neat corporation – Page 3 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

July 1, 2019

Gamescom 2019 to Host The VR Games Showcase Featuring Six Titles

Next month the biggest videogame event in Europe takes place in Cologne, Germany, Gamescom 2019. And for the first time, several studios from the virtual reality (VR) industry will be hosting a tie-in event called The VR Games Showcase.

The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets

The brainchild of Fast Travel Games’ Andreas Juliusson, The VR Games Showcase will feature Carbon Studio, Survios, Neat Corporation, Resolution Games and Cortopia Studios. Only open to media and content creators (most of Gamescom is open to the public), they’ll be able to get hands-on time with some of the latest VR offers.

Presented by Perp Games, visitors will get exclusive hands-on time with Survios’ The Walking Dead Onslaught, Fast Travel Games’ The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency by Neat Corporation and Fast Travel Games, Acron: Attack of the Squirrels! by Resolution Games, Cortopia Studios’ An Adventure in Wonderland and The Wizards: Dark Times by Carbon Studios.

“The VR Games Showcase’ is a concept I came up with 6 months ago. The VR industry is still young and most active VR game studios are relatively small, like us, with the same kind of marketing challenges and lack of resources. However, if multiple studios would join forces to share costs and efforts, I believed we would be able to deliver a real heavyweight event concept with clear value for both media and content creators to attend!” says Juliusson in a statement.

“As I started to reach out about this initiative, I was met with a massive interest not only from the studios but also from Perp Games, whose investment helped bring it to life. Now, the biggest studio event collaboration in the VR games industry is finally happening, with the premiere taking place at Gamescom this summer! I am hoping we can keep building on this concept and allow ‘The VR Games Showcase’ to grow going forward. This unique collaboration really raises the bar for VR games marketing and event presence.”

The Walking Dead Onslaught

‘The VR Games Showcase’ is presented by global games publisher Perp Games. Perp Games is a market leader in VR publishing and proud to support such innovative concepts,” adds Perp Games MD, Rob Edwards. “We truly believe VR offers players a unique gameplay experience and ‘The VR Games Showcase’ is a great way to allow gamers to experience hands-on, some of the most exceptional VR games being developed.”

VRFocus will be attending Gamescom 2019 so keep an eye out for the latest VR videogames coverage from the event.

June 10, 2019

E3 VR 2019: Garden Of The Sea Is A Cathartic Mix Of Harvest Moon And Pokemon, In Early Access Now

I was never a Harvest Moon kid. Something about the soothing life of growing your own crops just seemed like busywork to me. A Zelda game where you never leave your home village? No thanks; adventure awaits.

Turns out the simple life isn’t without its charms, though. Garden of the Sea showed me that.

This is the next game from Budget Cuts developer Neat Corporation. In fact, the Stockholm-based studio just launched it in Early Access during our E3 VR Showcase today. Well, Very Early Access that is. For Neat, this is a bit of an experiment. It’s a game the team truly wants to build alongside a community, molding its future with a passionate fan base whilst it also works on other projects (which may or may not also be in the showcase).

But don’t let this Frankenstein approach turn you off; Garden of the Sea already shows remarkable promise. It’s a curious fusion of VR game and meditation, fostering progression and exploration just as much as it does respite and relaxation.

You can, for starters, set to work growing your own garden. It’s not the back-breaking slog you might fear; prepping the ground for seeds is as simple as grabbing a hoe and taking it to the grass. Then you just shake a bag of seeds over your new patch, add a little water, and watch nature take its course.

Perhaps it’s the freedom you’re given that makes this so cathartic. Garden of the Sea has no interest in telling you what to do and how to do it; you can grow what you want, where you want, when you want. Neat is in no hurry to introduce you to the game’s crafting system or other features; it wants those discoveries to be fittingly organic. If you want to pull up a chair and lose an hour watching the waves roll on by or spend a day carefully orchestrating a flower bed, you’re more than welcome to.

Personally? I’ll be spending a lot of time with the game’s illegally lovable critters. Like you, they’re happy to simply plod about the island, occasionally wandering up to you to satisfy their lingering curiosity before trotting off again. They sport irresistibly adorable designs, from marshmallow birds that hop around your feet to cutesy penguins that have no earthly business in a tropical paradise. At one point what looks like a floating Moomin approaches me, offering a new crafting recipe resting in his mouth. I retrieve it and stroke his head as reward. He closes his eyes and squeals in delight. My heart melts (I would go on to unofficially name him Chocolate Milk).

Reinforcing the almost sickening pleasantries is something special; a dynamic soundtrack that responds to your actions. As I work away in the garden, merry jingles accompany my every move. It’s a deceptively fluid integration, the kind you might not even notice unless you’re told about it but invites you to experiment when you are.

This might all sound a little too dozy to you and that’s fine; I think Neat knows this isn’t going to be for everyone. But there are welcome traces of adventure, too. They’re driven by your own by your personal desire for exploration. I find several road bumps dotted across the island, some requiring certain tools and materials to fix. I can already picture what some of them will need in my head, whereas others require seeds that are hidden behind trees and in chests. There is purpose to be found here, if that’s something you’re seeking. I found myself eager to find new areas to unlock and treasures to uncover.

Neat has no shortage of ideas about where to go next, either. Speaking to the team, they mention plans for fishing and cross-breeding (for both plants and animals). But it also wants to hear from those that adopt Garden of the Sea in this early state, hoping to enable their dreams and whims as the game itself grows.

I’m crossing my fingers for the response the team is hoping for. This feels like a risk for a studio that made its name on stealth gaming. But I’d love nothing more than to see Garden of the Sea flourish. The seeds have been sewn, let’s see what sprouts.

Garden of the Sea costs $5.99 on Steam and supports Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Tagged with: Garden of the Sea, Neat Corporation

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June 10, 2019

The Robots are Returning in 2019 With Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency

Neat Corporation launched its stealth-action videogame Budget Cuts a year ago to mixed reviews. Several updates followed to improve the situation and with the first anniversary coming up the studio has announced a follow-up project. The team has partnered with Fast Travel Games (the studio behind Apex Construct) to create sequel Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency.

Budget Cuts 2

The videogame not only continues from where the first left off, but it also concludes the story as well. A completely self-contained title so there’s no need to own or have played the original, Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency has a much more direct gameplay mechanic than having to sneak around like before.

Featuring a multitude of new environments, gadgets, weapons, enemies and challenges, it’s easy to see the influence of Fast Travel Games in the trailer and screenshots, namely the bow and arrow combo. Apex Construct has one of the best bow mechanics of any virtual reality (VR) and those talents have surely been put to use in Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency.

“Fast Travel Games have been our good friends since back when we were both getting started and shared an office. Today, both our studios have more than tripled in size, but it’s been great to finally get to work together as well! We complete each other’s skills and experiences well,” says Jenny Nordenborg, CEO at Neat Corp in a statement.

Oskar Burman, CEO and Co-founder of Fast Travel Games, adds: “We have been bouncing ideas on VR gameplay and design off each other for a long time, so it’s fantastic to finally be able to use the different strengths of each studio and create a game together! We simply cannot wait to show more of Budget Cuts 2 later this summer.”

Neat Corporation hasn’t confirmed which headsets Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency will support, but with the previous title supporting Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, expect something similar. The studio also confirmed earlier this year that Budget Cuts would see a release on PlayStation VR and possibly Oculus Quest, there’s been no update on that front just yet.

As further details regarding Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency launch later this year are released, VRFocus will let you know.

June 10, 2019

E3 2019: Here’s The First Footage Of Budget Cuts On PlayStation VR

Neat Corporation revealed the first ever footage of Budget Cuts running on the PlayStation VR.

Neat Corp first announced that a PSVR version of the game was in the works back in January and showed the new footage today during our E3 VR showcase.

The developer partnered with UK-based developer Coatsink for the port to PlayStation. Coatsink is one of the few studios with years of experience in mobile VR and PlayStation VR development. The developer released six games on Oculus mobile platforms, one of which was ported to PSVR. The studio also worked with PlayStation 4 for their non-VR title Shu.

Budget Cuts was originally a tech demo for the HTC Vive back in early 2016. It was one of the first VR experiences to integrate a teleportation mechanic into the lore of the game itself. Players are equipped with a “translocator” device which fires a ball shaped locator in an arc. Once it lands, in front of you you see a portal which you can look through to preview where you’d end up. By hitting the grip trigger you then teleport through.

The full game launched over two years later in June 2018 for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Neat Corp managed to turn their impressive tech demo into a full fledged 3-9 hour game (it varies greatly based on playstyle). In the same tweet that originally announced the game for PSVR, Neat Corp also stated that they would “look into” an Oculus Quest port after the PSVR port was finished.

Budget Cuts will launch on PlayStation VR in fall of this year.

Tagged with: Budget Cuts, Neat Corporation, PlayStation VR

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June 10, 2019

E3 VR 2019: Budget Cuts 2 Is Real And We’ve Played It

Upon first glance, it’s tough to tell Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency — just revealed at our E3 VR Showcase — apart from its predecessor. In its pre-alpha state, it looks visually identical to the original, save for a few small tweaks. Its idle-brained robotic workers still spout adorably innocent lines and imposing enemy guards continue to flail their arms in desperation when you toss a knife into their back. A few minutes into my demo I’m starting to wonder what’s actually new here. Then it hits me; it’s what I’m not seeing that’s most important.

Namely, I don’t see a bunch of robots awkwardly colliding with each other, or tripping up on objects and accidentally killing themselves. I don’t notice objects accidentally flying out of my hands when I teleport, or collision issues that exile important items to unreachable realms. Anyone that played Neat Corporation’s original VR hit around release would have likely encountered these often game-breaking issues numerous times. By taking those learnings, the updates it made to the original and strengthening the team via a partnership with Fast Travel Games, though, Budget Cuts 2 could well make good on the promise first teased in that 2016 demo.

So what am I playing? Put simply, the game I felt like I should have been enjoying a year ago. In the hour I’ve played, I’ve found a game free of the frustrations of the first, one that finally let me embrace the joys of the mechanics Neat has been working on for so very long. I sheepishly hopped along an urban skyline, methodically picking teleport spots and combusting in frantic panic at the slightest threat of being discovered. At one point I traded projectiles with one enemy guard as I squirmed around on my knees behind a ventilation shaft for cover. In another I cruelly dangled a knife above one robot’s patrol route, letting it slip through my fingers as they passed underneath.

Budget Cuts 2 promises freedom with none of the fuss. Cautious players will be able to sneak their way up to vantage points where they can pick off targets with well-placed attacks. But, crucially, you pay for your mistakes; misplaced shots might alert guards to your location, and one wrong teleport can take you out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. These are the strategies and stumbles that held so much promise in the first game, brought crumbling down when you could simply trick guards into falling onto a lone pair of scissors.

With those hurdles out of the way, Budget Cuts 2 feels more like the self-reliant stealth game I’d been hoping for. It’s a game where skill and failure are part of the package. There’s no cheap path to victory; if you find yourself in a tight spot you can’t just shoot your way out of it. You’ll need quick reactions and sturdy aim to survive, but there’s such hilarious panic to the bullet-ridden tango of combat you can’t help but scream and laugh in tandem.

That’s not to say this surprise sequel is without its new tricks, though. The original Budget Cut’s abrupt ending hinted at a sequel that might be more aggressive and this seems to follow through on that theme. Perhaps unsurprisingly given Fast Travel’s inclusion, you can now swap risky knife throwing for much more dependable archery combat. It’s a sensible inclusion given just how erratic throwing could work in the first game, but it’s not a bail-out, either. You try knocking an arrow (or any other item, for them matter) whilst also dodging a swarm of bullets. Let me know how it goes.

Environmental variety is another big focus this time around. Though my demo does have its fair share of office cubicles, the rooftop sneaking also gives everything a touch of vertically and greater player freedom. How you get from A to B if often up to you; after dying in one section I got back to where I fell using an entirely different path. It can be dizzying and intimidating, though, and it could use a few directional pointers from time-to-time. You’ve probably also seen the train-set level featured in our E3 VR Showcase, which promises to introduce bring some new dynamics to the game.

A lot to look forward to, then. With the foundation laid, I can’t wait to see what sticky situations Budget Cuts 2 puts me in. Most of all, though, I feel relieved. There was a great game buried under the original Budget Cuts’ wealth of technical issues, good enough that it still found an audience. In Budget Cuts 2, though, Neat has a shot at redemption. With Fast Travel’s bow in-hand, I’m confident it won’t miss this time.

Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency is due for release later this year.

Tagged with: Budget Cuts 2, Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency, Fast Travel Games, Neat Corporation, stealth

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May 28, 2019June 11, 2019

‘Budget Cuts’ Studio Launches VR Gardening Sim ‘Garden of the Sea’ in Early Access, Trailer Here

Neat Corporation, the studio behind stealth VR game Budget Cuts (2018), unveiled a new VR project late last month called Garden of the Sea. The game, which puts you on a magical island where you tend to your garden, gather resources, and raise local fauna, is out now in Early Access.

Update (June 11th, 2019): Neat Corp have released ‘Garden of the Sea’ on Steam Early Access, pricing it at a very reasonable $6. It’s still too early to tell how the game will fare over the course its Early Access period, although 100 percent of user feedback on Steam thus far has been positive.

Check out the trailer below:

Original Article (May 28th, 2019): There’s no definite Early Access launch date yet, although Neat Corp maintains in the game’s Steam store page that it should be “soon.” (see update)

As somewhat of a departure from their development on Budget Cuts, which was done behind closed doors and released immediately to consumers, Neat Corp is aiming to keep Garden of the Sea in Early Access for less than a year from release, making it an iterative process with the game’s supporters.

1 of 3

Main Early Access features are said to include:

Growing your own fantastical garden
Sailing around in your boat
Hanging out with the creatures living nearby
Solving puzzles and challenges
Feeding the birds
Listening to the ocean

The full production game however is said to feature activities such as fishing, plant & creature breeding, new islands with more plants, recipes, puzzles, creatures, and unlockable quests.

Garden of the Sea is targeting SteamVR headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

If you’re looking to get involved with Neat Corp’s next project, the studio has set up a Discord server (invite link), where you can get live updates on what promises to be a unique and whimsical gardening sim.

The post ‘Budget Cuts’ Studio Launches VR Gardening Sim ‘Garden of the Sea’ in Early Access, Trailer Here appeared first on Road to VR.

May 27, 2019

Garden Of The Sea Is The New Game From Budget Cuts Dev Neat Corp

Neat Corporation, the developer of 2018 VR stealth extravaganza, Budget Cuts, is back. Its next game, however, is something very different.

The team’s second VR title is called Garden of the Sea. It’s like a VR version of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, mixed with a dash of Pokemon. You start off on an idyllic little island, populated with adorable creatures. You’re free to set off and explore the world around you, but you can also grow crops and craft items that will in turn help you discover more of the game.

It’s a game about relaxation, discovery and connection. There are no robots hunting you here (at least from what we’ve seen), no throwable knives and certainly no office cubicles.

Neat is staying tight-lipped about the project for now. If you want to find out more then be sure to check out Upload’s E3 VR Showcase at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm BT on June 10. We’ll be revealing the game in full, complete with exclusive footage and a rundown from the team at Neat itself. The actual game is coming soon… very soon indeed.

As we said earlier, Neat’s best known for its debut VR game, Budget Cuts, which began life as one of the original demos for the HTC Vive. The game’s teleportation system and physical movement helped set a template for a lot of VR game design to come and put the developer on the map.

Oh, and if you’re a fan of Neat Corp and Budget Cuts in general then you might have other reasons to watch the showcase. Just saying!

Tagged with: Garden of the Sea, Neat Corporation

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February 14, 2019

Budget Cuts Arcade is the Latest Update for the Stealth Experience

Having announced it was working on a PlayStation VR version of its stealth adventure Budget Cuts, Neat Corporation has today revealed a new update for the PC version, titled Budget Cuts Arcade.

The new update is focused towards replayability, adding a new game mode as well as an additional four levels. As the name suggests, the new Arcade mode has been designed for VR arcades as well as home use, with a focus on scoring as many points as possible. Accessed via the arcade cabinet in the main menu, the Arcade mode will have its own difficulty settings, 8 new collectibles (2 per level) and music to play to.

The new ARCADE difficulties are:

Beginner

guards do not hear translocation sound.
knives and other sharp objects do NOT break.
guards take a long time to actually spot you.
guards have very low aiming accuracy.
guards are very sensitive to damage.

Experienced

guards do not hear translocation sound.
knives and other sharp objects do NOT break.
guards spot you quicker than in Beginner mode.
guards are be better at aiming than in Beginner mode.

Veteran

guards WILL hear your translocation sound unless you sneak-translocate.
knives and other sharp objects DO break when hitting NPC.
guards spot you VERY quickly.
guards have VERY high aiming accuracy.
guards are pretty resilient to damage except headshots.

Budget Cuts - Bob

The update also adds a bunch of improvements to the main experience itself, not only fixing glitches and other abnormalities but also making the ‘Extra’ difficulty in the main campaign a bit trickier.

To celebrate the release of Budget Cuts Arcade Neat Corporation is having a massive Steam sale, knocking 50 percent off the normal price. The sale will run from 14th – 19th February 2019, starting at 10am PST (6pm GMT) today.

Budget Cuts is a stealth experience set in a world full of robots. You play an employee at mega-conglomerate TransCorp who finds out their job is in danger. After a mysterious package arrives you must then head out and save your job. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Budget Cuts, reporting back with all the latest updates.

January 31, 2019

Budget Cuts Confirmed for PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest Version a Possibility

Originally announced back in 2016, Neat Corporation’s stealth experience Budget Cuts didn’t have a smooth run up to launch, suffering several delays before it arrived for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in June 2018. This week the studio has confirmed it’s working on a PlayStation VR version, whilst considering the possibility that Budget Cuts may eventually come to Oculus Quest.

Budget Cuts - Combat

In a recent Twitter conversation, Neat Corporation responded to an inquiry about Budget Cuts coming to Oculus’ upcoming standalone headset. To which the studio said: “right now we are working on a PSVR version of budget cuts – quest will require even more of a performance optimization but we will look into it once we are “done” with PSVR!”

Whilst there are no further details on when this might happen, at least PlayStation VR owners know they’ll be getting one of the more unique and well-received PC VR titles from 2018.

What would be great is if Neat Corporation managed to squeeze Budget Cuts onto Oculus Quest, which has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile processor on board. This could prove to be tricky for some of the larger Oculus Rift titles such as Budget Cuts, although not impossible as videogames like The Climb and Moss are being ported over. Oculus Quest would be a natural home for Budget Cuts as the title features plenty of sneaking around, hiding in vents and other small spaces, ideal for a wireless headset.

Budget Cuts - Bob

Budget Cuts is a stealth experience set in a world full of robots. You play an employee at mega-conglomerate TransCorp who finds out their job is in danger. After a mysterious package arrives you must then head out and save your job. To do this you need to sneak around the facilities, using whatever vents, ceiling crawl spaces and more to remain hidden. Should you be spotted then it’s time for some knife throwing action.

When Neat Corporation releases further details regarding Budget Cuts, VRFocus will let you know.

January 30, 2019

PSVR Version Of Budget Cuts In The Works, Quest Possible After

The developers behind groundbreaking VR title Budget Cuts are working on a PSVR version of the game.

The stealth title started as an early HTC Vive demo allowing players to teleport from place to place and throw knives at robots. After a multi-year production cycle, Budget Cuts released for PC headsets last year with thrilling gameplay that was held back by some bugs. The game has seen several updates since release, though, and its recent reviews on Steam skew toward very positive.

right now we are working on a PSVR version of budget cuts – quest will require even more of a performance optimization but we will look into it once we are “done” with PSVR!

— Neat Corporation (@NeatCorp) January 30, 2019

The PSVR version Neat Corporation developers are working on is likely to have some significant changes to account for forward-facing tracking on the headset. Nevertheless, that’s a big new title to look forward to for PSVR headset owners. We reached out to members of the Neat Corporation team to see if there’s a planned launch date for this version and we’ll update if we hear back.

As far as Oculus Quest, developers might find difficulty bringing the game down to the forthcoming standalone and its Qualcomm-based chipset. If it does make the jump to Quest at some point, though, it could be a perfect fit for the wireless system as the PC version of the game makes excellent use of 360-degree movement freedom.

Developer Marko Permanto recently recounted some early designs for Budget Cuts. The video, embedded below, does a good job showing how the creators started to hone in on their intuitive teleportation and inventory system in the game.

Tagged with: Budget Cuts, Neat Corporation

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