Category: pimax

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Pimax Details Upcoming Accessories – Price, Launch Date & More

Along with Pimax’s new additions to its “8K” headset line, “8K” X and Plus, the company offered up an avalanche of info on their upcoming accessories for consumers, as well as upgrade options for Kickstarter backers & pre-order customers looking to get the latest gear.

The company released the info on its newly christened ‘Pimax Day’ where they showcased a number of accessories and modules that were previously listed through its 2017 Kickstarter.

There’s plenty to cover: you’ll find pricing, release dates, and specs for the following modules/accessories below including the optical hand-tracking module, eye-tracking module, audio strap, comfort kit, 10-meter cable, and SteamVR 2.0 basestations.

Skip below the lists to find more info on the backer/pre-order upgrade programs Pimax has devised.

Hand-tracking

  • Price: $170
  • Shipping: in December, first to backers who opted for the module
  • Made with UltraLeap (previously UltaHaptics)
Image courtesy Pimax

Eye-tracking Module

  • Price: $300 ($200 for backers)
  • Shipping: to testing groups December 15th
  • Backers can use coupons to reduce to $100
  • Designed in partnership with 7Invensun
  • Special design for wide FOV headsets with canted displays
  • Enables DFR (dynamic foveated rendering)
  • Compatible with the all Pimax headsets
Image courtesy Pimax

Modular Audio Strap

  • Price: $120
  • Shipping: in December, to backers first
  • Includes high-end replaceable audio above the ear speakers
  • Includes an extra face-foam in the box
  • Compatible with all Pimax headsets
Image courtesy Pimax

Vision Comfort Kit

  • Price: $50
  • Shipping: November 1st
  • Includes a new design of the facial interface that is designed to reduce visual artifacts, Nose Guard to prevent light leakage, and larger soft forehead padding.
  • Supports all Pimax headsets
Image courtesy Pimax

10 Meter Extended Length Cable (normal Pimax cable is 5 meters)

  • Price: $99.95 + Shipping
  • Shipping: in November, available for order soon
  • Low impedance extra-long single cable
  • Allows for much wider room scale VR environments
  • DP 1.4 and USB 3

Lighthouse 2.0 Base Stations

  • Price: $300 deposit, final consumer price N/A
  • Shipping: in 3-4 weeks to those who have ordered them
  • No added charges or shipping costs
SEE ALSO
Pimax to Start Shipping "8K" X & "8K" Plus This Year, Ruggedization Available on All Models

Upgrade Programs

Pimax is offering a few upgrade programs aimed at keeping their patient backers & pre-order customers happy, including paths to upgrading controllers, basestations, and headsets; this is mostly due to cover for some of the delays in manufacturing.

Controller Upgrade Program

Since Pimax’s in-house developed Sword Controllers are officially delayed until March 1st, 2020, and Sword Sense until May 1st, 2020, the company is offering one of two options to pre-order customers.

  • Option 1: Receive Valve Index controllers instead, pay the difference plus a small fee. Lead time is 6 weeks to ship. Controllers and Base Stations bundle also translates to a bundle.
  • Option 2: Apply the money backers paid for the Sword controllers (Up to $200 per set) and we will add an additional $50 (up to $250) applied to an 8K+ or 8KX headset.
Image courtesy Pimax

Headset Upgrade Program

Pimax says that customers who already own a “5K” Plus, “5K” XR, or “8K” are going to get a discount that they can then apply to the company’s upcoming “8K” Plus and “8K” X headsets, although they haven’t said how much the discount will be at this time.

The company will have a dedicated site sometime in October  where backers and pre-order customers can do a number of things such as activate their headset credit, swap for Index Controllers, and get plans to 3D print the Prescription Lens Adapter.

Pimax community manager Martin Lammi (aka SweViver) held a livestream with company COO Kevin Henderson that dives deeper into each program. You can check out Part 1 and Part 2 for more detailed info on the headsets and upcoming accessories.

The post Pimax Details Upcoming Accessories – Price, Launch Date & More appeared first on Road to VR.

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Pimax “8K” Headsets & Accessories Delayed Again, Now Estimated for Late 2019 & Early 2020

Pimax announced back in Fall that it was not only bringing more styles of its “8K” model headsets to market this year with the entrance of the $1,300 “8K” X and the $1,000 “8K” Plus, but that backers would finally get the headsets they’ve been waiting for, with shipments of “8K” Plus slated for shipment in late October. The company however today announced in a Kickstarter update that its original 2019 shipping window for all its headsets and accessories has been pushed back into late 2019 and early 2020.

Update (December 3rd, 2019): Pimax today announced the following delays and estimated shipping dates:

  • “8K” Plus – estimated to start shipping no later than the end of Dec. 2019 due to “last-minute changes to help ensure a quality launch.” Originally slated for October release.
  • “8K” X – estimated to start shipping late Mar. 2020, early Apr. 2020 due to being “still in development,” with the engineering team set to finish “assembly [of] some samples for testing this week.” Originally slated for Dec. release.
  • Pimax Comfort Kit – estimated to start shipping no later than the end of Dec 2019; shipping alongside “8K” Plus
  • Index Controllers & SteamVR Base Stations– estimated to start shipping early Jan. 2020 due to having just received Valve Index Controllers & base stations in an OEM bulk shipment. The company says they has to design consumer packaging for items by SKU, test controllers & base stations, and assemble components for shipping to different regions (Power supplies & instructions)
  • Modular Audio Strap (Standard) – estimated to start shipping late Jan. 2020, with first 20 pieces for a backers trial. Mass production is slated to arrive in late Jan.
  • Modular Audio Strap (Deluxe) – estimated to start shipping Mar 2020 due to the design “still being in development to ensure quality & comfort.”
  • Silicone Protective Sleeve – estimated to start shipping early Jan 2020

The original article announcing the “8K” Plus and “8K” X follows below:

Original Article (September 26th, 2019): Pimax’s base “8K” headset, priced at $900 without controllers or the requisite SteamVR basestations, already offers up dual 3,840×2,160 resolution CLPL panels, however design limitations only allow the headset to upscale from 2,560×1,440 resolution per display.

The “8K” X big claim to fame is it offers up native 3,840×2,160 rendering for each display at 75 Hz refresh, and at 90 Hz refresh when the integrated upscaler is enabled. Pimax says its using new panel tech for both “8K” X and “8K” Plus, which should provide higher contrast and deeper colors using an RBG stripe matrix LCD.

Pimax 8K, Photo by Road to VR

“8K” X, which was originally promised to arrive in May 2018 to Kickstarter backers, is said to start shipping to backers starting December 18th, 2019.

There’s still no word on when enthusiasts will be able to plonk down the cash for their own headset, although considering Pimax will be attending to backers first, the wait may bleed over into early 2020.

SEE ALSO
Oculus Reveals New VR Headset Prototypes with Major Advances in Optics Form-factor

The “8K” Plus headset, which is slated to launch on October 30th, has the same panels as the “8K” X, however delivers content upscaled from 2,560×1,440 to the display’s native 3,840×2,160 resolution, just like the original “8K”.

The company says though that they’ve included a new algorithm for the upscaler, and that “8K” Plus comes with optional 65/72/90 Hz refresh rate.

Both headsets are said to include between 10-15% better panel utilization over its predecessor and the same 170-degree horizontal field of view. Both however will arrive with a new modular audio strap and a wider facial interface called a ‘comfort kit’.

Image courtesy Pimax

Neither headset comes with controllers or SteamVR basestations, which must be purchased separately through Pimax, Valve, or HTC.

Ruggedization is coming to all models too, which consumers can op-in for by contacting the company. This includes a special rubberized coating and metallic buttons to the headset, which is said to increase durability and water resistance.

There aren’t any pre-order links yet, although we’ll update this piece when the time comes. In any case, you’ll be sure to find more info soon on Pimax’s website.

– – — – –

If you’re wondering why we’ve put 8K in quotations, its because each panel is only 4K in resolution. This means you only see the max benefit of a single display’s resolution since both are combined to form a single stereoscopic picture.

The post Pimax “8K” Headsets & Accessories Delayed Again, Now Estimated for Late 2019 & Early 2020 appeared first on Road to VR.

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Espire 1: VR Operative Delayed Again For ‘Several Weeks’ A Day Before Launch

Espire 1: VR Operative was slated to finally release on PC VR, Quest, and PSVR all at the same time tomorrow on September 24th but is getting delayed once again, this time for “several weeks” to work out lingering “stability and performance issues.”

Digital Lode and Tripwire made the announcement via an update posted on the Espire 1 Steam page today, just a mere day before the slated release. Launch issues are something that have plagued other VR games, such as Budget Cuts, previously.

According to the update:

“Throughout the year, we’ve been taking Espire 1 out to shows and meeting excited fans at events such as E3, Gamescom, PAX and others. During that time we’ve gotten invaluable feedback from those players and realized we would not be able to incorporate as much of it as we would like into the launch build.

And, while working with our partners doing Quality Assurance checks around the release candidate builds, it became clear that there were a few lingering issues that were not so readily apparent in previous testing. Currently we have found some stability and performance issues, that while not always impacting the player, will be frequent enough with sustained play that we feel it would hinder your enjoyment.”

As unfortunate and frustrating as the timing is, if it leads to a better game then it’s for the best. We’d been suspecting something was up considering we hadn’t yet received review code as of today, which is highly unusual.

The update goes on to say that they’ve decided to push the release date “back by several weeks while the team works on these issues,” but are still targeting a Fall 2019 release, which presumably means before December at the latest.

Jamie recently tried out a preview build of the game from the comfort of his own Rift S and had a lot of positive things to note, but did take issue with the less than intelligent AI and poor sound detection, both of which could spell trouble for a VR stealth game.

Previously we’d played it on the Oculus Quest, as well as on the original Rift, and even awarded it our Best of Show honor at E3 2019. It’s one of our most anticipated VR games of the year and we’re eager to see if this delay helps the team polish it up more before launch.

In the meantime, keep an eye on Panther VR, a new stealth game from the creators of VR Dungeon Knight currently on Kickstarter.

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Cyberpunk VR LOW-FI Kickstarter Surpasses $65K Unlocking New Wasteland Area

Upcoming open-world cyberpunk VR action adventure game, LOW-FI, just surpassed another Kickstarter (campaign page here) stretch goal milestone to include a brand new Wastelands zone.

After just a few days over 700 people pledged over $45,000 to help LOW-FI reach its initial goal. In the two weeks since then it has gone on to raise an additional $20,000 to surpass its second $64,000 stretch goal: The Wastelands area.

According to a recent update on the Kickstarter campaign, the new area will be much more action-oriented than the rest of the game, which takes place inside the city itself in a perpetually overcast nighttime atmosphere.

wastelands low-fi area

“Far outside the city walls, a desolate land exists. A land where your badge means nothing. A land filled with the wreckage of the old world, where scavengers and protein farmers make their own rules. Only the bravest souls will want to venture out into the wastes. Are you one of those brave souls?

The plan for the wastelands is to allow for more action oriented gameplay. With your weapon at the ready, you’ll be able to barter with locals and plunder alongside the lawless scavengers. It’s a true wild-west out here where anything can happen. A place where our next stretch goal may come in really handy.”

We went hands-on with an extremely early Alpha build of LOW-FI just before the Kickstarter launched and it honestly has a lot of promise. Visually it’s looking excellent already and the atmosphere is palpable. Piloting the flying patrol car felt great and the city feels alive and teeming with seedy bad actors waiting to be exposed. The pitch is for an ambitious cyberpunk simulation with emergent gameplay around every corner as a true sandbox, so time will tell if that comes to fruition. I really enjoyed Technolust, so I’m confident this developer can deliver.

The next stretch goal tier is a Cyberwolf Companion with ominous glowing blue eyes that will take commands and become a powerful force by your side.

Let us know what you think of LOW-FI and whether or not you pledge to VR Kickstarters at all down in the comments below!

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Panther VR Is A Stealth Action Game From The VR Dungeon Knight Devs

Panther VR (official website) is a brand-new stealth action game from Wolfdog Interactive, the same developers behind both VR Dungeon Knight and Skyworld. The game’s Kickstarter is now live seeking to crowdfund $16,598 by November 2nd.

With Espire 1: VR Operative’s release right around the corner next week, Phantom: Covert Ops following not far behind that, and indie projects like Unknightly showing real promise, it seems like we could be entering an era of stealth action becoming the new hotness in VR.

In Panther VR players will take on the role of a Panther Agent within an international secret group of master thieves known as the Guild. It’s your mission to take back power from evil major Corporations, steal top-secret prototypes, plan out heists, and infiltrate heavily guarded facilities. From the description on the Kickstarter page it sounds a bit like a modernized Robin Hood meets cloak-and-dagger antics a la Assassin’s Creed I’m totally here for it.

The developers describe Panther VR as a “stealth action sandbox” that lets you “play how you want” with careful planning, or full action, and lots of weapons and loot. There will be a dedicated campaign mode, a “contracts” mode focused on shorter, replayable content, a “missions” mode that’s randomly generated with “unlimited” content, and challenges including leaderboards. Game flow seems to involve planning out missions, picking gear, and then trying to enact your plan — sort of like the heist scenes you see in movies.

This will be a VR-only game and specifically lists support for SteamVR, Valve Index, Oculus, and HTC Vive — although it’s unclear if that means just Rift or Rift and Quest. Wolfdog specifically cites Metal  Gear Solid, Hitman, Dishonored, Payday, Thief, and Just Cause as their inspiration.

If you back early you can nab a copy for as low as $14, but the base pledge price to get a copy is $20. Other, highter tiers include beta access, alpha access, getting your name in the game, or even the ability to name locations. For the highest tier ($2,500) you can have direct contact to the devs whenever you want, all future games from Wolfdog, your own statue in the game, and even instant access to the game immediately pending signing an NDA. Stretch goals include a dedicated music composer, skill trees, more weapons, hideout customization, a new story mode, and more.

We don’t write about every single VR Kickstarter out there, but there have been a lot of really promising ones as of late from the cyberpunk adventure LOW-FI up to the ambitious VR MMO, Zenith. Panther VR is fresh and just launched so they haven’t raised much at all yet, but the modest $16,598 is very achievable and they have proven experience shipping VR games. VR Dungeon Knight is one of the best action RPGs in VR and is considered by many to be the gold standard for co-op RPGs.

For more details check out the Panther VR Kickstarter right here, follow the team on Twitter, or join the community Discord server.

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Mining Sim Cave Digger Coming To Quest, New Expansion Announced

“Immersive Mining Simulator” can safely be filed under game genres I’d probably never play if they weren’t in VR, so thankfully Cave Digger by VRkiwi is on basically every major 6DOF VR headset available.

Today, the developers have announced that not only is a massive new update dubbed Railway to the Depths releasing soon that adds a ton of new features, but it’s also coming to the Oculus Quest. The game is already available on Steam for all major SteamVR platforms (Rift, Vive, Windows VR, and Index) as well as on Oculus Home for Rift (and soon Quest,) Viveport for Vive, Rift, and Windows VR, plus the PSN Store for PSVR.

Cave Digger: Railway to the Depths Trailer:

Currently the base game, basically a demo, is available for free. But if you want the full experience, you need to buy the Riches DLC. There’s also an optional paid Supporters Pack that adds access to the OST, your name on wanted posters for players to see, and a gold-plated pickaxe. It’s got great physics and mechanics, plus lots of different types of ore and rewards to unlock. However, it all takes place in a single elevator that goes deeper gradually over time. At least it did until this newest update.

“We felt the game wasn’t finished yet and there was a lot of potential if we let the players wander outside of the elevator,” says VR Producer Jani Kaipainen in a prepared statement. “I think by giving this update for free, the game offers enough exploration and adventure for the price tag. Our sincere thanks go also to Business Finland and Oculus for making this possible. We are excited to announce more VR productions later this year.”

If you buy the Riches DLC then you get the new Railway to the Depths update entirely for free. This includes “many hours” of new gameplay including a free-roaming expanded world, a new ending, a companion to help you carry more riches, and an upgradeable train to traverse the newly expanded world.

Cave Digger: Railway to the Depths releases as a free update to the paid Riches DLC on all platforms on September 19th. You can also join the Discord community to chat with other players and the developers directly.

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Vanishing Realms: Making A VR RPG As A Solo Indie Developer

Vanishing Realms just exited Early Access and released its massive expansion DLC, The Sundered Rift. We had great things to say in our full review and took some time to send a few questions over Kelly Bailey from Indimo Labs about its development that spanned across nearly four years.

Kelly Bailey has been hard at work on Vanishing Realms ever since first getting an HTC Vive developer kit in late 2015 and the hard work shows. Bailey previously worked at Valve, specifically on the Half-Life franchise, and has been focused on VR since founding Indimo Labs.

vanishing realms sundered rift featured image

Below are all of the questions we sent Bailey over email, as well as his unedited responses:

UploadVR: How has the reception to the expansion been so far? Has it been going well?

Kelly Bailey: The new Expansion has been quite well received, some fun play-through videos starting to show up, reviews are very positive.  It’s really rewarding to see players getting creative with the new types of melee and ranged weapons, the little Spirit Guide seems make people smile, people seem to be enjoying playing through the new environments. I got a little carried away in the final six months of development, and somehow the Expansion grew to become larger than the base game. It wasn’t really planned that way, just a consequence of iterating on new ideas and integrating playtest feedback.

UVR: What is the biggest difference between developing and releasing VR content now in mid-2019 vs. 2016 when VR was brand new?

KB: There is certainly more hardware to support in 2019, and the tools available to developers have come a long way.  Way back in 2016, VR Devs all needed to figure out the fundamental interactions, such as moving the player around the world, interacting with objects, constraining the player to world boundaries, designing a VR-friendly UI etc.  Now developers can download various plugins to help solve those problems, and the barrier to entry is definitely lower now.

vanishing realms sundered rift review enemy image

UVR: Looking back, would you have done anything differently in developing Vanishing Realms?

KB: I launched the base game in Early Access in 2016, then spent a year or so updating it with a ton of new features and expanded content. Community feedback was super helpful, definitely made the game better. By late 2017 I’d pushed the base game pretty far and felt it was ready to ship, however I ultimately decided to keep the game in Early Access during the development of the Expansion.  I announced this to the community late 2017, and forged ahead. Remaining in Early Access allowed me to easily share content and code between the base game and expansion, and I felt it was important to maintain the freedom to experiment with the code right up the final launch day.  I tend to develop in a very iterative way, and many of the features that ended up in the base game or Expansion started as “what-if” experiments.  The game’s melee combat system, UI, climbing, throwable weapons, various forms of monster AI, new player locomotion modes, a complete hard mode, expanded mid-game dungeon and outdoor areas – all had quite a few versions and many were delivered as later updates to the base game.  Some changes, like the more detailed outdoor areas, where just delivered in the base game this month.

However this method of working also tends to make it difficult to predict a delivery schedule, and that relatively long development period in Early Access made it hard to communicate the ongoing plan to newer customers.  In retrospect, it would have been a much clearer message to customers had I shipped the base game out of Early Access back in 2017, rather than waiting until the Expansion was also complete.  I would have also communicated more frequently, rather than keeping my head down working in the code for months on end!

So overall, I would have maintained a simpler plan with a simpler message. By keeping the code sharing simple, I inadvertently created a very complex messaging problem that I never really solved.

UVR: Are there plans for more expansions or a sequel? Or a new IP?

KB: Having just come off of a very intensive and extended work schedule, it still feels too soon to start planning next steps.  I truly enjoy creating games, I’ve been doing it for over 20 years now – I don’t think Vanishing Realms: The Sundered Rift is my last game.  Right now, however, I’m focused on getting some surfing in!

UVR: Do you have any interest in working with a publisher, or is 100% indie something you’re proud to continue doing?

KB: The great thing about working on a team with a publisher is the leverage you have – all the game’s content can be crafted as a unified, original vision for instance.  The down side is that I believe most publishers would not have been willing to take the kinds of risks that I took in developing Vanishing Realms. I did not have a detailed development schedule, at the outset I had a very loose vision of the product, and I worked almost entirely iteratively.  I added many, many features based on direct customer feedback, all without a fixed final delivery schedule or budget.  I believe that kind of freedom made the game much better in the end, but it would have driven a budget and schedule conscious publisher a bit crazy!

vanishing realms sundered rift landscape

UVR: How large is the team that worked on the initial Vanishing Realms EA release and how large is the team that worked on 1..0 + Sundered Rift?

KB: The Base Game and the Expansion were both single-developer projects.

UVR: Are there any plans for Quest or PSVR versions?

KB: Both platforms are super interesting. I don’t have a dev kit for either right now.

UVR: What would your main points of advice be to VR developers, as someone that’s been making VR content since before Vive/Rift even shipped?

KB: Some questions that might be useful to a new VR developer:

Am I taking advantage of the latest VR plugins? It doesn’t make much sense these days to write your own player movement system, input system, UI etc.

Am I controlling the budget? Although it’s growing, VR is still a much smaller customer base than the PC market. There’s a reason many VR titles are built by small teams.

Am I playtesting with people of differing size, age, experience? This is super important in VR. You’re building an environment that must fit diverse body sizes and abilities.

Do my playtesters think the game is fun? Would they keep playing? Continue iterating until the answer is consistently YES.  Ask what their high and low points were during the playtest.

Does my game contain features that are interesting and unique in VR?  The medium is still so new, you have a chance as a VR developer to create something that literally no one in history has ever experienced before. That’s a pretty fun idea.

UVR: Anything else you’d like to add?

KB: Vanishing Realms: The Sundered Rift is available on Steam here.

For more on Vanishing  Realms and The Sundered Rift, check out our full review right here.

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Falcon Age PC VR Impressions: Just As Bright And Charming As PSVR

When Falcon Age (PSVR Review: 7/10) originally launched in April it brought an accommodating and fun adventure to the PSVR and now today it hits PC VR headsets via the Epic Games Store.

While it had its technical missteps, it’s attractive falconry mechanics and colorful visuals shone through. The experience is largely the same, outside of some modest improvements, on other VR platforms. 

I played through a short demo on the Rift S at PAX West that took place midway into the game. The controls, visuals, and gameplay mechanics all felt similar to the PSVR version. The colorful environments looked vibrant and combat felt mostly responsive, although some bugs and technical issues still hindered the experience.

For those new to the Outerloop Games’ adventure, Falcon Age is a first person adventure that follows Ara as she uses the lost art of falcon hunting against a force of automated colonizers. It hits the Epic Games Store today, making it compatible with the Oculus Rift, Steam VR headsets like the HTC Vive, and Windows VR. The new version also comes with balance changes, new enemies, new bird skins, and even a slightly new ending that comes from your choices. All new content will come to every version of the game with an update today.

My e 20-minute playthrough had me fight a few robots and take down several towers and open gates in order to progress. Aiming my falcon attacks with a laser beam, calling her back to my arm, removing needles after she had been attacked, and working my electric whip with the Rift controller were all satisfying and remarkably similar to the other versions of the game. Nothing was lost in translation. 

Navigating with smooth locomotion worked well, meaning that post-PSVR release updates are included in the PC VR version at launch. Outerloop Games creative director Chandana Ekanayake confirmed that Falcon Age was originally developed on PC VR, meaning the build up to the launch this month was smooth. 

Outside of a tricky save spot that kept me locked in the grips of an enemy robot after each respawn, the demo was trouble-free. I didn’t notice any performance issues during any of my scraps with enemy robot thugs. And just like the PSVR versions, combat is completely optional so you don’t even have to engage in the first place. 

I didn’t notice how balance changes affected gameplay or experience the new ending and enemies that Ekanayake mentioned, but I did get to test out some of the new bird skins. While only a small addition, the range and variety of skins are absolutely wonderful and add a nice bit of extra charm to catching your falcon on your arm. 

If you haven’t been able to try Falcon Age due to its PSVR-only launch earlier this year, the PC launch has all the updates and content that have come to it since April. While I only had a short time with my demo, I felt it was indicative of the full game. It’s still the bright, meaningful adventure it was when it came out earlier this year.

Maybe a Quest port is in the cards next?

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Onward Update Finally Re-Adds All Maps, And A New One

VR tactical shooter Onward (Steam page here) released an update this week re-adding three maps which were previously removed during a major graphics overhaul.

It also adds a new map, new map variants, and introduces some major optimizations.

Maps Are Back

In late May an update was released which overhauled the game’s visuals, particularly the lighting. The changes were however so fundamental that they had to be manually applied to each map. Given the time taken to do this per map, Downpour Interactive decided to temporarily remove three maps from the game: Jungle, Abandoned, and Snowpeak.

Jungle’s relatively thick vegetation and changes in elevation results in very low detection ranges, which brings up the heartrate of even the most experienced players.

Abandoned takes place in a more traditional western woodland valley setting, with an abandoned military base and plenty of open spaces.

Snowpeak also features an abandoned military base, but this time in the snowy Russian mountains with more verticality and less visibility.

New Map, New Map Variants

A brand new map has been added called Turbine. Turbine takes place on a hydroelectric dam, an interesting setting which should make for a good variety of engagement distances.

Onward Turbine

The update also adds night time variants of Abandoned and Snowpeak. Night time variants have a real effect on gameplay, forcing players to adapt to the lower visibility.

Major Optimizations for Onward

Over the past few months, Downpour has been gradually implementing significant optimizations to Onward to improve the framerate and reduce instances of stuttering. We’ve noticed these improvements while playing recently, which are especially important to reaching the higher refresh rate settings of the Valve Index headset.

This week’s update significantly lowers the loading time of the game and maps. It also significantly reduces RAM usage by several gigabytes according to Downpour Interactive.

These improvements are likely a side effect of the effort to port the game to Oculus Quest, which is significantly less powerful than a gaming PC. The port was announced just before E3, but a release date hasn’t been provided. When they do get Onward running on the standalone headset, it could become one of its most popular multiplayer titles.

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[NOW LIVE] Nostos Livestream: Open-World Online VR RPG Beta Test

Curious about how we livestream the way we do? Then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup. For today we’re playing the Beta Test for upcoming online VR RPG Nostos.

We’re back again with another livestream, this time of Nostos, planned for today 9/6/19 @12:30PM PT on the UploadVR YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Mixer.

Nostos is currently running a Beta Test period that will last until September 9th, so for today’s livestream we’re diving into its gorgeous anime world to see what the online open-world VR RPG is all about. The game is in development by NetEase and is slated for release later this year. It will also include cross-play with non-VR players. We’ll be playing via Steam on an Oculus Rift S.

The Nostos stream is planned to start around 12:30PM PT today and we’ll aim to last for about an hour or two. We’ll be hitting YouTube, Twitter, Mixer, and Facebook all at once. You can see the full stream embedded via YouTube right here down below once it’s up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UW89v84mmM

You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, interviews, and more original content!

And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next other than Nostos! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely.

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