Tron: Identity review: this great Tron game isn’t what you’re expecting
Tron: Identity makes the best use of the Tron IP since its arcade days.
Arcsmith Is A New Oculus Quest Title From Bithell Games
Arcsmith is the new Oculus Quest title from Bithell Games, the studio headed up by Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell, and it’s releasing next month.
You can check out a trailer for the game below. There looks to be two sides to Arcsmith: story and puzzles. For the latter, the player solves engineering puzzles, assembling machinery like radios and drones. Based on the trailer, you’ll be putting pieces together, ensuring circuitry works.
But the puzzling is set against an interesting backdrop. Players embody an apprentice that learns from a master arcsmith named Korith Dinn. You carry out your work on a space station orbiting a planet. But, when the station becomes embroiled in a wider conflict, Korith decides to step in. It looks like an interesting blend of storytelling and gameplay, something the team’s built its reputation on these past few years.
Arcsmith will launch on Oculus Quest on July 29, and you can already wishlist the game from the Oculus Store.
This actually isn’t Bithell Games’ first VR effort. Back around the launch of PSVR the studio released an expansion to its third-person stealth game, Volume, that supported the headset. Then, when Google Daydream launched later that year, the studio also put out another VR puzzle game named EarthShape.
Will you be checking out Arcsmith when it launches next month? Let us know in the comments below.
Bithell Games on Google Daydream Debut: ‘There’s a responsibility to help set the stage for the games that come next’
Google’s Daydream platform launched earlier this month, beginning with Google’s own range of Pixel smartphones and the Daydream View head-mounted display (HMD). One of the first titles available on the mobile virtual reality (VR) format was Bithell Games’ EarthShape, for which the company’s founder Mike Bithell recently offered his time to discuss the videogame, the format and the general rules of VR development.
Below is the full question and answer session with Mike Bithell, as he discusses the decisions behind the design of EarthShape and the development process. Furthermore, Bithell is open about his view of the Daydream brand’s potential and the pitfalls that lie ahead for VR. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest VR works from Bithell Games, but in the meantime enjoy this interesting discussion.
VRFocus: EarthShape has debuted at the launch of Daydream. What made you decide to develop a Daydream exclusive title?
Mike Bithell [MB]: I was super excited to work on a user friendly and incredibly accessible VR device. From conversations with Google I could tell that they were very much headed in a direction of inclusiveness. This is the VR headset you can wear on a plane, the one you’re going to take home for Christmas, I wanted to make something for that.
VRFocus: Aside from the typical VR constraints – simulation sickness, high framerate demands etc. – what problems did you have to overcome in the development of EarthShape?
MB: Creating for mobile takes some consideration and planning. Maintaining performance is the highest priority and that meant top to bottom considerations around gameplay and art budgeting. Also, devising a game that would make sense to mobile players and offer a fun challenge to more hardcore early adopters was a big job.
VRFocus: How has your experience with EarthShape influenced future VR development?
MB: I think it’s taught me the value in interface design, making the game feel great was even more important than the visuals, and we learned a lot of lessons about what was and wasn’t going to work with the Daydream controller (which is great).
VRFocus: The mobile VR audience is arguably wider than the traditional videogame audience. Did you take this into account when developing EarthShape?
MB: Absolutely. We had to assume that not only could this game be someone’s first VR experience, but maybe even their first game. There’s a responsibility there to be a great ambassador, and to help set the stage for the games that come next.
VRFocus: What is your expectation for the market this early on? Both for Daydream View and the Daydream brand as a whole?
MB: I think it’s going to do great, it’s super accessible and hopefully folks will see it as a bargain addition to their new phone. We’re not expecting it to launch as massively as a new console, but we do feel that it’s going to grow rapidly as more phones come out, and people replace their old contracts… this is a long tail situation.
VRFocus: Volume: Coda, an expansion to Volume, is also designed for VR. You’re set to offer Volume: Coda for free to Volume owners while EarthShape is priced at £4.79, which could be considered high for a mobile title. Pricing of VR software has seen a lot of rapid changes of late; where do you think the market will land?
MB: I would say that pricing is incredibly platform and situation dependent. Coda was DLC for an existing game, and we love free DLC! EarthShape being standalone meant that it was starting at a new price… I’m also not sure mobile VR pricing will be the same as mobile pricing more generally, we’re far from the highest priced on the platform… but we’ll see how things go and price accordingly.
VRFocus: Are we likely to see more VR titles from Bithell Games in the future?
MB: You never know!
Bithell Games Announces EarthShape for Daydream
Google’s event today, ‘Made By Google’ didn’t disappoint in terms of virtual reality (VR) announcements. The Daydream View hardware has finally been revealed along with some of the videogames and apps that’ll be coming to the device. Adding to that has been Mike Bithell, a British indie videogame developer who’s been working on Volume: Coda for PlayStation VR. He’s now revealed EarthShape for Daydream.
As Bithell describes EarthShape in a Tumblr post:”It’s a game about the millennia spanning mission of the first astronaut to leave Earth and terraform the universe. A ‘StarSeeker’ joined by a plucky lander. Together, they’ll travel the universe planting flowers and kicking off life through a fun new gameplay mechanic.”
The developer will be working with a team of veterans on the project including composer Russell Shaw (who composed the music for the Fable franchise), animator Tim Borrelli (Red Faction, Saints Row) plus several others. He’s also managed to get the vocals talents of Sue Perkins (The Great British Bake Off) to tell the story and lend her comedy talents as well.
No further detail’s on the project have been released other than a couple of screenshots, which showcase a unique, cartoony art style featuring the astronaut and the lunar pod.
Daydream will be launching in November for $79 USD in a slate colour. It going to be the first headset that’ll be available in other combinations with crimson and snow being launched at a later date. The event has also seen the reveal of Pixel, Google’s first smartphone that’s Daydream compatible. No other smartphones were unveiled at the event to be compatible.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Daydream and EarthShape, reporting back with any further announcements.
