Category: Robo Recall Mod Kit

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Robo Recall Gets Locomotion Mod From 3dRudder

How to move in a natural way continues to be a hot topic within virtual reality (VR) mainly because moving about at speed is a big factor in many cases of sim sickness. There are a number of different movement methods that are being used in the current crop of VR videogame titles, including various forms of teleportation. I.e. moving via clicking from place to place either freely or via hotspots.

Critics say of these methods that they are an immediate barrier to the immersion of a title, one company that is such a critic is VR controller firm 3dRudder who have announced a new mod today called the Locomotion3dRudder Mod tailored specifically for use with Epic Games latest game, VR FPS Robo Recall that aims to bring intuitive motion control and banish what it calls the “immersion killer” of teleportation.

The 3dRudder itself is a controller platform with which you use your feet, that aims to bring 360 degree movement to VR environments with an eye not only on games but on use as a tool for designers and similar professionals; with recent developments including a wireless version of the controller which was revealed at CES earlier this year. Players tackle games in a seated position using their feet to push and shift their weight across the raised platform to move forward, backwards, sideways or even turn around. The idea being that your feat, naturally will know where you want to go, thus freeing up hand movements for more important things – like shooting enemies and grabbing loot. The team have released a video (shown below) which demonstrates the 3dRudder and mod in action with Robo Recall.

Robo Recall, of course, is the Unreal Engine powered action-packed shooter for Oculus Rift and Touch, developed as a follow-up/spiritual sequel to Epic Games earlier VR shooter Bullet Train. In a recent review in which VRFocus awarded a rare five star rating, it was stated that: “Robo Recall elicits such a high standard that future FPS titles will be measured by it, and should be considered a killer app for Oculus Touch.”

Robo_Recall_OC3_A4_screenshot_02 (1)

The mod, which was developed by the 3dRudder team itself can be found here, along with instructions for installation. Whilst the 3dRudder controller can be purchased online for $179 (USD) or 179€ (EUR) at 3drudder.com.

Robo Recall itself was released with its full source code available to mod, Epic Games allowing us to share an in-depth ‘how to’ guide with you on Robo Recall and the development team earlier this month revealed three official mod packs for the videogame.

VRFocus will bring you more information about the developments with both Robo Recall and 3dRudder as we are able. Be sure to follow us on social media for more news.

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Epic Games Release 3 Official Mod Packs for Robo Recall, Includes New Level

If you missed the big news last week, Epic Games, the creators of Gears of War and Unreal Engine, launch its first fully fledged virtual reality (VR) title Robo Recall. The successor to tech demo Bullet Train, Oculus Touch owners get to play the videogame for free, and now the studio has expanded the experience further with three official mod packs.

Mods are a way for users to change and tweak the title, adding weapons, abilities, levels or whatever they wish depending on their talents. To get people started – especially if you’ve never modded before – Epic Games has released a new character model: Paragon’s Kallari & Twinblast Pack, a new level: Unreal Tournament’s DM-Chill Map, and new weapons: Melee Weapons from Fortnite, all based off the studio’s other IP’s. As an added bonus the dev states in a forum post: “These ship uncooked with the latest robo recall mod kit so modders can learn how to mod.”

Robo Recall screenshot

Robo Recall has supported modding right from launch, and for those new to creating their own mods VRFocus has created a ‘How to’ guide on installing the kit.

The videogame has been met with general praise form the VR community, VRFocus awarded the title a maximum 5 Stars in our review, saying: “Robo Recall elicits such a high standard that future FPS titles will be measured by it, and should be considered a killer app for Oculus Touch.”

Epic Games will likely be releasing further mods and keep an eye out for user generated content to expand Robo Recall even further.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Epic Games and Robo Recall, reporting back with any further updates.

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How to Create & Share Mods in Robo Recall for Oculus Rift & Touch

A game is a game is a game, in the case of Epic Games’ action-packed virtual reality (VR) first-person shooter (FPS) Robo Recall it’s a very good one, achieving a full five stars from VRFocus in our review. However there are times when the user can expand the game and come up with new concepts, new levels that take the videogame one step further. Mods bring an extra string of creativity to a game’s bow, fresh content and fresh ideas from a new perspective. Epic Games has included mod compatibility with Robo Recall at launch and will be supporting user-created content through the Robo Recall Mod Kit, in a  similar situation to what happened with ARK: Survival Evolved and the ARK Mod Kit or with NVIDIA’s kit for VR Funhouse.

The Robo Recall Mod Kit is complete with Robo Recall’s full gaming source code, available with C++ source through UnrealEngine.com. So how do you go about actually creating a mod? And when that is done how do you share it for other users to try? Helpfully there is a guide written by the team that we’re luckily able to share with you here as well.  This is a multi-step plan so be sure you’ve got everything you’re going to need before you start.

1. Install the Robo Recall Mod Kit

  • Sign up for an Epic ID

    The first step is always seemingly the most obvious, but if you do you have an Epic ID yet it is something that you will need to acquire. After which you can move on, and…

  • Download and install the Epic Games Launcher

  • Click Install to download Robo Recall Mod Kit from the Launcher.

    Here’s where you can expect to play something of a waiting game as the Editor isn’t exactly on the light side, clocking in at over 20GB. So if you don’t have that space spare you’ll have to clear some space or do some creative shifting around of titles to make room on your system. The Unreal Engine team actually recommend you spend the time checking out additional help documentation on the use of Blueprints, and the basics of designing levels if you are unfamiliar.

Robo Recall Mod Kit 1

  • Then once that is completed, launch the Robo Recall Editor

    It’s time to get things underway properly…

Robo Recall Mod Kit 2

2. Create A New Mod

So now that you have the Editor installed and open, it’s time to begin!

  • Then once that is completed, launch the Robo Recall Editor

    The first step is always seemingly the most obvious, but if you do you have an Epic ID yet it is something that you will need to acquire. After which you can move on, and…

  • Select the type of mod you wish to create.

select_type

  • Enter a new mod name, ‘CeramicGuns’ in this demonstration.

mod_name

  • Fill out the other fields…

You can also take the opportunity to fill out the Author and Description fields to put your personal stamp on things. This will be shown in the game’s Mod menu. If you change your mind, you can change this later by accessing your mod through the Editor’s Edit -> Plugins menu.

mod_info

    • Click the Create Mod button to generate your mod files.

    • Wait for the mod to be generated.

The Robo Recall Editor will create your new mod structure, a popup tells you when it has completed.

  • Your new mod is automatically focused in the Content Browser.

mod_content

  • Locate the Blueprints

You can then double click the Blueprints folder, then the Weapons folder to find your weapon Blueprints.

mod_blueprints

With your new mod structure setup you can now start creating your mod. Now, just because you started with one mod type doesn’t limit you to just modifying the couple of assets you’ll find in your mod’s Content Folder. You can modify any number of assets from Robo Recall and have them exist in one mod.

Just remember, that any new assets you import need to go into your mod’s Content Folder. If you put them elsewhere, they will fail to package when asked.

3. Add a New Weapon Material

Next is time to create a material asset to apply to weapons, continuing with the demo this will be giving the weapon a ceramic finish.

  • Create a new folder.

Right-click in the Content Browser and choose New Folder to create a new folder in your mod’s content directory. Name the folder Materials.

new_folder

  • Double-click the Materials folder to open it and click the Add New button to add a new Material asset. Name the Material Mat_Ceramic.

    new_material.png

  • Double-click the Mat_Ceramic Material to edit it in the Material Editor .

    mat_edit.png

  • Drag a Constant3Vector expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Base Color input on the Material node.

    mat_base.png

  • Double-click the black color preview on the expression to open the Color Picker . Set the R, G, and B values to 0.02 to give the surface just a tiny bit of color.

    mat_base_color.png

  • Drag a Constant expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Metallic input on the Material node. Leave the value of the expression at 0. This will make the material have no metallic characteristics in its appearance.

    mat_metallic.png

  • Drag a Constant expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Base Color input on the Material node. Leave the value of the expression at 0. This will cause the material to appear extremely shiny.

    mat_rough.png

  • Click the Apply button to save the changes to the Mat_Ceramic Material.

    mat_apply.png

Result

The Preview panel shows a dark, shiny surface that looks like ceramic. In the next step, you will apply this Material to your modded weapons to give them a ceramic appearance.

mat_preview.png

4. Apply the Weapon Material

It’s time to apply your ceramic Material to your weapons so they look ceramic instead of metallic.

  • Double-click one of your weapon Blueprints in the Content Browser to edit it in the Blueprint Editor .

    weapon_edit.png

  • Select the WeapMesh Component in the Components panel.

    mesh_select.png

  • Back in the Content Browser, select the Mat_Ceramic Material.

  • In the Details panel, find the Materials category and click the Use Selected Asset from Content BRowser button to apply the Mat_Ceramic Material to the weapon mesh.

    mat_assign.png

  • Click the Compile button in the Blueprint Editor toolbar to update the Blueprint with the changes.

    weapon_compile.png

  • Click the Save button in the Blueprint Editor toolbar to save the weapon asset.

    weapon_save.png

  • Repeat these steps for the other weapon Blueprints in your mod to make them all ceramic.

The Preview panel will show the ceramic weapon.

weapon_ceramic.png

5. Test Your Mod

Time to make sure the mod is working as intended by enabling it in the game and shooting some targets.

  • In the Level Editor toolbar, click the Play button to launch into the Hub.

    mod_play.png

  • Teleport to the holostation to open up the menu and select MODS.

    menu_mods.png

  • In the Mods menu, find your Ceramic Guns mod and select it.

    menu_mod_select.png menu_mod_enabled.png

  • Select the option GUN RANGE from the main menu.

    menu_gun_range.png

  • Your ceramic guns are now available to be equipped.

    gun_select.png

And with that done it’s time to shoot some targets with your new ceramic weapons!

gun_ceramic.png

 

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Robo Recall Now Available for Free, Includes Full Source Mod

Epic Games’ Robo Recall has been one of the most highly anticipated virtual reality (VR) videogames since its debut at Oculus Connect 3, San Jose, in October last year. Today, the company has launched the full version of the videogame exclusively for Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch compatibility, available to download now for free via the Oculus Store.

Robo_Recall_OC3_A4_screenshot_05

In addition to a fully featured videogame experience, Epic Games has included mod compatibility with the title at launch. Robo Recall will support user-created content through the distribution of a complete non-commercial Robo Recall Mod Kit with full videogame source code. This will be available with C++ source through UnrealEngine.com with mod kit downloads managed by the Epic Games launcher, similar to that of the ARK Mod Kit and NVIDIA VR Funhouse Mod Kit.

According to Epic Games, “The mod toolkit will contain samples and link to tutorials demonstrating the creation of new guns, new enemies and new maps. Modders will be able to package their mods into .robo files that can be shared via hyperlinks (e.g. via forums supporting file attachments, Dropbox, or file sharing).”

Those who download the Robo Recall Mod Kit will gain access to the Robo Recall development team’s original assets and full source code to extend and build upon or recreate from scratch. They’ll be able to take any enemy, gun or level in Robo Recall and make their own version of it for others to experience. Furthermore, any combination of mods can be loaded at any one time.

Robo Recall screenshot

As an example of what can be created, Epic Games is also releasing a selection of the company’s own in-house mod packs, including a Fortnite Weapons Pack available from today.

Robo Recall is available to download via the Oculus Store now, for free. VRFocus has of course prepared a detailed review of Robo Recall, which will be available for your reading pleasure very soon.