Das Entwicklerstudio D3 Publisher hatte die VR-Liebes- und Vermieter-Simulation Happy Manager bereits im Jahr 2016 angekündigt, jedoch verzögerte sich die Veröffentlichung bereits mehrmals – wie jetzt auch. Hinzu kommt eine weitere unschöne Nachrichten zum PS4-Titel, denn der geplante PSVR-Support fällt beim geplanten Start im März 2018 weg. Diesem wollen die Entwickler jedoch in einem späteren Update nachgereicht werden.
Happy Manager – Kein PSVR-Support zur Veröffentlichung
Im ursprünglich für PlayStation VR (PSVR) geplanten Titel Happy Manager von D3 Publisher dürft ihr auf Wunsch eurer Tante den Vermieter spielen und das Apartment Happy Manor führen. Dort gibt es auch eine Wohngemeinschaft mit drei Mädchen: Shizuka Sakurai, Barbara Christine Tchibana und Himari Takeuchi. Zu euren Tätigkeiten zählen also nicht die typischen Pflichten eines Vermieters, sondern ihr müsst auch den Mädchen Gesellschaft leisten. Damit dabei keine Langeweile aufkommt, stehen diverse Unterhaltungsräume zur Verfügung. So könnt ihr beispielsweise in einem Schwimmbad gemeinsame Zeit verbringen oder im Sportraum zusammen schwitzen.
Jetzt verkündeten die Entwickler, dass der geplante PSVR-Support vorerst aufgrund diverser, nicht näher spezifizierten Umständen flach fällt. Daher wird die Liebessimulation zunächst nur für PlayStation 4 spielbar sein. Jedoch verspricht das Studio D3 Publisher, dass die VR-Unterstützung mit einem späteren Update nach der Veröffentlichung nachgereicht wird. Außerdem verschiebt sich der Verkaufsstart von Januar 2018 auf den 29. März nächsten Jahres.
In Japan gibt es die Möglichkeit, den PS4-Exklusivtitel vorzubestellen. Die dadurch erhältliche Day One-Edition enthält zusätzliche Sommerkleider sowie eine Schuluniform in verschiedenen Farben für die Mädchen.
Happy Manager soll für PlayStation 4 vorerst lediglich im asiatischen Raum erscheinen. Wann der angekündigte PSVR-Support kommt und ob es jemals zu einer Veröffentlichung im Westen kommt, steht derzeit noch nicht fest. Wir werden euch über Neuigkeiten auf dem Laufenden halten.
[Update] Für Cocktail-Fans steht seit einiger Zeit Bartender für PC-Brillen zur Verfügung. Der VR-Titel hat inzwischen den Early Access verlassen und steht seit dem Wochenende als Full Release zur Verfügung. Neben einem Leaderboard haben die Entwickler dem Titel inzwischen einen „Free Mode“ spendiert, bei dem man nach Lust und Laune Ingredienzien zusammenschütteln darf. Zudem gibt es ein Dutzend neue Drinks. Der Preis hat sich wie angekündigt durch den Full Release nicht geändert, Bartender lässt sich für knapp 20 Euro auf Steam erwerben.
Originalmeldung vom 23. Oktober 2017:
Lust auf Cocktails? Das Entwicklerstudio VR Factory hat ihren Bartender VR Simulator für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive auf Steam veröffentlicht. Wie der Name es schon andeutet, schlüpft ihr in der Simulation in die Rolle eines Barkeepers und könnt in virtuellen Bars diverse Cocktails und Getränke mixen.
Bartender VR Simulator: Werdet zum virtuellen Barkeeper
In Bartender VR Simulator von VR Factory dürft ihr euch hinter einer virtuellen Theke austoben und diverse Cocktails und Getränke für eure Gäste mixen. Das Spiel bietet euch vier weltweit verteilte Bars. Diese reichen vom Club über eine Strandbar bis hin zu einer hochklassigen Theke innerhalb eines Wolkenkratzers. Während eueres virtuellen Arbeitsleben verbessern sich eure Fähigkeiten und euer Wissen um die diversen Drinks im Spiel wie auch im echten Leben.
Damit auch der Langzeitspaß gefördert wird, erhaltet ihr für das schnelle Herstellen der Drinks Bonuspunkte. Auch die Anforderungen wachsen, denn die Gäste fordern im weiteren Spielverlauf komplexere Cocktails mit komplizierteren Rezepten. Zudem könnt ihr durch Entertainment eurer Gäste während des Mixens der Drinks den Highscore nach oben jagen. Durch geschickte Würfe des Mixers oder durch das Jonglieren der Gläser und Zutaten erfreut ihr das Publikum und erhaltet ein größeres Trinkgeld.
Größtmögliche Immersion durch Zusammenarbeit mit einem Profi
Zur verbesserten Immersion und einem realen Gefühl wurde zur Entwicklung des VR-Titels der polnische Barkeeper-Flair-Weltmeister Tomek Malekhinzugezogen. Die Entwickler sagen zu Bartender VR Simulator: „Eines unserer Hauptziele war von Anfang an das volle Potenzial der VR-Technologie zu nutzen. Dadurch wollten wir ein reales Barkeeper-Gefühl vermitteln, das den echten Regeln hinter einer Theke folgt. Um dies umzusetzen, nutzten wir die Expertise von Tomek Malek, einem Barkeeper-Weltmeister. Er half uns dabei, ein komplexes Simulationssystem mit der Integration von NVIDIAs Flex-Technologie zu erschaffen. Dadurch konnten wir die Flüssigkeiten fast realistisch nachstellen. Jede Flüssigkeit besitzt seine komplett eigene Dynamik, so wie es auch im realen Beruf des Barkeepers ist.“
Der Simulator ist noch im Early Access, sei aber laut VR Factory zu 95 Prozent fertiggestellt. Deshalb werde sich auch der Preis der fertigen Version nicht ändern. Warten müssen virtuelle Barkeeper noch auf das Leaderboard, wofür die Entwickler erst einmal Spieldaten auswerten wollen. Wer den kompletten Barkeeper-Kurs durchläuft, erhält übrigens ein (ebenfalls virtuelles) Zertifikat. Bartender ist nicht die einzige Barkeeper-Simulation auf Steam, sondern tritt gegen die günstigeren VR-Titel VRTender und Flairtender an
Bartender VR Simulator ist für 19,99 Euro für [amazon_textlink asin=’B073X8N1YW’ text=’Oculus Rift’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’vrne-21′ marketplace=’DE’ link_id=’e315c9d3-b7e1-11e7-a3db-49bd8d20c7a1′] und [amazon_textlink asin=’B01GG2FMV2′ text=’HTC Vive’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’vrne-21′ marketplace=’DE’ link_id=’ea4822aa-b7e1-11e7-a983-196c80a4bc3c’] auf SteamVR erhältlich.
Die Immersion zu steigern ist ein erklärtes Ziel von VR. Für Arcade-Hallen hatten wir das AOES-System vorgestellt, das Spielern Hitze, Kälte und Wind spüren lassen soll. Für den Heimbereich tritt nun das System Vortex mit einer Kickstarter-Kampagne an, das Spielern ebenfalls Kälte- und Hitzeschauer ins Gesicht blasen will. Mit 120 US-Dollar ist Vortex vergleichsweise günstig.
Vortex: Hitzewellen und Kälteschauer für VR- und PC-Spieler
Auf den ersten Blick sieht Vortx aus wie ein kleiner Lautsprecher. In Wirklichkeit soll die schwarze Box dem PC-Spieler je nach Spielsituation warme oder heiße Luft ins Gesicht pusten – beim Spielen oder Videoschauen verheizt Vortx 150 Watt, die Hitzewelle 400 Watt. Mit dem System soll man laut dem Entwickler Whirlwind FX beispielsweise den Feueratem eines Drachen spüren oder den eisigen Hauch in einer Winterlandschaft. Der reguläre Kickstarter-Preis liegt bei 120 US-Dollar, was vergleichsweise günstig wäre.
Extra Survival-Pack für Skeptiker
Noch billiger geht es aber mit einem Vortx Mini Survival Pack, das die Macher extra für die Skeptiker an der Kampagne gebündelt haben. Da manche behaupten, die Vortx wäre ja nichts anderes als ein kleiner Ventilator und ein Heizlüfter, bekommen diese einen USB-Mini-Ventilator, einen Hand-Wärmer, Sticker und ein T-Shirt zum Preis von 25 Dollar. So ganz von der Hand zu weisen ist die Kritik nicht, denn tatsächlich kühlt das System nicht, sondern erzeugt durch ventilierten Wind ein kaltes Gefühl auf dem Gesicht. Angeschlossen wird die Box an den PC über einen normalen USB-B-Anschluss. Außerdem soll es nach dem Launch die Unterstützung eines Dual-Setups geben, um die Wirkung zu verstärken und vielleicht auch noch feiner steuern zu können.
Vortx – System mit Pferdefüßen
Ob am Ende die Vortx tatsächlich so immersiv funktioniert, wie von Whirlwind FX dargestellt, und nicht einfach eine windige Konstruktion ist, bleibt abzuwarten. Die vor einer Woche gestartete Kampagne hat noch 41 Tage Zeit, das Finanzierungsziel von 60.000 Dollar zusammenzukratzen. Bisher liegen das Start-up noch unter einem Drittel der Finanzierungssume. Aber auch wenn das Projekt klappen sollte, müssen Anwendungen das System dann unterstützen. Und durch die Konstruktion ist klar, dass es zumindest für die virtuelle Realität noch einen weiteren dicken Pferdefuß gibt. Da die Box anders als das AOES-System seine Ausrichtung nicht ändern kann, bleibt nur eine Seated-VR-Erfahrung als Nutzungsszenario übrig. Wodurch ein Teil der möglichen Immersion wieder flöten geht.
It is as if you were doing work is a game that brings back the joy of clicking buttons, waiting for progress bars, and checking boxes. This way, work never has to end just because the shift ended.
The Digital Trends cars team test-drove Project CARS 2 under the best conditions possible to see just how close racing simulators can get to the real thing.
No trip to Japan is complete without a visit to an arcade. Inside one of Tokyo’s multi-story shrines to gaming you’ll find fighting games that won’t release elsewhere for years, music rhythm games that take hundreds of hours to master, and, uh, train simulators.
You might scoff, but I’ve always been fascinated by the simulation scene (the genuine one, not the one about goats), especially with these giant cabinets, riddled with buttons and switches that I’ll never be entirely sure what are for. There’s something very satisfying about them; a dedication to providing the real experience of something that many people wouldn’t find all that fun. There’s also the allure of exclusivity; you couldn’t possibly ever hope to have one of these in your home.
That is, of course, unless you have a VR headset.
Derail Valley is a game that made me feel like I was sitting back in front of one of those machines, curiously poking at buttons and flicking at switches. It’s not quite the same experience; rather than running a busy line running from city to city, you’re instead shifting cargo in a peaceful countryside, but the same feeling of finding your feet and gradually getting to know the control panel is alive and well here. It just comes with the bonus of feeling like you’re actually in a train which is, y’know, amazing.
A demo for this new game from Altfuture is available now, and it’s coming to Early Access soon. You probably already know if this is your kind of thing or not but, for what it’s worth, I definitely think you should check it out.
Your space in the front of the train fits your room scale specifications. There you’ll have everything you need to get the wheels moving, switch tracks, and couple up carriages. There are also some clipboards to the side to tell you what does what. It’s a brilliantly non-intrusive way of getting you to grips with the game; once you know how to operate the train you won’t have any UI invasions other than a slight visual representation of your controllers. It gives you the sense that this is a game that expects you to know every inch of the control panel, and the intricacies to knowing where and when to use a particular function.
You’ll have to enjoy getting to used to these controls with finesse if you’re going to enjoy Derail Valley as it’s meant to be played. While simply driving the train across a peaceful countryside scene is refreshing, the real game is in the precise, calculated movements you’ll have to make in order to get the ride carriages in the right order.
That requires moving out ahead of a set of junctions, stopping, adjusting the tracks to take you where you can to go, slowly reversing into a carriage you don’t need, pulling it out, switching tracks again, placing it out of the way, then returning and grabbing the one you do need. If that sounds tedious to you then, well, you’ll probably find it tedious, but if you revel in the slight, in the knowing precisely when to apply the breaks and how fast you need to go, then you might get a lot of joy out of Derail Valley.
All that said, there’s also fun to be had in anarchy here. Pushing the train to maximum speed is a thrill, and one that will likely send you spinning off of the tracks. That’s kind of uncomfortable in VR (the train actually topples over), but there’s a hilarious air to the disaster.
What I really like about Derail Valley is how it virtualizes a genre that previously depended on elaborate hardware to play. Oddly enough, it kind of makes me want a new Steel Battalion game too, now that VR can replicate that fantastically busy controller that confined it to obscurity.
The Steam page for the game makes it sound like there’s plenty to come. Taking aspects like weather and track conditions into consideration could make the game an even more methodical experience. I’d definitely like to see the graphics pick up too; there was a lot of pop-in with the build available now, but there’s a ways to go yet.
You may not have first thought of submarine simulations when you theorized about the prospects for multiplayer virtual reality games. You probably thought about space-based flight, first-person shooters, and exploration-based puzzle games like the majority of our new industry. When you watch the trailer below though, it all makes sense.
In actuality, manning a submarine deep below the ocean’s surface feels about as applicable of a brave new frontier as the deep black sea of stars above our heads.
Atlantic Ghost is a currently in-development submarine simulation game that puts you and a crew of comrades into a submarine tasking you with controlling it and completing missions in a realistic simulation environment. We first got wind of the game when one of the creators, Karel Airapetjan, posted a brief gameplay video on Reddit. Naturally, we reached out to get more information.
“Back in 2008 I suddenly discovered that I liked submarine simulations,” Airapetjan explained over email. “Sadly there was no VR industry back then. Fast forward to August 2012 when the Oculus Kickstarter was announced and my first thought was that I wanted to build a virtual submarine for this and I pledged for the headset on the very first day. So as soon as we got our development kit we started to build a German TypeVII U-boat. At first it was going to be a single player only game with a short narrative…but everyone in the VR industry knows how fast things are changing. In 2014 we were lucky enough to get a tour of the Valve offices. We had a chance to try out their VR roomscale prototype and after coming out of that room we suddenly knew the direction that we wanted to take our game.”
A year later in 2015, the team got the chance to try the Oculus Toybox demo for an early taste of the prospects of social multiplayer VR and the concept for Atlantic Ghost started taking shape more clearly.
“Suddenly it all made perfect sense, working together as a team in a submarine,” Airapetjan said. “To this day I wonder why we did not think about this sooner.”
It’s not just strictly about multiplayer though, even if that is where the most enlightening experiences will likely happen. There is going to be a short story mode in single player still, including narrative explanations for the holographic ghosts you see in the screenshots and video that are alluded to in the title. The multiplayer experiences will be loosely tied to that story. You could even play the multiplayer segments alone if you wanted, but good luck managing an entire submarine alone by yourself. Dividing tasks and assigning duties is key to survival — similar to the gameplay flow of Star Trek: Bridge Crew.
“Before Bridge Crew was announced I was sitting on YouTube for hours and looked how people are playing Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator,” Airapetjan said. “I was fascinated by how the entire social aspect molded the gameplay experience. How different people and their body language affected the entire gameplay loop. The only problem was that to play this game you required all this equipment and people had to be in the same physical location. Thanks to VR, anyone can play these types of games in their home.”
Currently, the plan is to include only one single submarine: The Type VII. Despite the lack of diversity though, Airapetjan explains that the actual submarine is planned to be replicated with as close to 1:1 accuracy as possible. This is geared towards being a true simulation in VR, not just a gamified submarine combat experience — with some modern or “futuristic” as it were alterations for ease of gameplay.
“One good example is attacking the enemy ship,” Airapetjan elaborates. “We have a torpedo calculator but there is no good way to get readings from periscope in the game at the moment due to the low resolution of VR headsets. Mast height and bearing is hard to tell if you are looking trough a small hole on a texture that is rendered on a lower resolution through the HMD. So we do have some automated processes that help players out in this regard.”
In regards to actual game objectives, when playing in multiplayer the goal is to “sink as much tonnage as possible”. Elements such as the weather, time of day, convoy routes, and sub protections will be randomized each time you play. If those sound like superficial or cosmetic differences, they aren’t.
“Every element will affect the gameplay differently a bit,” Airapetjan said. “It is super hard to calculate torpedo attack in rough seas but it also makes your escape a bit easier since enemy sonars are receiving a messier signal and have to rely on bigger guesswork.”
Another big part of these types of simulation games is the prevalence of failure. Difficulty has to be high enough that you won’t win every time, but low enough that when you finally do succeed you feel like you earned it. In other words, they want to ensure that failure is still fun.
“We are trying to create a gameplay loop that contains three crucial elements: 1) Find and intercept convoy, 2) Plot your attack, 3) Evade enemy depth charges and escape. All these elements require communication and teamwork. You are free to do everything alone but having good companions makes everything so much more fun.”
A typical multiplayer session is expected to last 1-2 hours, so this won’t be a casual pick up and play experience by any means. That is unless you’re terrible, your captain makes bad calls, and you’re dead in under 30 minutes. That’s totally possible and perhaps likely at first.
None of the roles are locked down as gameplay elements like they are in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, anyone can do everything so it’s all about actual verbal communication and teamwork. This allows players to switch roles on the fly as a situation evolves.
Atlantic Ghost is currently in development for the HTC Vive as the primary target, but they hope to officially support the Oculus Rift and Touch as well. The only stipulation is that it requires constant 360-degree turning and quick movement, making it a challenge for non-360 setups.
The team is currently only three people right now, but they’ve been dabbling in VR creation ever since they got their DK1 and made “tons bad demos” to learn. No date is set yet, but it will be releasing a private testing session first, followed by Early Access on Steam, then a full release after that.
Drums are cool. Everyone knows it. When you were a kid playing in a rock band with your friends the two hottest spots were lead guitar and drums. And then, when you were playing Rock Band as a teenager or adult, that plastic kit made you feel both talented and grateful that you weren’t stuck on bass like Johnny (seriously you only have like three notes to play how do you keep messing us up?)
The problem with living out that rock star fantasy in real life, however, is that drum kits are bulky, expensive and even louder than your neighbor’s newborn. This makes drum ownership a non-starter for most of us, but a new VR application is on the way that could bring a highly realistic drumming experience right into your living room.
The name of this VR drum app is Paradiddle and it is the solo creation of the young musician shown above. His name is Emre Tanirgan and he says he created Paradiddle out of a desire for a cheap, space-efficient drumming solution.
“I love drumming, but I’ve always found it to be a somewhat inconvenient hobby, especially if you live in a small apartment in a city,” Tanirgan said. “Good drum sets take up a lot of space, are expensive, and noise is a problem if you want a non-electronic set. I started developing Paradiddle as I was about to move to a different city. I was no longer going to have easy access to a drum set to practice, so I figured I could try and make my own set in VR.”
According to him, what sets Paradiddle apart from other VR music applications is its realism and dynamic responses:
“I’ve yet to try out another realistic/responsive enough drumming application in VR, and this is why I started developing Paradiddle in the first place. In Paradiddle, you almost never end up getting the same sound from a drum twice in a row – the drum will sound different based on certain parameters, such as how hard you hit it, or where on the drum you hit.
…Here are the current capabilities of Paradiddle. The app allows the user to set up their own drum kit in VR by letting them drag in as many of the 9 different types of drums currently available into the scene. Users can freely position, scale and rotate the drums to customize the drum kit to their own liking, and then play on them using the two controllers. It’s also possible to save drum setups to file, so users can load back their favorite kits without having to set them up all over again.”
Tanirgan built Paradiddle to support the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift with Touch controllers. Tanirgan is already working to include more new features including “more types of drums, real-time MIDI communication with virtual studio technologies (VSTs), exporting note sheets from recordings done within the app, support for other peripherals like pedals.”
Paradiddle also received funding from Oculus as part of its Launch Pad scholarship program for emerging VR developers. Tanirgan says he is putting that money to work on art asset creation.
There will be a complete visual overhaul completed for the app’s eventual launch on the Oculus Store and Steam Early Access. Tanirgan is planning for that “in the next 2-3 months.”
If you’re interested in the prospect of drumming in VR there are a number of other apps already that you can look into as well, such as DrumKit VR and Garage Drummer.
Home run! Great hit! Awesome swing! These are words that I never heard during my short lived little league baseball career. However, if I had been able to access Trinity VR’s technology at the time, perhaps I would have.
Trinity VR is an ambitious new virtual reality company behind DiamondFX — an experience that combines the immersive power of the HTC Vive with the unending statistics of Major League Baseball. The result is a virtual pitching machine that can throw Justin Verlander’s fastball or Clayton Kershaw’s curve. I had the chance to try DiamondFX at the Upload offices in San Francisco and the results were that I struck out…a lot.
If you’ve ever wanted to know how difficult it is to hit a 90 mph fastball the answer is: very. DiamondFX uses an actual, wooden, regulation MLB bat with a jerry-rigged Vive controller on the handle to determine your position in the digital ballpark it has created. The software behind the experience then crunches a herculean amount of statistical information to create a pitcher that throws just like the professional pitcher of your choice. I chose Verlander and soon recognized the gravity of my mistake.
The digital ball whisked by me at lightning speeds without me laying so much as a grain of wood on the cowhide. I struck out again and again only to be eventually informed that the app wasn’t even set to true “professional” settings during my run. My handlers flipped that switch and then I could hardly even see the ball I was trying to hit. Professional baseball, it seems, will not be a part of my life story.
But DiamondFX may indeed be part of the story for a number of MLB franchises. According to Rahat Ahmed, co-founder and chief strategy officer for Trinity VR:
“We’re in discussions with a few MLB teams at the moment as we are actively looking for developmental partners. We know there’s still a lot to do, but we believe DiamondFX has the capability of being the next generation of Moneyball: Our goal isn’t just to help you fix your swing but to help teams draft better, sign free agents more intelligently and engage with fans more effectively. It’s an all-encompassing platform that uses VR as a foundational tool to deliver teams higher quality data in large volumes as to help coaches, executives, scouts and players to make the best decisions possible.
…The reception has been very solid. From what we know, we’re the only top-to-bottom solution where we’re not only recreating pitchers but also capturing high levels of data from the batter in one system. That allows us to tell more “complete” stories to aid predictive analysis. Ultimately, though, we actively listen to domain experts to continue to improve the product. “
From my perspective, DiamondFX is an impressive tool for batting practice and, according to Ahmed, the goal is to create an adversary for pro-batters that is indistinguishable from a real world pitcher:
The core of our tech is to replicate a professional pitcher—because those guys aren’t going to come to your team’s practice. We do this with a combination of taking in existing pitching data that Major League Baseball has tracked for nearly a decade and re-creating it within a game engine. We have an in-house custom physics engine that can now replicate most pitches to about 95% accuracy.
Trinity VR has kept DiamnondFX in stealth mode until recently but is now ready to begin unveiling it more significantly to the world. DiamondFX may be new but Trinity VR has been around for a while now. According to Ahmed:
For those who’ve followed the VR industry for a few years, our name probably rings a bell because we started off as a motion controller and tracking company. Back in 2014, we had a product called the Trinity Magnum that was a bit too early for its time. We followed that up in 2015 with a haptics-based shotgun for Starbreeze’s The Walking Dead VR Experience. But a year ago, as news was coming out regarding competing input and tracking, we looked at our expertise and asked ourselves, “How can we build something that goes beyond just interaction—what if we could capture data?” We have some in-house experience in data that allowed us to treat VR as a tool for creating low-cost simulations, an idea that we first decided to apply to professional baseball because we believed the market was sizable and the technology was ready.
Ahmed explained that Trinity VR has completed a successful round of “internal fundraising” but is now, “at the precipice of a much larger round…That being said, we want to get baseball right first. It’ll give us the credibility to move onto other sports/industries.”
Trinity VR will be showcasing DiamondFX further this week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.
