Category: ready at dawn

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Echo VR On Quest Open Beta Now Supports Crossplay With Oculus Rift

Echo VR (specifically the Echo Arena variant) is fast-approaching a full release date presumably very soon and the Open Beta that’s running for free on Oculus Quest right now has just expanded to include crossplay with Oculus Rift players as well.

If you’re unaware, Echo VR is a gravity-defying competitive VR game that pits two teams of space-bound androids against one another in a zero-gravity arena as they battle for possession of a floating disc. The objective is to get the disc through the other team’s ring, Quidditch or Soccer style.

It’s a simple concept that’s executed very well and merging the two communities together is a great move. I’d wager a lot of Rift players are eager to try it on Quest if they haven’t already.

The marriage between sci-fi floating and Tron-style visuals fits perfectly with VR as a platform and leads to some amazing moments full of intensity. We’ve played the Quest port a bit and feel like it’s an extremely faithful adaptation. What you lose in graphical fidelity and discrete tracking consistency for behind-the-back passes and nuanced movements, you more than gain back several times over by removing the cord for a true 360-degree experience.

Since Echo VR is developed by Read at Dawn, the same team behind Echo Combat and the Lone Echo franchise, and published by Oculus Studios, you should likely expect Echo VR to become a leading multiplayer title this year on Quest.

Have you tried Echo VR on Quest? Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

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You Can Now Play Echo Arena On Oculus Quest With Open Beta

Ready At Dawn opened the doors to all testers on Oculus Quest for its Echo Arena zero-g sport.

The title is much like the game described in the classic sci-fi novel Ender’s Game and was one of the best Oculus-funded competitive sports on the Rift. It holds up extremely well on Oculus Quest and we recently captured a full gameplay match while it was in an invite-only testing phase recently:

You can grab onto the walls or other players to boost yourself in directions with thrusters on your back and wrists to speed up travel around the arena. You can also punch other players in the head to stun them for a few seconds, and if you plan well you can block to stun the puncher instead.

The wireless freedom of Quest takes away worries associated with tangling in a cord or hitting an external sensor, and frees up players to focus on the game itself. You’ll want a lot of space above your head though and the largest guardian you can make for yourself to make reaching for the disc safer and easier. During online games in recent weeks I heard more than one person complaining about hitting objects in their living room because they were so into the game.

Echo Arena will be free to play and support cross-play with Rift players at some point.

Will we be seeing you in Echo Arena on Quest? Let us know in the comments what you think of the game and if you’ll be playing it.

The post You Can Now Play Echo Arena On Oculus Quest With Open Beta appeared first on UploadVR.

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Lone Echo II Still Expected in 2020, Development has Been Impacted by COVID-19

Lone Echo 2

Ready at Dawn has been delivering continual updates for its online multiplayer Echo VR but when its comes to Lone Echo II has continually remained quiet. That silence has been partially broken this week with the studio revealing plans are still underway for the sci-fi adventure to arrive this year if a little later than planned.

Lone Echo 2

Like many studios the world over, Ready at Dawn has seen development affected by the current coronavirus pandemic as staff work from home.

In a statement, Co-Founder, Chief Creative & Executive Officer Ru Weerasuriya wrote: “As work progresses on our games, this new reality and dynamic has caused us to rethink some of our game development methodology. Development on Lone Echo II has been greatly impacted. We know many of you have anxiously been awaiting its launch and, while we do intend to launch in 2020, we’ll have more news on Lone Echo II coming very soon.”

Originally expected in 2019, Lone Echo II was then pushed back to Q1 2020 last summer. There were no further development updates until now. While the title is highly anticipated its definitely not the only one to suffer, the other most notable one being Iron Man VR.

Lone Echo 2

In its preview of Lone Echo II last year VRFocus found that the title was already looking stunning, with the same attention to detail as the original. Several new features were showcased including enemies and menu system.

On a more positive note, Ready at Dawn has confirmed that the open beta for Echo VR on Oculus Quest will begin next week, 5th May, available to everyone until the official launch later this year. Head on over to the Echo Games Discord for more info. Oculus Rift cross-play will also be added soon after.

Echo VR is a team-based competitive experience split into two modes, Echo Arena and Echo Combat. The former is a zero-g sports tournament where two teams of four face-off, scoring goals whilst boosting, gliding and punching opponents out the way. Echo Combat is a bit more violent in the fact that weapons are involved plus there’s an object teams have to attack/defend to win.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Lone Echo II, reporting back with further updates and announcements.

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Ready At Dawn Sets May 5 For Start Of Quest’s Echo Arena Open Beta

Ready At Dawn announced that starting May 5 Echo Arena will be available in open beta on Oculus Quest.

The reveal came in a developer update to the Oculus blog related to work-from-home changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Ready At Dawn, development on Lone Echo II “has been greatly impacted” but they still intend to launch the game in 2020 with more updates coming soon. As far as the Oculus Quest version of their zero-g sport Echo Arena:

“VR has allowed us to reconnect in a new way, not only with our teammates, but also with the community at large,” the blog states. “We are therefore making our upcoming Open Beta for Echo VR on Oculus Quest available to everyone until the official launch later this year.”

We got into the closed beta recently for the game and captured video play through a full match. Check it out here:

The game seems to be shaping up incredibly well on Oculus Quest. The wireless freedom is eye-opening and it seems to run solidly on Facebook’s standalone headset. We’re looking forward to playing more in the coming weeks with more people now that it’ll be more accessible to all Quest owners. The game could end up being one of the big competitive draws for Oculus Quest headsets as the year progresses.

Echo Arena will be free to play when it is completed for Quest as well, and it will feature cross-play with Rift players.

Will you be playing Ready At Dawn’s Echo Arena on Quest? Let us know in the comments below.

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Echo Arena Oculus Quest Open Beta Coming Soon, Watch A Full Match Now

Echo Arena on Oculus Quest should be launching an open beta soon for its zero-g virtual sport.

Ahead of the launch of the free multiplayer Oculus Studios project from Ready At Dawn we’ve gotten into the closed beta and captured video of a full match. Overall the game seems to be shaping up incredibly well on the Oculus Quest and I had a ton of fun.

Check out the video here:

Playing the game in a room with a large Quest guardian and the freedom to move around wirelessly is a bit of a revelation. I can get sick pretty easily in VR and the game didn’t really click for me on the original Rift because I always felt like my tracking — even with three or four sensors — never quite gave me the freedom I needed to really enjoy it. Echo Arena is a lot like the zero-g sport described in the book Ender’s Game and the competitive play constantly encourages you to reach out and punch other players so they freeze in place. You also need to stretch out to try and grasp the disc floating by. On an original Rift the combination of nearby external cameras and the tether to your PC constantly warns you to be cautious. On Quest, though, I am learning to let go of that fear, turn around more freely and stretch my body out to reach the disc.

That’s led me to a more satisfying sense of complete focus on the game. Even though the movement is pretty intense I haven’t needed to quit playing Echo Arena on Quest yet due to discomfort.

According to Ready At Dawn, the studio should be providing an update about open beta soon through a developer log. The game will be free and will also feature cross-play with Rift players.

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‘Echo VR’ Launches Out of Beta for Quest, Including Rift Crossplay

Echo VR, the zero-G multiplayer game from Ready at Dawn, is now out of beta for Oculus Quest. Although it only includes Echo Arena, the zero-g team sport and not the team shooter Echo Combat, the free game seems to have struck a chord with Quest users since it launched into open beta back in March.

Update (September 1st, 2020): Ready at Dawn says in a developer blog post that the Echo Arena half of Echo VR is now out of beta.

During its stint in open beta, the game has managed to garner nearly 4,000 user reviews, rating it a near [5/5], putting it higher than Echo VR on Rift, which sits at around [4.4/5] at the time of this writing.

There’s still no word on whether Echo Combat, the paid team shooter half of the Echo VR equation, will also see a similar Quest-native port, however considering the team has put a fine polish on Echo Arena for Quest, it’s possible the studio is just waiting for the right timing.

Update (April 30th, 2020): Developer Ready at Dawn today announced a shift in its approach to the Echo VR Quest beta strategy. Starting May 5th, the company will open the Echo VR beta to all Quest users, and keep it open until the game’s full launch later this year.

The studio said the decision was prompted by realizing how important VR has been for the studio itself to stay connected while working remotely.

With our work from home situation forcing us to be disconnected physically, VR has allowed us to reconnect in a new way, not only with our teammates, but also with the community at large. We are therefore making our upcoming Open Beta for Echo VR on Oculus Quest available to everyone until the official launch later this year. Starting Tuesday, May 5th, we invite you to join us and collaborate with everyone at RAD, in continuing to build Echo VR on Quest.

The original article, which highlight the studio’s prior plans for staggered beta windows, continues below.

Original Article (April 8th, 2020): In the game’s next closed alpha, the studio will be including select players ranging from levels of 5 – 49, as the first wave of participants admitted to the initial closed alpha stage were picked from a pool of Level 50 players.

At the conclusion of the closed alphas, a closed beta will begin. The studio says that all players who signed up for testing will join existing community testers from the previous phases, and that testers will be able to access Tutorials, VS. AI, the Lobby, and the ‘Echo Arena’ game itself.

Image courtesy Ready at Dawn

Unlike the Rift version, it appears Echo VR for Quest will only include ‘Echo Arena’, the VR sports game, and not ‘Echo Combat’, the team-based shooter. Both are accessible on Rift under the Echo VR umbrella launcher, with ‘Echo Arena’ provided as a free game whilst ‘Echo Combat’ requires an in-app purchase of $10 to play. ‘Echo Arena’ is said to provide cross-play between Quest and Rift.

After the final invite-only phase concludes, a general open beta will begin which anyone can take part in.

Exactly when all of this will take place still isn’t certain; the studio says more info will be shared in subsequent blog posts and that dates have been omitted “to more easily flow between phases and pivot when necessary.”

If you’re interested in taking part of any part of testing Echo VR on Quest, head over to the registration form here.

The post ‘Echo VR’ Launches Out of Beta for Quest, Including Rift Crossplay appeared first on Road to VR.

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Ready at Dawn Unveils Echo VR’s Oculus Quest Road Map

About three weeks ago Ready at Dawn opened registrations for a closed alpha as it continues developer of Echo VR for Oculus Quest. This week the studio revealed a tentative road map towards the eventual launch, featuring another alpha round as well as a couple of betas players will be able to sign up for.

There will be four planned phases before the launch with the first closed alpha already underway. At this stage, the team has been sending invitations for level 50 players, both competitive and casual to evaluate higher-level play and mechanics. In the second closed alpha, the pool of players will be expanded to include levels 5 – 49. This will test public matches in Arena, disabling private matchmaking and rematches.

Once the closed beta begins everyone who signed up to test the Oculus Quest version will be able to join. “Community testers will have access to all of Echo VR, including the Tutorials, VS. AI, the Lobby, and Echo Arena. During this phase we are focused on testing crossplay between all existing Rift and Quest players,” states the blog post.

Lastly, the open beta will take place to welcome anyone interested in testing Echo VR before its official Oculus Quest launch. Unlike the recent Swords of Gargantua road map which has given specific seasonal windows for its updates, Ready at Dawn has been careful not to include any dates: “This means if testing goes well on one phase, we may immediately roll into another phase as soon as we are able, or we might stay a little longer in a phase to further evaluate feedback and address issues to ensure we make Echo VR as fun and comfortable for players on Rift and Quest,” the developer notes.

Echo VR

If you were lucky enough to bag an Oculus Quest before stocks ran out and want to participate in the testing then you can sign up here.

There are still no updates on Ready at Dawn’s other big project, single-player adventure Lone Echo II which is due for release this year.  VRFocus will continue its coverage of both videogames, reporting back with the latest updates.

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Registrations Open for Echo VR Closed Alpha on Oculus Quest

Oculus Quest owners will probably want to take a day off on 26th March as there’s going to be an influx of content arriving. Currently, The Room VR: A Dark Matter, Down The Rabbit Hole and B-Team are all scheduled to launch, plus Ready at Dawn is holding a little closed alpha for a multiplayer you may have heard of, Echo VR.

Echo VR

Echo VR is a team-based competitive experience split into two modes, Echo Arena and Echo Combat. The former is like a zero-g sports tournament where two teams of four face-off, scoring goals whilst boosting, gliding and punching opponents out the way. Echo Combat is a bit more violent in the fact that weapons are involved plus there’s a object teams have to attack/defend to win.

The title arrived for Oculus Rift back in 2017 and now progress is being made towards the Oculus Quest version which should hopefully arrive this year as they’re conducting community gameplay testing. For those interested in signing up head to Ready at Dawn’s registration page and submit your details. As the page notes there’s no guarantee you’ll be chosen as the studio will go through a selection process. Those that are will be added to a private Discord channel and sent an NDA to sign – which means no streaming, pictures or recording of any Echo VR community testing.

Echo VR’s Lead Designer Eric Hankins has confirmed that the Oculus Quest version will be cross-play compatible with Oculus Rift, which should markedly open up the multiplayer experience to more players. The Oculus Quest edition will also feature the same character customisation options although it’s unclear if they’ll be available in the closed beta.

Echo VR

Facebook hasn’t disappointed when it came to the Game Developers Showcase this week in lieu of the Game Developers Conference (GDC). The Oculus Quest has been the main attraction with new experimental features coming this month, details on how well the standalone headset is doing, as well as updates for videogames like Beat Saber and Pistol Whip. 

There’s still one more day to go so let’s wait and see what else Facebook has planned. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Echo VR On Oculus Quest To Get Closed Alpha Test March 26

Today, during the first-ever all-digital Facebook: Game Developers Showcase, Ready at Dawn announced that its upcoming Oculus Quest port of competitive zero-gravity disc game, Echo VR, will have a Closed Alpha test later this month on March 26th.

Echo Arena pits two small teams of players against one another in what’s basically a zero-gravity game of ultimate frisbee. The objective is to pass and throw the disc down the arena and through the goal to score a point. You can fling the disc as hard as you want, punch the other team to stun them, and get creative with bank shots around corners. It’s really a ton of fun.

When we tried out Echo VR on Oculus Quest back at Oculus Connect 6 (OC6) we noted that it was clearly an inferior version of the game, but all things considered it seemed to play and perform well. The limitations of the Quest’s four external tracking cameras are apparent when you start to reach behind your back a lot or generally hold the disc low, out of sight for the device.

As of now it seems like only the Echo Arena portion of Echo VR is making its way into the Quest port, but maybe we will get Echo Combat on Quest too sometime soon.

Echo VR on Quest still does not have a release date. It was originally slated for 2019 but was delayed into this year back in early November. Echo VR is already out for Oculus Rift headsets — and it’s excellent.

If you’re interested in joining and helping the developers test the game, you can fill out the form right here. Let us know if you plan on participating in the Closed Beta down in the comments below!

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‘Echo Arena’ for Oculus Quest Heads Into Closed Alpha Next Week

Echo VR has been available on the Rift platform for some time now, and it appears Quest users will be able to get their first taste of its zero-G team sport, ‘Echo Arena’, in a closed alpha soon.

Kicking off into closed alpha on March 26th, Echo VR for Quest is said to bring at least one half of the experience, namely the high-flying team sport Echo Arena.

There’s still no word on when ‘Echo Combat’, the VR team shooter, will come into the mix. Neither its developers Ready at Dawn, nor producers Oculus Studios have mentioned whether that will ever be the case.

It was however previously confirmed that Quest and Rift players of Echo VR will share the same lobby space and be able to queue for ‘Echo Arena’ matches together, although its a bit of a bummer when Rift players can spirit themselves away to what has turned out to be an extremely fun addition.

There’s no launch date in sight yet, although if you want to take part in the closed alpha, click here to register.

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