Sam Watts – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

September 5, 2018

New Speakers, New Panellists, New Games – Last Chance To Get Tickets For The Post Gamescom XR Review!

We are but a day away from our Post Gamescom XR Review, which is taking place in London this Thursday at The Realities Centre’s venue at Huckletree West. The review is, among all things, a chance for people to get together, try some virtual reality (VR) and discuss with those working with VR what they are doing and VR’s videogaming path coming out of Gamescom and all that happened there.

You can sign up here incidentally and get a ticket.

Huckletree West (1)[2] Of course you’re like as not aware of things already mentioned on the site which will be in attendence, but as with all events some things change so we have some changes to the card (as it were) to inform you of. The bad news is that Firesprite and their VR videogame The Persistence will no longer be able to attend which is a great shame. Don’t worry though as we’ve some new items to announce as well!

First up is confirmation of one of our talks for the event. Dave Raynard, the CEO of Dream Reality Interactive (DRI) will be talking to attendees about the life of a young development studio in The Terrible Twos: The DRI Story So Far.

“Dream Reality Interactive is two years old. DRI have had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects – and still be in business! In this talk, Dave will speak about their journey and reflect on what went well and where they could have improved.”

DRI will also be at the event showing of their VR title Arca’s Path VR of course, and Dave Raynard will also be contributing to the panel at the end of the evening.
Arca's Path keyArt

Also taking part in the panel will be Sam Watts of Brighton-based developer make[REAL], a familiar face to the VR talk circuit and to VRFocus readers with his recent developer diaries about the studio’s project Pastimes for Pirates. Watts will also be showing off the studio’s hit party game title Loco Dojo at the event. Attendees will be able to adventure into a whimsical world overseen by the mysterious Grand Sensei. Can you stand up to his ‘Table of Trials’?

LocoDojo Screenshot 3_RockyDesert One more member of the Post Gamescom panel has also been announced: Kish Hirani. The CTO of Terra Virtua, Hirani has undertaken roles at Acclaim, BBC Multimedia, THQ, Microsoft and at Sony as their Head of Developer Services, running the PlayStation developer technology services division. Hirani is also a former Chair of BAME in Games and a Board member of Women in Games, so will no doubt have much to say on VR’s direction as we begin to look past 2018 and into 2019.

Our final announcement for now is that we will also be joined on the day by Tara Reddy and Sam Weekes, the co-Founders of LoveShark. Who will be showing off their forthcoming augmented reality (AR) drawing-based videogame LaserDRAW. Look out for them on the day.

LaserDraw - Screenshot We’re still awaiting the confirmation of more developers and speakers so look out for more news. But before that act fast if you want to check out everything at the event tomorrow!

April 17, 2018

Pastimes For Pirates Developer Diary #2 – Navigating The Early Waters

In the first dev blog for VRFocus, we looked at the creation of the initial mobile virtual reality (VR) prototype and how this evolved into a full VR design, ready for pitching to publishers alongside the high-level design document and pitchdeck.

Following on from the high of XR Connects and the XR Indie Pitch 3rd place, we had lots of interest and positive initial discussions but getting a new game funded is never a straight-forward process. So, whilst the seas are calm and there’s less wind in the sails, we’ve been able to take the time to look at other areas of the game to ensure its appeal and success for launch.

Crow’s Nest View

VR games development in 2018 – especially the funding of – is not an easy task for a studio to secure. With many publishers and platforms looking to sign the next level of experiences against an ever-rising bar of quality and quantity of expected features for gamers.

Whilst the installed hardware ownership numbers are growing (although we still only really know the Sony PlayStation VR numbers) the overall market size is still small in comparison to standard PC and/or console hardware numbers, where publishers are much more experienced in releasing content.

A studio must be canny and have a considered design that meets the requirements of gamers keen to get their hands on deeper, longer experiences. Indies working on new IP are up against big brand names, such as Fallout 4, Skyrim, DOOM etc, potentially having a hard time to show and prove that they can create bigger budget content with a scalable team effectively. However, expected returns have to be realistic in terms of budgets and projected sales revenues.

Wind In The Sails

So, we’re focusing on the aspects that will make sure that Pastimes for Pirates is as attractive as possible to potential publishers, namely:

Multi-platform release to ensure largest potential cross-platform player base for multiplayer
Strong single player experience to ensure there is always a reason to return outside of multiplayer.

Based upon our experience and successes with Loco Dojo, ensuring that there is a reason or element of the gameplay that will make the game appealing to VR Arcade operators and the various VR Arcade admin platforms and content channels.

Strong launch content with a regular update plan, to ensure the game feels fresh and has reasons to be featured on the various digital stores, driving continued awareness and favourable positioning.

Plotting A Course

As discussions continue, we often tweak the pitchdeck accordingly so that as time moves on, the proposed game concept isn’t left behind or overtaken by advances made elsewhere. Whilst the core gameplay pillars are largely left untouched from our original intended idea, we must be mindful of areas around what the extended features and functionality need to be, how it fits within the marketplace and competitor analysis. Whilst we’re sure on what it offers that’s specifically the reason to be played in VR, each publisher and/or platform has their own unique emphasis on what model and demographics are important for them.

For example, there’s a popular wave of pirate-themed games at the moment, with many focusing on the more stereotypical activities – but with limited repeat play depth and no emphasis on life outside of the usual looting, swashbuckling and hunting treasure.

Of course, changes in scope can have adverse effects on timelines, budgets and development resources needed to achieve v1.0 (and beyond) so it’s a careful juggling act to ensure we remain within the thresholds.

A pitchdeck is only a small part of the tale however; the main concept has to be conveyed by the prototype, which we’ll look at in the next dev blog as we build upon the initial version towards a more representative vertical slice.

February 7, 2018

Pastimes For Pirates Developer Diary #1 – In The Beginning

One page is all it takes – in July 2017, during the Develop: Brighton conference, we met with a variety of virtual reality (VR) platform and hardware companies to discuss our thoughts about what our next videogame title should be. At the time, it was decided that a mobile VR title would be best fitting, to put the studio in a position of gaining invaluable experience designed and developing for mobile and standalone chipsets with the technology moving towards standalone, all-in-one VR headsets.

Pasttimes for Pirates Dev Diary #1 A number of one-page proposals were created by our Senior Designer Pete, who joined the Make Real team to create the early prototype for what became Loco Dojo, into a full title in late 2016 through to its release in April 2017. One particular idea struck a chord with the team and ultimately, VR platform holders who encouraged us to flesh it out into a larger concept pitch document.

With continued positive noises, we developed the one-pager into an early mobile VR videogame prototype, incorporating some key mechanisms to showcase the core concept and use of mobile input devices. After the initial review, whilst the feedback was good, we continued to tweak the prototype incorporating suggestions to bolster the desire for funding.

Not Enough DoF

At this stage, being a mobile VR focused title, the title was set around one particular skill-based game and theme, the then working title “Darrrts” should make it clear what that was. However, even after further tweaking and honing of the potential skill mastery and character progression, we felt that the 3DoF input available with current mobile VR devices was holding back the true potential of the title. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, those who we were showing the early prototype to agreed and so we set out to expand the videogame mechanics and scope by moving over to a full, 6DoF VR experience.

Pasttimes for Pirates Dev Diary #1 Suddenly we were freed of the input limitations in relation to what we wanted to achieve and a creative burst of ideas waiting in Pete’s head were unleashed, meaning that we went from a simple, single idea to a much larger, social VR title with much more breadth to consider. Of course this meant that the necessary budget required to be able to deliver the idea increased along with the scope, something that those initially interested weren’t willing to continue to support.

New Funding Ventures

Undeterred, we started to look at other avenues of funding for development and reached out to other publishers and platforms we knew were keenly and aggressively pushing VR videogames that didn’t necessarily have the big brand IP behind them but still offered something new and unique with tight, core gameplay loops and aspirations.

In 2017 we’ve seen some funding options dry-up or require much more analysis or consideration, backed up by sales market metrics and analyst projections, compared to the earlier care-free, caution to the wind approach taken before. This is only natural and to be expected with a slowly maturing market (which is also growing at a slower pace than previously predicted) making some publishers more risk adverse and keen to capitalise on themes and genres that are deemed popular with VR gamers.

XR Indie Pitch

In order to meet new potential funding partners, the Make Real team applied to be considered for XRConnects London 2018, to be selected for the XR Indie Pitch event running on the second day. We also registered for the Speed Match and Pitch & Match systems running alongside the event to widen our opportunities to meet publishers and VR platform holders attending.

Armed with a lovingly written pitchdeck for Pastimes for Pirates, the 3DoF mobile VR prototype was showcased to select attendees for invaluable feedback, as well as the XR Indie Pitch judges and those who had arranged meetings throughout the event. Whilst the meetings were positive, it’s still at an early stage in the process of getting a title funded and so, the outcomes of which will have to wait until another developer diary in the future.

To our surprise we were selected as 3^rd place for the XR Indie Pitch, winning $1,000 credit on the Steel Media website network to use at a time more suitable around release. Up against 18 (?) other really strong, more complete VR videogames and experiences, it was a real boost to the team morale to be selected on the back of a placeholder art in an admittedly fairly rough prototype. Massive congratulations to our expo neighbours Shuttershade Studios for taking 1^st prize (we really wanted the baseball bat for getting out of Moorgate across London during rush hour) and Groundrunner Trials for their 2^nd place – well deserved winners all.

Pasttimes for Pirates Dev Diary #1 So now we have validated our idea on paper and in prototype, and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback and noises around our intentions of what we plan to achieve with the full project. We’re positive that the next stages will be successful but we certainly aren’t holding our collective breath. Being veterans of the videogame industry, having worked on both the development and publishing sides, we know how many titles struggle to get funding at all, and even those that do have a high likelihood of being cancelled before seeing the light of day. Now we have to get our heads down into the serious business development process of negotiating contracts, budgets and development timelines, or at least will do once we settle on a publishing partner. Hopefully this will be covered in some detail within the next developer diary, due in a couple of months. Until then, keep your fingers crossed for us!

You can view an interview with Sam Watts discussing Pastimes for Pirates further here.