OrbusVR, an MMORPG created from the ground-up for VR headsets, is getting a free weekend on Rift starting April 19th to April 22nd. As a part of Oculus’ two-year anniversary of Rift, this is the fourth weekend to feature a one hour-long period that automatically enters you to win some pretty big prizes.
To enter, simply download OrbusVR (free during that period) and play anytime between 1PM – 2 PM PT (local end time here) on Saturday, April 21st.
Prizes include:
An OrbusVR Gold Rush achievement
100 Third place winners will receive $25 Oculus Store credit
25 Second place winners will receive one Rift + Touch kit in addition to $100 of Oculus Store credit
Two grand prize winners will receive: A Falcon PC, One Rift + Touch & a “Golden Account” – This account will give you access to over 100 of the best titles on the Oculus Store for free
As the result of successful Kickstarter, OrbusVR went into Early Access on Steam last December, and later made its way to Oculus Home in Early Access at the beginning of this year. The game boasts an open world, dozens of hours of story-driven quests, and a host of genre staples such as dungeons, world bosses, and several classes to choose from.
image courtesy OrbusVR
“We expect a lot of traffic, so technical issues may happen but we’ll be ready to respond to the issues as they arise,” says OrbusVR Community Manager Mathieu Dugon in a blog post. “This is a chance to grow the community even more and we hope the community will be happy to answer new player questions. We’ll also be ready and on the lookout to handle player incidents that may arise.”
The past three weeks have seen several technical issues arise, so make sure to be on time, or even early to take advantage of your free entry.
OrbusVR also recently underwent a content update that now includes dragon breeding, which lets you breed for specific traits, and a teleporting system that lets you use the world’s rune stones to fast travel. So there’s plenty of reasons to get started early!
As someone that grew up playing MMOs like EverQuest, Minions of Mirth (an obscure indie one), Runescape, Guild Wars, and more, a high-quality VR MMO is one of my ultimate dream games. Anime like .hack//sign and Sword Art Online have done their part to instill the excitement around the concept and now with consumer VR finally here, it feels like the prospect is finally within reach.
Having played (and loved) Skyrim VR, it seems we’re closer than ever to that ultimate fantasy-themed VR MMO that I’ve always wanted. While it’d be a drastic overstatement to say that OrbusVR is that game, it’s certainly one of the first steps on a path toward that game. We wouldn’t have Zelda or Diablo without Atari’s Adventure preceding them.
Someone’s got to be first, so OrbusVR is here to lay the groundwork for realizing the future of VR MMOs.
Visually, OrbusVR is far from impressive. After spending a few hours inside its jagged, flat, and unattractive world the art style never really grew on me at all, but it’s something you get used to. It might look off-putting at first, but I’d encourage you to look past that if at all possible.
What I found beneath the surface is a mostly bare bones MMO that would have been unremarkable had it been released outside of VR, but that’s the whole point. This game wouldn’t exist without VR and it’s clearly built from the ground-up with that in mind. That design philosophy is evident across the entire gamut of the game’s experiences.
For example, to speak with an NPC you physically wave at them using your hand. You can grab a compass on your chest to find the direction of party members and points of interest. You open buildings by grabbing and pulling on door knobs. You gather crafting materials by leaning over and hitting them with your pickaxe. You fight enemies by aiming your gun, knocking your arrow, drawing runes to cast spells, or slashing with your sword. Each and every facet of the game is designed to foster a high degree of kinetic player interaction to eliminate the barrier between you and the game.
The new player tutorial does enough to get you started and explain the basics of the three main classes (Warrior, Archer, and Musketeer) before you set out on your own. However, a lack of voice acting and reliance on using on-screen text subtitles was disappointing but understandable given the small team and tiny budget.
In OrbusVR I gravitated toward playing as a Warrior, which defies convention by being one of the more difficult classes to play in this game. I reach behind my head to grab my sword and shield from my back and then combat plays out just like you’d think — lots of arm swinging. The trick though is that the developers didn’t want you to just mindlessly waggle your arm around with little rhyme or reason, so the Warrior has a series of “combos” to master.
So I’d do things like slash to the left, then upwards, then to left and back to the right all in rapid succession. If done correctly, an enemy might start bleeding slightly and will take a big chunk of damage at the end of the combo. There was a combo to provoke enemies and keep their attention on me as well, plus a handful of others I could cycle through during combat. Remembering them all isn’t easy, but it was extremely satisfying to pull them off correctly in the moment.
Archers work just like you’d think — nocking and loosing arrows feels as great here as it does in any other VR game. Differernt abilities are assigned to different arrow types this time. You equip them to your bow directly and select them by looking down at your waist and grabbing the special one you want. My favorite rained down fire in a big circle after a shot. You can also charge up your standard arrow for big damage — as long as you hit. There is no targeting system in OrbusVR, so you can’t just mindlessly slaughter enemies without thinking like you do in most other MMOs.
The Musketeer is probably the easiest class to play as you just point and shoot a gun. Similar to the Archer you equip special abilities to the weapon, but this time they’re floating orbs. Some will heal your allies, some will damage enemies, and some do special things like pop up shields. It’s very much the “support” class of the game, with Warriors functioning as tanks, and Archers functioning as ranged DPS.
The wild card is the Wizard, which isn’t unlocked at the very start like the others. Instead, you’ve got to go on a special quest to uncover the secrets of using magic in the world of OrbusVR. Even if you don’t plan on being a Wizard as your primary combat class, it’s absolutely worth unlocking just for the useful functionality of opening up portals to teleport across the game world.
There’s a lot of stuff to take in with any MMO and OrbusVR is no different. Zones are much larger than you’d think and people are scattered across the world liberally. I tried playing in the evenings on week days and weekends, as well as midday on both as well and never went more than a minute or two without seeing someone — even in the middle of large forests. The main starting town was always full of people.
OrbusVR uses proximity-based voice chat like many other VR apps, but in the context of an MMO it’s really satisfying. As I’m walking around town, talking to NPCs, turning in quests, and just exploring I can overhear actual conversations like people are really around me. One man is talking to his party members about where they should go next. Two young kids are competing to see who can cast certain spells faster. One woman is trying to help a friend learn Warrior combos. Other groups are discussing their plans for the weekend — which dungeons they’ll tackle together — and reminiscing about past adventures.
Seeing all of those discussions in other MMOs means looking at scrolling words in a chat box, but in OrbusVR it feels like a real community. Thousands of people are playing OrbusVR and it’s incredibly involved for such a seemingly “small” game — the Discord server is always active, for example.
Anecdotally I can verify that, like I said, I never had trouble finding someone to talk to if I wanted. A lot of the game can be played solo if you desire, but this is very much a social game. Before long you’re going to have to group up with other players. The “holy trinity” is in full force here and you’ll absolutely need a group of at least three for much of the mid-game and late-game content. Luckily there are plenty of active guilds and a more than friendly Discord server to help you out.
As someone that has a background in playing and writing about MMOs a lot over my life, OrbusVR checks all of the “must-have” boxes for any basic MMO at this stage of a new platforms’ (VR) lifecycle. Combat works great. There are decently written quests with objectives and completable tasks. You can add friends, have guilds, and chat/hang out together. There’s a level-based progression system, multiple zones, and end-game focused high-level content. There are even four distinct classes to play. There’s PvP too, but I didn’t get to try that yet.
While it will never be as functional as social VR apps such as Bigscreen or as creatively flexible as the likes of VRChat, OrbusVR is here to deliver a true-to-form MMORPG (with an emphasis on the ‘game’ or ‘G’) experience for all VR gamers and its laying the groundwork for VR’s bold and ambitious future.
OrbusVR is now currently available in Early Access on both Steam and Oculus Home for $39.99. It’s technically playable and mostly complete without any future character wipes planned, but the team is still working on some harder difficulty settings and end-game raids. And of course there are still some bugs as well. A full release is expected by this summer.
Are you playing OrbusVR? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Mit OrbusVR steht ein spannendes Projekt auf Steam und Oculus Home bereit, das ein vollständiges MMORPG in der Virtual Reality sein möchte. Da das Spiel noch im Early Access ist, werden wir es an dieser Stelle nicht bewerten. Aber wir verraten, was euch bereits jetzt erwartet, wenn ihr einen Zugang für stolze 40 Euro beschaffen wollt.
VR-MMORPG OrbusVR
Der WoW-Hype ist längst vorbei, doch es war eine interessante Zeit für MMORPG-Fans. An jeder Ecke tauchten neue Projekte auf, die teils spannende Ansätze verfolgten, aber noch nicht wirklich ausgereift waren. Genau in diese Zeit fühlt man sich zurückversetzt, wenn man OrbusVR startet. Manche Menüs sind zweckmäßig und hässlich, die Erstellung des Charakters lässt viele Wünsche offen und Übergänge zwischen den Szenen werden euch knallhart aufs Auge gedrückt. Doch ist dieser kurze Schock überwunden, fühlt man sich irgendwie wohl in der Welt. Der Wohlfühlfaktor wird auch durch diverse Fortbewegungsoptionen und einer von anderen Spielern belebten Welt angehoben. Man fühlt sich direkt verbunden mit anderen Menschen und das macht die Welt, auch wenn sie optisch niemanden vom Hocker reißen wird, glaubhaft.
Back to Basic: Lahme Kämpfe, langweilige Aufträge
Ob es nun charmant ist oder einfach der nötige Feinschliff fehlt: Die Kämpfe mit Hirschen, Wölfen und anderen Gegnern fühlen sich extrem indirekt an, was wohl an der Verzögerung durch das Netzwerk liegt. Dementsprechend kommt kein Gefühl eines echten Kampfes auf. Es ist, als werde man in ein altbackenes MMORPG teleportiert. Irgendwie wecken diese Lags und schlechten Animationen zwar mein Herz für Klassiker, aber auf der anderen Seite sind solche Kämpfe in VR auf Dauer einfach nur nervig. Immersion entsteht so zumindest nur schwer. Apropo Immersion: Ein Hirsch der wie Bambi aussieht und über 20 Schwerthiebe aushält zerstört einiges an Glaubhaftigkeit.
Ebenso scheint man sich bei den Aufträgen auf altbekannte Konzepte zu verlassen: Töte fünf davon, töte 10 davon, laufe von A nach B …Diese Beschäftigungstherapie mag am Monitor funktionieren, da man nebenbei einen Stream schauen kann, doch in VR sind solche Aufträge besonders langweilig.
Sammeln, jagen und Freunde finden
Natürlich haben die Entwickler nicht nur die negativen Aspekte von MMORPGs übernommen, sondern auch einige positive. So könnt ihr Kräuter mit einer Spitzhacke sammeln, per Wink-Geste mit NPCs und echten Menschen in Kontakt treten, Tiere erlegen und Tränke brauen. Klassen werden nicht direkt festgelegt, aber es ergibt Sinn, sich auf einen Kampfstil zu fokussieren – zumindest dann, wenn man in einer Gruppe spielt. Aktuell könnt ihr mit Pfeil und Bogen, mit Gewehr und Orbs oder mit Schwert und Schild in den Kampf ziehen. Zudem besitzt ihr ein kleines Eigenheim, in dem ihr Gegenstände verstauen könnt, die nicht in euren Rucksack passen.
Fazit
OrbusVR verfolgt ein ehrgeiziges Ziel und das Spiel wirkt bereits jetzt sympathisch und macht Lust auf mehr. Die Lags bei den Kämpfen müssen die Entwickler aber unbedingt in den Griff bekommen. Auch manche Gegner oder Animationen sollten sie überdenken. Wenn es die Entwickler schaffen, die Missionen spannender und die Kämpfe direkter zu gestalten, dann könnte OrbusVR zu einem Must-Have-Titel werden. Aktuell lohnt sich die Investition von 40 Euro aber nur für Menschen, die absolut vom Genre begeistert sind. OrbusVR steht auf Steam für die Oculus Rift und HTC Vive bereit.
OrbusVR, the indie VR MMORPG, is now on Oculus Home, allowing for crossplay between it and the Steam version which launched last month.
The Steam version of OrbusVR has had support for both Vive and Rift when it started out in Early Access in December, but now Rift users looking to keep their games all in one place can get in on the quest-driven MMO too.
The result of a successful Kickstarter back in March 2017 which garnered $34,000, OrbusVR is shaping up to be one of the first ‘native VR’ MMORPGs to combine traditional sword and sorcery elements like quests and dungeons in a cooperative, social VR space.
Like most MMOs, you’ll need to team up with others to take down World Bosses and clear out the game’s many dungeons (hence the social VR aspect). Presenting an open world environment, OrbusVR promises “dozens of hours of quests following an intriguing story.”
Although admittedly less than ‘massive’ at the moment—Steam Spy reported a couple hundred hourly concurrent users before the its launch on Oculus Home—the game’s first content expansion is due soon, which will include a new World Boss and an end-game dungeon called the ‘Tradu Mines’. According to the lead developer Riley Dutton, the Tradu Mines “have been tuned so that they can be accomplished by a group of Level 20 characters with Rare-level gear.”
OrbusVR is now available in Early Access for $40 on Steam (Vive, Rift) and Oculus Home (Rift).
Many fans of virtual reality (VR) have been eagerly awaiting a fully-featured MMORPG, in order to fulfil the fantasy of VR that has been presented by decades of science-fiction stories. As a result, there have been a sizeable number of people carefully watching OrbusVR and awaiting its release to see if it lives up to that promise. Those people will soon have the chance, with the confirmation of its Early Access release date.
Developers Ad Alternum have previously offered its OrbusVR community closed Alpha and Closed Beta testing, with over 450 players involved in the closed Alpha phase, playing a total of over 3,000 hours. Now the studio has announced that the title is almost ready for its Steam Early Access debut.
OrbusVR is described by the developers as the first fully-realised room-scale MMORPG created exclusively for VR. It is designed to feature a vast open world, hours of gameplay content, a absorbing storyline and interesting characters, along with social features to allow players to interact. Originally funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, the developers have been working closely with the player community to build the title.
The Early Access version of OrbusVR will have a few features missing from the expected final version, but will be fully playable, featuring more than sixty hours of content. Players will be able to pick up and complete quests and level from 1 to 20, as well as run through five-man dungeons and engage in activities such as crafting and fishing. The developments team have confirmed that once the title leaves early access, character progression will be maintained, and there will not be a ‘wipe’ or progress reset.
Though the title will be fully playable, the development team at Ad Alternum are reserving some gameplay features such as hard-mode dungeons and end-game raids for the full release. Various other features will be refined and polished throughout the Early Access period, incorporating feedback from the player community.
The anticipated Early Access release will be on 15th December, 2017, for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed reality devices. A price point is yet to be confirmed. Further details and updates can be found on the Steam Store page.
VRFocus will bring you further news on OrbusVR as it becomes available.
OrbusVR, an upcoming indie VR MMO for SteamVR-compatible headsets, has seen several closed betas since it’s successful Kickstarter back in March 2017, but starting December 15th the plucky quest-driven MMORPG will head into Early Access on Steam.
Having garnered more than $34,000 from its Kickstarter and undergoing several closed betas (and an open weekend), OrbusVR is shaping up to be one of the first ‘native VR’ MMORPGs to combine traditional sword and sorcery elements like quests and dungeons in a cooperative, social VR space. While the genre persists unabated on traditional monitors, there simply aren’t any great examples in VR.
Created by six-person team Ad Alternum, the developers promise to deliver what they call “a huge open world with thousands of players, dozens of hours of quests following an intriguing story, interesting lore and characters, five-player group dungeons, world bosses, and more!”
The game aims to make good on a number of features, including:
20+ hours of Main Story and side quests as you embark on an adventure to advance your character from Level 1 to 20.
4 major five-person dungeons, each with unique enemies and bosses with interesting mechanics
9 overworld zones spanning more than 10 square kilometers, including the high-level Wilds zones where danger lurks around every corner and open world PvP can happen
4 different and unique classes to play including the Ranger, Musketeer, Warrior, and Runemage
2 crafting classes: Alchemy and Artificing, plus Fishing In-game voice chat, dungeon finder, fellowships, private messaging, and other socialization features to keep you connected to the world
Dedicated, collaborative development process with an indie dev team that cares about your feedback
Dragon pets, cosmetic capes, achievements, and much more!
We haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with OrbusVR yet,so we can’t speak to the game’s depth. One thing is certain though: creating healthy playerbases is notoriously hard in VR due to the relatively smaller number of users. While some of the most populated spaces in VR are generally free, launching a paid social game that necessarily relies on the first ‘M’ (massive) could be a dicey proposition. That remains to be seen though, so we’ll be following its development and wishing OrbusVR the best of luck as it heads into Early Access in the coming weeks.
Despite popular fiction such as Ready Player One, Sword Art Online and Dot Hack popularising the concept of the virtual reality (VR) MMORPG, its existence in reality has so far proved somewhat elusive. That may be about to change as Ad Alternum Game Studios has announced the end of its closed Alpha of VR MMORPG OrbusVR and the upcoming date of its open Alpha phase.
There were over 450 players involved in the Closed Alpha testing, who played a total of 3,000 hours during the testing period. Bi-weekly tests would show off newly introduced features that were added to the game, such as new areas, story quests, dungeons and professions such as Alchemy and Fishing.
“We’ve had tremendous participation and enthusiasm from the VR community during our Closed Alpha testing period, and we’ve made some great strides in adding new features and improvements to the game,” said Riley Dutton, Lead Developer. “We’ve been hard at work getting things ready for everyone who’s interested in the game to check it out, and we can’t wait to see so many new faces in-game.”
The closed Alpha was only available to players who had previously backed the Kickstarter campaign, or pre-ordered OrbusVR on the official website were able to be involved. Despite those limitations, the developers were enthusiastic about the level of feedback and community participation from the Alpha players.
The Open Alpha stage of testing will begin on 28th July, 2017. Details on how to apply to be part of the open Alpha are available on the OrbusVR website. Developers at Ad Alternum are expecting the title to enter Beta testing in late August, 2017, with an expected release into Early Access at the end of 2017.
VRFocus will continue to bring you new on OrbusVR and other in-progress VR projects.
OrbusVR, the upcoming VR MMORPG for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, is going into a limited-time open alpha starting on July 28th, 2017 at 12 pm CT (your local time) and will last for approximately 60 hours.
Update (7/29/17): The OrbusVR Open Alpha weekend has begun. The development team has put together a First-time Player’s Guide here explaining how to join the Open Alpha, and what to expect:
The game is currently in an Alpha state. That means that not everything we want the game to have is fully in yet, including some key game mechanics (such as Fellowships, friends lists, and NPC vendors, just to name a few). It will definitely have bugs. It may crash. However, in spite of all that, it’s still already a very fun game to play and we think you’ll really enjoy it!
Original Article (7/22/17): As the result of a successful Kickstarter that met its funding goal of $10,000 in just 4 hours and later went on to more than triple it before the campaign’s end, OrbusVR is one of the first ‘native VR’ MMORPGs to combine traditional MMO elements like quests and dungeons in a cooperative, social VR space.
According to a blogpost announcing the open alpha, the game in its current state has more than 20 hours of content which includes 4 different combat classes, 2 five-player PvE dungeons, a PvP free-for-all arena, and 3 zones featuring monsters, quests, and more. The game also includes fishing and alchemy disciplines, pet dragons, a rideable airship and a world boss that requires a group of max level players to take down.
The pre-order price of OrbusVR is $30, which will increase to $40 after going into closed beta on August 18th. General release on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift + Touch (180/360 supported) is slated for Q4 2017—making the open alpha an easy sell if you’re interested in what the low-poly MMO has to offer.
Developer Ad Alternum Game Studios today announced the successful funding of their videogame OrbusVR, the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to be designed exclusively for room-scale virtual reality (VR).
The initial goal of $10,000 (USD) was surpassed in just four hours on the first day of the campaign and as of writing is up over $22,000 (USD), more than double the funding goal. The Kickstarter has five days remaining to snag the final few backers who want to push towards the final stretch goals. The first two stretch goals have already been reached, adding a pet system and an extra World Boss to the game.
“Although we were hopeful that we would be able to raise the base goal, we never expected to do so in just 4 hours!” said Riley Dutton, Founder of Ad Alternum and Lead Programmer on OrbusVR. “The support of this game by the growing community of VR enthusiasts continues to surpass our expectations at every turn.”
The Kickstarter will close on March 13th 2017 having lasted only one week as part of Kickstarter’s effort to encourage creators to accomplish something in only seven days. Though most of the limited tiers of available rewards are already gone, there are still plenty left in the $30 (USD) to $500 (USD) range and one spot remaining in the $5,000 ‘Mythic Founder’ tier.
As the software ecosystem grows, developers are starting to find a balance that allows them to create solid multiplayer experiences on VR platforms. The community is welcoming massive amounts of VR players, but the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) genre hasn’t really found a solid foothold just yet. Enter OrbusVR, the Kickstarter project looking to bring room scale combat, exploration, and crafting in VR MMO format.
You can see the trailer for it below, featuring a simple visual style and action-packed gameplay.
At the time this article was written, OrbusVR has accrued a funding amount of $23,997 on a goal of $10,000. Though this may seem meager by the standards set by other well known successful games funded on the crowd-funding platform, OrbusVR is no less ambitious with its plans. The gameplay teaser shows huge groups of players fighting in fields utilizing medieval fantasy weapons, exploring caves, teaming up against large boss characters, and even some fishing— the minigame that absolutely no MMO should ever go without.
“The support of this game by the growing community of VR enthusiasts continues to surpass our expectations at every turn,” says lead programmer Riley Dutton in a press release for the project. Dutton is also the Founder of Ad Alternum, the dev team making the game.
The game is adopting a low poly style that could be endearing to fans or a turn-off but, considering it was fully funded plus some, there are clearly fans interested in the project. The game is also not just in conceptual stages. The footage in the trailer is collected from 3 play tests in which 1500 players have played and things look to be quite functional from what we see.
“Our Stretch Goals represent things that we want to do in the game eventually, but didn’t have the resources to commit to doing before launch,” said Robert Dutton, Level Designer. “We’ve intentionally kept the scope of the project reasonable so we can meet our deadlines, but with the extra help from the community, we can do more than we originally planned, which is great.”
OrbusVR is slated to be released on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The Kickstarter is ongoing until March 13th and, while early bird funding bundles are taken, there are still many contributor awards available such as closed Beta and closed Alpha access.
