Category: ironlights

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Astraeus Dev Launches Kickstarter for Arena Dueler Ironlights

Indie developer E McNeill made a name for himself in the virtual reality (VR) space through innovative strategy titles like  Astraeus, Tactera and Skylight, harking all the way back to the early days of the original Samsung Gear VR with Darknet. It has been a little while since VRFocus last heard from E McNeill as he’s been working on a very different project to those previous titles, Ironlights, am arena-based combat experience.

Ironlights

Echoing gladiatorial duelling whilst mixing in medieval-style armour and a futuristic setting, Ironlights is all about one on one combat, vanquishing your foe with not only swords and other melee weapons but ranged projectiles as well.

Looking to offer skilful, fluid fights across Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR compatible headsets, Ironlights will include a single-player campaign alongside head-to-head multiplayer battles. Various classes will be available for players to find their own fighting style such as the Knight (Two-handed Greatsword), Monk (Staff), Crusader (Flail & Shield) and more.

Ironlights won’t be some brawling fighter where you can hack to your heart’s content. Gameplay mechanics are physics-based so weapons have weight and momentum, however, the combat always takes place in slow-mo. Adding to this is the fact that weapons will break after each hit instead of bouncing off and that while in melee combat only the attacker can do damage, the defender can only block.

Ironlights

“I love a good hack-and-slash game or physics sandbox, but I’ve always craved something with deeper gameplay. So I decided to try to build it myself! Ironlights was created to fulfil the fantasy of cinematic combat: a flowing, skilful dance of steel,” says E McNeill in a statement.

For the Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign McNeill is looking to raise $15,000 USD over 30 days to help finish the videogame to a strong standard. With a launch planned for Spring 2020 development is almost over and Ironlights will retail on Oculus Store and Steam for $19.99. Backing on Kickstarter gets you a discount, with a pre-order tier only costing $15. Or for those pledging $60, they’ll get Ironlights + Darknet, Tactera, Skylight, and Astraeus.

For further updates on Ironlights and the Kickstarter, keep reading VRFocus.

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Ironlights Is An Epic Melee VR Game With LAN Multiplayer Support on Quest

Ironlights is a new combat and duelling melee VR game coming to the Oculus Quest, Rift and SteamVR in Spring 2020. The announcement coincides with a Kickstarter aimed at helping developer E McNeill “finish the game strong” before launch. Most notably, the game will support LAN play between two Oculus Quests, allowing you to fight your fellow Quest owners in the same space without online latency.

Ironlights sees you choose one of five classes and battle against an opponent in measured, dynamic combat in a stadium arena setting. Each class of fighter has a different type of weapon – the Knight has a two-handed greatsword, the Duelist has a rapier and buckler, the Monk has a staff, the Ninja has duel katars and the Crusader has a flail and shield. You can view the trailer, embedded above, to get a better idea of how the combat looks and plays out.

On the Kickstarter campaign page, developer E McNeill outlined how they’ve responded to some of the common problems associated with unsatisfying melee combat mechanics in VR. Ironlights includes measures like prioritizing a weapon “feeling right” over it being realistic.

The game’s combat also plays out entirely in slow motion, “so it’s never just a reflex challenge.” Each weapon will shatter after one hit, “so there’s no disconnect between your weapon and your controller”, alongside an “asymmetrical melee” system that means only an attacker can do damage, leaving the other player to simply block attacks, before presumably swapping roles. These are all some intriguing additions and gameplay decisions, so it will be interesting to see if it pays off.

Ironlights

The game will have a single player campaign along with head-to-head multiplayer matches online. Interestingly, the game will also allow LAN connections between two devices, allowing you and a friend to play in the same space. This is a huge boon for Quest owners who want to physically play together with their other Quest-owning friends.

While the game is almost complete and on track for a spring launch, the Kickstarter campaign is aiming to help the developers “make some serious improvements with a little extra funding” including more armor models for variety and a few further stretch goals include sound design and background art improvements. You can check out the campaign here, which has a funding goal of $15,000.

Ironlights launches for the Oculus Quest, Rift and SteamVR in Spring 2020. 

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