. Neither person could succeed without the other, offering a decent sense of camaraderie once complete. It’s also worth noting that not all the puzzles were used, certain sections of the ship which looked interactive weren’t, possibly only becoming available when four players are present. VRFocus did learn however that there weren’t massive variations in the experience, so if two players came back again the puzzles would be the same.

Corsair’s Curse is ideal for those stepping into a VR arcade for the first time, rather than some intense first-person shooter (FPS). There’s time to learn the basics and the joy of VR gaming, picking stuff up, the visual impact of scale and much more. The replay factor might be somewhat muted after a couple of sessions but with a few friends, it’s still worth playing.

80%

Awesome

Verdict

January 22, 2019

Review: A Fisherman’s Tale

Ever since VRFocus first came across InnerspaceVR’s virtual reality (VR) title A Fisherman’s Tale, the mind-bending puzzle experience at Gamescom 2018, the title has proved to be continually fascinating. With an early preview of the first area sowing the seed, and a secondary preview unlocking the second chapter, this only heightened the interest, so much so the videogame made it onto our ‘Best of Oculus Rift Games Coming in 2019’. Now that publisher Vertigo Games (Arizona Sunshine) has launched the experience VRFocus can say that while enjoyable, it feels like it’s over before truly finding its feet.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Medium-Récupéré3

Right from the start A Fisherman’s Tale comes across as a classic children’s story, involving a lighthouse keeper and a seafaring tragedy. But then it turns all weird and magical once you come to realise that you, in fact, play a wooden puppet inside a model lighthouse. Even stranger still is the moment you get to interact with said model, finding that it is actually one of many, continually repeated indefinitely.

The model plays with scale, and this forms the core mechanic of A Fisherman’s Tale puzzles. Beautifully, elegant in its design, you can shrink and grow the size of any objects that are interactive, whether they are relative to the current puzzle or not. This has allowed InnerspaceVR to create a world that’s both physically small, yet much larger in scope, encouraging you to examine the world as much as possible.

The puzzles themselves are genuinely interesting and fun to solve as you work out what size either you or other items need to be to find all the secret nooks and crevices hidden in the title. A Fisherman’s Tale eases you into the whole experience, with a nice difficulty curve which should mean you won’t ever get truly stuck on the later levels. To help you out should a challenge become too great, InnerspaceVR has included an audible hints system which is switchable in the settings menu, offering little nudges in the right direction.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Storm_Medium Another neat little option in the settings is the choice of roomscale, standing or seated gameplay positions, offering plenty of accessibility for most players. What was a little disappointing to see was the lack of options when it came to movement. Even in roomscale you still need additional locomotion which is only provided in teleportation form. While this works perfectly fine, it did break the immersive quality the videogame had managed to create, being unable to casually walk around and play with the model.

There were a couple of other negatives that are worth pointing out. Firstly there’s the collision detection. At point objects being held would clip a door or window frame and suddenly become stuck, or worse disappear. The item in question would then reappear in its original location after a few moments, but it did become somewhat frustrating, especially on the last puzzle which is a little more intricate.

Secondly, A Fisherman’s Tale is just way too short. You’re going to be looking at an average playtime of around 2 hours, less if you try to rush it. There are essentially four main puzzle chapters with additional bits or the story extending the gaps in between. InnerspaceVR has done such a good job interweaving a delightful narrative with a superb puzzle style that it’s over before it’s begun, like reading a child’s bedtime story that’s only a few pages long.

A Fisherman’s Tale is in many respects the VR title VRFocus hoped it would be, inventive use of the technology that oozes heart and soul, making you care about the character and his astonishing little world. The puzzles help to carry the story along yet don’t offer anywhere near the complexity of titles like Transpose. The main downside, it leaves you wanting more when there’s no more to be had.

60%

Awesome

Verdict

December 14, 2018

Launch Date Confirmed for A Fisherman’s Tale, New 360 Video & Screenshots Released

With the new year only weeks away there are several virtual reality (VR) titles VRFocus is looking forward to seeing arrive. One of them is InnerspaceVR and Vertigo Games’ puzzle title A Fisherman’s Tale. Today, the studio’s have announced the actual launch date as well as releasing some new screenshots and an immersive video.

The new 360-degree video reveals a lot more of the narrative in A Fisherman’s Tale than ever before. Going into detail regarding how the wooden puppet in the screenshots came to be.

That puppet is called Bob, a tiny fisherman who lives alone in a tiny cabin attached to a lighthouse, oblivious to the world outside. When the radio broadcasts a storm alert, Bob needs to get to the top of the lighthouse and turn on the light. But that’s not going to be straightforward as all is not what it seems, and things begin to get a bit surreal and weird for him.

A purely single-player puzzle adventure, A Fisherman’s Tale is all about thinking outside the box, as the title plays with dimensions and scale. It only through interacting with the central lighthouse model – which is infinitely replicated – that the puzzles can be solved and Bob’s goal completed.

“A Fisherman’s Tale is an amazing story full of surprising and playful gameplay. It explores immersive writing in virtual reality and brings an unprecedented proposition to VR gaming. ARTE is a proud collaborator on A Fisherman’s Tale together with its talented creators at Innerspace and publisher Vertigo Games,” said Gilles Freissinier, Head of Web Department at ARTE France in a statement.

VRFocus recently previewed A Fisherman’s Tale, finding that it: “has all the right hallmarks to make it stand toe-to-toe” with similar puzzle titles.

A Fisherman’s Tale is available to play on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets from 22nd January 2019. Take a look at the new video below, and for further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

December 7, 2018

Preview: A Fisherman’s Tale – Angling for a Unique Experience

When VRFocus first got to try InnerspaceVR’s unusual puzzle title A Fisherman’s Tale at the Indie Arena Booth during Gamescom 2018, the short demo was an instant favourite. It did exactly what a demo should, and instantly grabs you with its gameplay hook and reels you in (that pun had to go in). Several months later and the videogame is almost ready for launch, with publisher Vertigo Games (Arizona Sunshine, Skyworld) planning a multiplatform release in January 2019. This time VRFocus has managed to sit down with A Fisherman’s Tale for a better look, getting to play Chapter 2 for the first time.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Medium-Récupéré3

If you’ve been keeping up with VRFocus’ coverage of A Fisherman’s Tale then you’ll know that you play the titular fisherman, who just so happens to be a man called Bob who’s made out of wood. Bob lives in what is essentially a lighthouse-shaped dolls house, going about his everyday duties like brushing his wooden teeth, and keeping warm by burning logs in his wood burner – seems a little dangerous if you’re also made of wood.

Intertwining a rich narrative which is narrated throughout with a puzzle experience, the main hook with A Fisherman’s Tale is how it plays with scale. Inside Bob’s little cabin next to the lighthouse is an exact scale model of the cabin and lighthouse. As the story and levels progress you take parts of this model away to access the inside. It’s through this process that most of the puzzles are solved, items are either too big or too small for their intended use, needing to be altered by placing in or taking from the model.

The first chapter helps to outline the basic principle, where you can reach into the model to remove an anchor that’s blocking the exit and is way too big and heavy to be relocated at its normal size. Each chapter has several puzzles to solve to progress, each done in turn, creating a very linear experience to begin with. Whether this changes over the entire six chapter’s remains to be seen.

A Fishermans Tale Chapter04_Characters_Medium3 Heading into the second location the actual physical area is slightly smaller than the first, yet opens up the many possibilities this magical scale model can accommodate. A Fisherman’s Tale soon has a micro version of Bob jumping into fish mouths and scurrying into walls as he aims to scale the lighthouse.

There is a concern that A Fisherman’s Tale may rely too much on this scale mechanic that it becomes a little too repetitive, although the other worry is that the first two chapters weren’t overly long, and there’s only another four to solve. Only the final launch version will answer those questions.

This preview version also introduced the selectable hints system for the first time. This is there to helpfully nudge you along after a few minutes, to ensure you don’t get too frustrated at any point. Testing it out during the second chapter, the talking fish (the title is slightly weird, you do play a wooden fisherman) doesn’t 100 percent give the answer, but the hint is fairly blunt and straight to the point.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Storm_Medium Developers are certainly finding their feet when it comes to interesting puzzle titles and A Fisherman’s Tale is no exception. Arca’s Path, Tin Hearts, Transpose all have their own unique and addictive qualities which make them stand out, offering puzzle fans a wealth of choice. A Fisherman’s Tale has all the right hallmarks to make it stand toe-to-toe with these others, and VRFocus is still very keen on seeing how the final product turns out.

November 28, 2018

Multi-Dimensional Puzzle Experience A Fisherman’s Tale Sets Sail in January 2019

Having announced unusual puzzle experience A Fisherman’s Tale just before Gamescom this year, developer InnerspaceVR and publisher Vertigo Games (Arizona Sunshine) have just announced that it’ll see a worldwide, multiplatform release in January 2019.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Medium-Récupéré3

One of the more interesting videogame’s VRFocus came across at Gamescom 2018, A Fisherman’s Tale is a multi-dimensional mind-bender by all accounts, with InnerspaceVR really playing with scale and space.

You play as Bob, a tiny fisherman puppet who lives alone in a tiny cabin, oblivious to the world outside. When your radio broadcasts a storm alert, you have to get to the top of the lighthouse and turn on the light. But leaving the cabin is not that easy, let alone getting to the top. So with the help of some unusual sidekicks, you venture outside, however, it’s time to expect the unexpected.

The title is a single-player co-op experience of sorts, where the laws of physics are completely broken and you team up with multiple dimensions of yourself to solve puzzles. And within these dimensions you can also play with scale, finding lighthouses within lighthouses, having to use this paradigm to make objects smaller or larger as required.

A Fisherman's Tale Chapter03_Storm_Medium

Check out VRFocus’ preview of A Fisherman’s Tale which stated: “Even with this brief demo A Fisherman’s Tale offers an enticing concept and novel change to the usual puzzle mechanic found in VR. Featuring a charming visual design all the mechanics have been created to be accessible for players of all ages. This really is a videogame VRFocus wants to see more of, and definitely comes high on our list of titles played at Gamescom 2018.”

A Fisherman’s Tale will be available for PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets in January 2019. For additional updates, keep reading VRFocus.

September 7, 2018

Learn More About A Fisherman’s Tale, The Upcoming VR Puzzle Title

The developer behind the popular virtual reality (VR) zombie shooter title Arizona Sunshine announced in early August that they had teamed up with INNERSPACE to create a new VR videogame in the form of A Fisherman’s Tale. This new title invites players to experience a dreamlike tale about a puppet of a fisherman and his unusual adventure which leads to meeting some crazy and interesting character all while requiring logic and puzzle-solving skills to complete.

A Fisherman’s Tale

A Fisherman’s Tale is a puzzle title with escape-the-room elements in which players need to help Bob, the tiny fisherman puppet, light the lighthouse in order to stop any ships from crashing into the land. When a storm is on the way and the doors are locked, it falls to the player to help Bob get out of this mess and get the lighthouse on before anything bad happens. Described as a collaborative single-player experience by INNERSPACE CEO Hadrien Lanvin, A Fisherman’s Tale is a promising looking title.

As players progress through the chapters within the title, things will start to get stranger and stranger and players will need to really focus on what is real in order to get out of the room. With two different modes of playing the title, one being the ‘Assisted Mode’ where the players hand are a little more precise and the characters and narrator drop various hints to help players progress through the title. The normal mode will provide players with backstory but the narrative and character don’t give as many hints.

A Fisherman’s Tale

VRFocus’ Senior Staff Writer Peter Graham previewed A Fisherman’s Tale saying: “A Fisherman’s Tale offers an enticing concept and novel change to the usual puzzle mechanic found in VR. Featuring a charming visual design all the mechanics have been created to be accessible for players of all ages. This really is a videogame VRFocus wants to see more of, and definitely comes high on our list of titles played at Gamescom 2018.”

A Fisherman’s Tale is planned to release later this year for PlayStation VR, Windows Mixed Reality, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. You can watch the short ‘What is…’ video below and for all the latest on A Fisherman’s Tale make sure to keep reading VRFocus.