Sprint Vector, the VR racing game which makes use of the unique ‘Fluid Locomotion System’, launched today on PSVR with a bonus launch discount of 30% for PS Plus members (20% for non-members). Developed by Survios, the studio behind Raw Data (2017), Sprint Vector offers a thrilling combination of speed and freedom of movement.
On its cover, Sprint Vector borrows the frenetic arcade racer format that anyone who has played Mario Kart will be familiar with: crazy maps, lots of speed, and power ups. But instead of being behind a steering wheel, Sprint Vector has players swinging their arms in running, jumping, and flying motions in order to get around—if you expect to keep up, you will break a sweat.
What looks initially like the sort of movements that would be a recipe for VR motion sickness is actually Survios’ carefully crafted Fluid Locomotion System which, despite a speedy pace, massive jumps, and huge drops, manages to keep most players from feeling any sort of motion sickness.
‘Sprint Vector’ may have borrowed some well-established kart racing tropes from the ‘Mario Kart’ franchise, but that’s where the comparison with other games stops. Using a unique locomotion system, Survios shows a masterful understanding of what it takes to make a fast-paced, but comfortable racing experience, one that will have you flying higher and running faster than you’ve ever gone before.
While we haven’t had a chance to play the retail build of Sprint Vector on PSVR just yet, our hands-on time with earlier versions of the game seemed to show that the Fluid Locomotion System translates quite well to PSVR’s Move controllers, and we were impressed when we saw this Survios pro show off his skills in the PSVR version of the game:
Besitzer einer PlayStation VR (PSVR) dürfen sich diese Woche über neuen Spielstoff für ihre Konsole freuen, denn fünf Neuerscheinungen erwarten uns oder sind seit heute erhältlich: Die VR-Titel Drunkn Bar Fight, CubeWorks, Knockout League, Pop-Up Pilgrimsund Sprint Vector stehen ab sofort oder in den nächsten Tagen im PlayStation Store bereit.
Drunkn Bar Fight – Virtuelle Kneipenschlägereien zum Dampf ablassen
Der Indie-Titel Drunkn Bar Fight ermöglicht euch, Teil einer fiktiven Kneipenschlägerei zu werden, um als trinkfreudiger Störenfried einmal richtig Dampf abzulassen. Mit Fäusten, Flaschen oder Dartpfeilen dürft ihr euch in unterschiedlichen Bars austoben und einen Barfight nach Filmmanier heraufbeschwören.
Drunkn Bar Fight soll heute im amerikanischen PlayStation Store digital erscheinen und in den kommenden Tagen auch in Europa zum Download verfügbar sein.
CubeWorks – Strategie- und Rätselspaß in VR
Im VR-Titel CubeWorks wird die räumliche Wahrnehmung der Spieler auf die Probe gestellt, denn ihr müsst eure komplette Umgebung in der 3D-Welt manipulieren, um die ausgefuchsten Rätsel zu lösen. Dafür ist strategisches Denken und Geduld gefragt, um innerhalb der immersiven VR-Welt voranzuschreiten.
CubeWorks soll ebenfalls ab dem 13. Februar im amerikanischen PlayStation Store erscheinen und im europäischen PS Store zeitnah folgen.
Knockout League – Skurriler Boxspaß für die Konsole
In Knockout League dürft ihr in den virtuellen Boxring steigen, um euch mit skurrilen Kontrahenten, wie Piraten oder Tiefseekraken mit acht Armen im Wettkampf zu messen. Neben diversen Spielmodi und neun frei wählbaren Charakteren steht zudem ein Trainings-Modus zur Auswahl, der neben der Verbesserung der Boxfähigkeiten, auch durchaus zum virtuellen Fitnesstraining geeignet ist.
Der VR-Boxtitel ist heute im amerikanischen PlayStation Store erscheinen und soll daraufhin auch für europäische Spieler bald digital erhältlich sein.
Pop-Up Pilgrims – Führt die Pilger sicher durch die gefährlichen 2D-Welten
Freunden von VR-2D-Titeln sei Pop-Up Pilgrims wärmstens empfohlen. Im Indie-Titel führt ihr per Fadenkreuz eine Horde von Pilgern sicher in die Heimat. Dabei gilt es allerlei Gefahren abzuwenden und Hindernisse zu umschiffen, damit euren Schützlingen nichts passiert.
Sprint Vector – VR-Rennspiel mit innovativer Fortbewegungsmethode
Nach der erfolgreichen Veröffentlichung auf Steam für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive dürfen sich nun auch PSVR-Besitzer auf die intergalaktischen Hochgeschwindigkeitsrennen freuen. In Sprint Vector dürft ihr auf bunten Rennstrecken die Grenzen der Lichtgeschwindigkeit überwinden und durch Rennen und Springen über Hindernisse zum Ziel gelangen. Der VR-Titel glänzt mit einer innovativen Fortbewegungsmethode, bei der ihr euch ähnlich wie in Lucid Trips durch Armschwingungen vorwärts bewegt.
Sprint Vector ist mit 30 Prozent Rabatt bis zum 20. Februar für aktuell 24,99 Euro im PlayStation Store erhältlich. PS Plus-Mitglieder erhalten den VR-Titel noch günstiger für lediglich 17,49 Euro.
For PlayStation VR owners looking for a new virtual reality (VR) title to immerse themselves in, this week will feature five releases, featuring brain taxing puzzles, sweat inducing sports and more. Due for launch tomorrow are: Drunkn Bar Fight, CubeWorks, Knockout League, Pop-Up Pilgrims and Sprint Vector.
First up is Drunkn Bar Fight by The Munky. Originally arriving via Steam Early Access in November 2016, the PC version supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality, and tomorrow PlayStation VR gets in on the action. The title of the videogame really does say it all, you’re in a bar and it’s time to cause some chaos. Punch people in the face, throw chairs across the room, smash the odd bottle or two, Drunkn Bar Fight has been designed as a quick action party experience, ideal when you have a few mates round.
For those players after a VR title which is a little more brain taxing there’s CubeWorks. Another experience that’s done the rounds on PC VR headsets first, CubeWorks features over 20 stages of fully three-dimensional puzzle solving. Players need to link cubes together, building multipliers and points. As they do so they’ll be able to unlock new abilities, condition and pieces to expand the gameplay.
Adding a sporting element to the list is Knockout League, a single-player boxing game built specifically for VR. Players will stand toe-to-toe with a range of fighters, using their body to intuitively move, dodge and fight. There will be a range of fighters to face, each with their own particular style. There’s Tri-Tip – a Brazilian bruiser with tenderizing fists of fury; Crimson Fang –a warrior princess with an ancient mystical mask; Scurvy Jones – a scourge of the seven seas alongside his trusty parrot Petey; and Sir Octopunch – a prim and proper powerhouse with plenty of gloves to beware of.
Dakko Dakko’s Pop-Up Pilgrims is the only PlayStation VR exclusive this week, a devious 2D puzzler which is an adaption of one of its PlayStation Vita titles – Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims. The task is simple, it’s up to players to guide the pilgrims through hostile worlds, getting them to safety as quickly as possible, all the while avoiding demonic forces.
Last but not least is Survios’ Sprint Vector, the big name title that most of you should’ve heard of. Launched last week on PC, Sprint Vector is an adrenaline filled, competitive racer with 8 contestants competing in a game show. To learn more about the title and what VRFocus thought of the PC version, you may want to read this five-star review. All these titles launch tomorrow for PlayStation VR. As for any further releases, keep reading VRFocus.
After delivering one of the best first-person shooters (FPS) for virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) with Raw Data hopes have been high that Survios’ next offering would follow a similar path. The team decided to tackle the difficult challenge of fast motion in VR head on, creating a heart-pounding, adrenaline fuelled multiplayer title called Sprint Vector, pitting players against one another in obstacle filled races that’s certain to attract a big contingent of players.
Sprint Vector is big, bold, garish and above all awesomely fun to play. While it features both single-player and multiplayer modes, this is certainly an experience focused on its multiplayer side. Playing solo there’s plenty to keep you busy once you’ve finished playing through the extensive tutorial – and you’ll need to – with 12 courses to learn as well as nine challenge course to complete. Master those and you’re definitely ready to head out into the online world.
The videogame is all about learning movement – or Survios’ Fluid Locomotion System – where you need to time arm swings to propel yourself forward. One look at the courses and you’ll realise that you’ll need to learn more than just forward momentum to win. It’s through this movement system that the core gameplay and the replay factor of Sprint Vector are so neatly entwined. Survios has managed to squeeze so much into it the first time you learn everything can be a bit bewildering, from timing those arm swings to get maximum speed, jumping, gliding and shooting, to using power ups and climbing, to win those races all of it needs to mastered. Yet as much as that sounds after a few races the system becomes instinctive and most importantly comfortable.
This can be a major issue in VR and Survios has done a commendable job of making frantic gameplay smooth with little jarring. Even when falling from a ledge – and you will, many times – there’s no discomfort, just the annoyance that places have been lost and you need to get back up to speed quickly.
Alongside the locomotion system there’s plenty of other things to keep you on your toes. Power-ups can be collected in each course, granting you mines, missiles, nitro boosts and loads more. They certainly add a tactical edge and as those Mario Kart fans out there know, one decent power-up at the right time can make all the difference.
12 courses don’t sound like much, with each one taking on average around two to three minutes to complete but they do offer plenty of variety. Each one has its own little routes to explore, possibly offering a better racing line than the main course but that all depends on how well you can jump, climb and soar through the air. Timing it wrong can make things even worse.
At the start of Sprint Vector you can choose your own particular character – which can be swapped if need be – yet from what VRFocus can tell there doesn’t seem to be a difference in stats. Most cartoon style racers usually fall into the same gameplay routine, so larger characters have poor acceleration with better top speeds while small characters are very nippy off the line but not so good down the straights. This isn’t the case in Sprint Vector, every race is down to your own personal skill rather than anything a digital character brings to the table.
And you will need skill, as well as plenty of stamina in those arms. As mentioned Sprint Vector gets that heart pounding, and the sweat dripping. Of course you can take it easy but that won’t win races. To be honest, once you’re track side the adrenaline kicks in and all you’ll think about is winning. Such is the involvement required to play – rather than sitting comfy on a sofa – that the gameplay becomes addictive.
There’s very little to dislike in Sprint Vector. Sure there will be times when that competitive edge over takes you, getting annoyed when you fudge a jump but that’s to be expected. The single-player has enough to get you started with a few hours of gameplay, yet it’s the multiplayer that’ll have you coming back for more. Here’s hoping that Sprint Vector draws in enough of a crowd to sustain it, rather than becoming another multiplayer focused experience that gets forgotten about. Which would be a shame, because from where VRFocus is standing Sprint Vector is another hit for the studio.
After a successful closed beta in January, today virtual reality (VR) developer Survios has launched its second title Sprint Vectorfor HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
If you’ve managed to miss all of VRFocus’coverage then how about a quick reminder. Sprint Vector moves away fromRaw Data and first-person shooters (FPS), switching to a more competitive e-sports genre where players are pitted against one another in heart-thumping obstacle races.
Up to up to eight players can take part in this high-octane intergalactic game show which features both competitive multiplayer and customizable solo racing across 12 courses, each one packed alternate routes and power-ups galore to use against the competition. Additionally, there are nine challenge courses with three different game modes (time trial, coin collection, and hardcore) let sprinters polish their skills and compare their best scores on and global leaderboards.
“When we set out to make Sprint Vector, we wanted to tackle the ongoing challenge of locomotion in VR from a fresh ‘Why not?’ perspective,” said Alex Silkin, Survios co-founder and chief technology officer in a statement. “We challenged ourselves to not only come up with new methods of movement in VR, but to push the envelope in terms of artificial, high-speed, and tactile locomotion while avoiding physical discomfort in the player. Today, we’re shipping the pinnacle of this effort.”
“VR lets us explore new experiences that have never been possible in games before,” said James Iliff, co-founder and chief creative officer. “This is central to the games we make at Survios and we are focused on creating unique VR titles from the ground up, providing experiences that no other gaming system or technology can match. In Sprint Vector, players will find something completely unique and new that changes the way they think about movement in VR.”
Sprint Vector is available on Steam and Oculus Home for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, featuring a special 20 percent discount off the retail price of $29.99 USD until 22nd February. And just in time for the Winter Olympic Games, all players will receive the Championship Intergalactica Winter Games skins pack gives the colorful Sprint Vector characters new international looks inspired by 16 different competing nations.
PlayStation VR will get Sprint Vector on 13th February for $29.99, with a 20 percent launch discount for all North American PlayStation VR users, as well as a 30 percent launch discount for PlayStation Plus members in North America and Europe. For any further news from Survios, keep reading VRFocus.
Editor’s Note: This review has been republished and partially updated for Sprint Vector’s launch on PSVR.
Original: Sprint Vector is absolutely ridiculous. It’s ridiculous in the sense that you look crazy while playing — swinging your arms like a lunatic, working up a sweat while standing in place — but also it’s ridiculous in its very premise, that you could boost through elaborate levels at upwards of 30 and 40 miles per hour.
But above all else, Sprint Vector is just ridiculously fun. Whether you’re racing against the game’s surprisingly challenging AI opponents or online against other racers from around the world, it’s the type of game that’s easy to pick up and play in short bursts but also endlessly rewarding to master.
Perhaps the most surprising and impressive thing about Sprint Vector is just how well the movement system works. It’s a fast-paced racing game that has you standing on your feet as you swing each arm at your sides, grabbing and then releasing the triggers as if you’re boosting along the ground like Iron Man on roller blades. It works great most of the time, but every now and then it seemed like I was having trouble going in the direction I wanted even though I seemed to be inputting my commands properly.
Occasionally you can jump into the air and glide across levels or down deep chasms, or even climb up walls and grind along rails, to spice things up a bit. And just in like Mario Kart, you can drift around corners and pick up power-ups that litter every level.
Many of the power-ups can make or break your chances at victory in the final stretch of a race with the power to do things like give you a giant boost of speed or even explode in a large area of effect dome, disrupting your opponents and forcing them to stop. They’ere difficult to use though as you’ll have to reach out with an arm to aim your shot while still trying to swing your arm and move at the same time.
The learning curve is definitely quite steep at first because understanding how the various mechanics work in tandem between one another definitely takes a bit of work. You should always be as focused on speed as you possibly can, churning your arms in quick, rapid movements to build up your velocity, and hitting boosts and ramps along the way. Once you’ve got the rhythm of movement down and start using power-ups to take out enemies it feels really, really satisfying.
One of the most understated portions of the game though, the obstacle course-esque Challenge maps, could have easily been expanded upon to offer a lot more content. There weren’t enough of them (nine total, but you’ll burn through them in an hour or two) and I found myself addicted to trying to get better times on each.
At its core though, Sprint Vector is all about blistering speed and pulse-pounding races. Playing against other real people on any of the 12 maps enhances the experience ten-fold as hearing the frustrating in their voice as you zip past across the finish line at the last second never gets old.
I can say with supreme confidence that there is no other game like Sprint Vector out there on the market right now and I don’t think there will be for quite some time.
Final Score:8/10 – Great
Sprint Vector is a great example of a game that could not exist without VR. The act of swinging your arms from side-to-side as you boost along massive, sprawling levels in contention with other racers is exhilarating. It makes for one of the silliest looking games to watch someone play but one of the most intense (and exhausting) experiences you can have in a headset.
Sprint Vector is available starting today on Oculus Home and Steam. The PSVR version launches on 2/13/18. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
Sprint Vector (2018) is a VR racing game of a different stripe. Dubbed an “adrenaline platformer” by production studio Survios, the developers behind Raw Data (2017), it actually sticks to some pretty well-established arcade racing tropes pioneered by the Mario Kart franchise. Still, it’s something entirely different; it’s not only a fast-paced, technical sort of game that depends on the user’s ability to memorize every map’s twists and hazards, and ultimately understand how to best get from point A to point B, but it’s almost what you might call legitimate exercise.
Developer: Survios Available On:HTC Vive (Steam), Oculus Rift (Steam, Oculus Store), PSVR (PSN) Reviewed On: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift Release Date: February 8th, 2018
Note: Sprint Vector is discounted 20% off the retail price of $30 through February 22nd
Gameplay
You can’t really talk about Sprint Vector without first mentioning the main reason for its existence: a unique locomotion method Survios dubs “Fluid Locomotion,” a system which requires you to pump your arms as if you were running in place in order to move. You can also think about it as if you were skiing with ski poles, but instead of pushing off the ground with a pole, you thrust your arms downward while activating the trigger button on your controller, thus moving you forward.
Survios has put a certain amount of faith in the median VR user’s ability to change from what they know, i.e. lackadaisically pushing a single button to move. Thankfully, that faith is well-founded. I’ll get more into this in the ‘Comfort’ section of the review, but suffice it to say that Sprint Vector‘s locomotion scheme is magnificent.
One more thing. If you don’t like breaking a sweat when you play in VR, maybe now’s the time to look into another game. If you don’t mind getting your headset a little damp, then you’re in luck. According to my Fitbit, when I play Sprint Vector, I consistently boost my heart rate into the ‘fat burning’ zone.
Image courtesy Survios
At launch, Sprint Vector offers 9 solo challenge maps with 3 modes each, and 12 competitive maps which can either be played solo vs AI, or in an 8-player online races. As a point of comparisons, Mario Kart 8 (2014)boasts 32 competitive maps, several cups, and a battle mode. I would have liked to see more maps, although 12 seems to be a good starting baseline.
Competitive maps are linear, and not looped, which means you only get one run to determine the winner. I kind of wish they were looped, if only to get more practice on each track, but I see why they aren’t: racing requires physical effort, and a 15-minute race might just scare away your competitors.
On competitive maps, there’s a standard mix of strategically placed powerups that fall in line with other kart racing games; nitro, bombs, slow-downs, guided missiles, etc. Unlike other kart racers though, you’re expected to get vertical by climbing, riding ‘slip steams’, double jumping and soaring forward through the multilayered level, leaving your opponent with several ways to get around your carefully placed trap. Many competitive maps are also densely packed with environmental traps like crushing pistons, nuclear waste spills, giant fan blades, and explosive barrels, making for an incredibly dynamic gameplay experience. Despite some minor flaws, Sprint Vector is ultimately a visceral, heart-pumping racer for genuine speed freaks.
Solo Mode
Like many kart racers, Sprint Vector‘s AI essentially follows the ‘rubber banding’ principle – the game will give human players the ability to catch up by slowing down the NPCs in front of them. When this is done right in games, you don’t really notice it. When it isn’t, well, you get NPCs doing silly things like nonsensically skating back and forth on the track with no urgency to find the fastest possible route, or waiting for no apparent reason. The latter example is unfortunately the case with many single-player AI races I played in Sprint Vector.
As far as I can tell, there’s no way to manually change the AI’s difficulty setting. The game also doesn’t offer any of the cups or standard single player racing progressions. With only a few different leader boards to beat, the game’s competitive emphasis is clearly on the online multiplayer portion. That said, the solo challenge maps, which features time trial, coin collection, and a non-stop nitro-fest called ‘hardcore one-life’, are a welcome addition that makes up somewhat for the lack of cup races.
Multiplayer
The skill differential from single player to multiplayer wasn’t huge when I played the pre-release version (identical to launch version), but you can chalk that up to the general level of inexperience in my fellow racers. Once people start to intimately understand the in and outs of each track though, multiplayer is probably going to get pretty tough. In one such online race—after thinking I did fairly well playing the same track in single player mode moments before—the first place racer finished a full minute ahead of me. Since races take about a 2-3 minutes to complete, it was a stark realization that there must have been a secret passage that I missed, or a booster that I should have found.
The only way to interact with others is through the game’s powerups, so there’s no way for you to, say, punch a fellow racer or push them off a ledge. This would have been a fun addition, but I rarely found myself within that sort of range anyway, so it’s a bit of a non-issue.
Image courtesy Survios
As far as I can tell, characters don’t seem to have any differentiating qualities besides their exteriors, which is kind of a shame. Unlike other arcade racers which give you a selection of max speeds and accelerations, it appears as if you’re basically just choosing a skin to wear. This too is a minor niggle, but still worth mentioning.
Immersion
Sprint Vector works on many levels. The worlds and characters are interesting and visually cohesive, the locomotion system is rock solid, and the environment offers consistent interaction across the board. These are some of the most important ingredients to achieving Presence (yes, I used the capital “p”), that moment when you fully engage with the virtual world and mentally leave your office or bedroom behind.
As for the world around you, I’ll say this: It’s not easy creating an entire universe for the benefit of a single racing game, but Sprint Vector manages to make you feel at home in its absurd reality show-driven future. Considering it’s not relying on existing IP like, well, freaking Mario, this is a great accomplishment. To that, I’ll add that voice acting is on point, and character design and rigging is well done. I would have loved to get more of a chance to interface with the world besides just racing through it though, but that’s far from an admonishment.
Also, if you have a hard time focusing, or you’re not into social multiplayer games, you’ll be happy to learn that you can mute nearly everything in Sprint Vector, including the jabbering announcers, AI characters, and your fellow multiplayers, leaving only the pulsing soundtrack in the background if you so please. You can also mute that, although I personally enjoyed it.
Comfort
Creating a comfortable VR game is hardly a mistake. Even in this early stage of development, there are some tried and true methods for creating a fast but comfortable experience, and Sprint Vector uses every trick in the book.
Giving VR users a way to associate virtual locomotion with larger physical movements seems to side-step some of the issues that may cause nausea in VR games. Like Echo Arena (2017), the zero-G multiplayer sports game, Sprint Vector (in a way) makes you use the world around you to move, which is why I compare it to using ski poles instead of running. Executing good form in your arm’s stride determines your speed, and the smoother you can get that stride, the faster and more consistently you’ll move. You have to pay constant attention to this relationship though, more so than just jamming down on a button mapped to the accelerator.
Not only that, but accelerating, flying, or drifting places particle effects in your near field of view, which keeps your vestibular system happy as you fling across the map at 50 mph. Because of this pseudo-cockpit effect, fast acceleration and deceleration isn’t nearly as jarring as it could be too.
There’s also the option to enable click turning for players on Rift and PSVR, something I didn’t use too frequently thanks to drift-turning.
CES 2018 is the most exciting showcase of innovative technology every year. With over 170,000 attendees and over 3,900 exhibitors, there has to be some virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) here, right? Today, VRFocus is doing a Post CES #XR event Review at the Realities Centre in London, UK bringing some of the companies together for those that couldn’t attend the main event. However if you aren’t attending the Post CES event, VRFocus has put a little recap together. From head-mounted displays (HMDs), VR platforms, VR content, 360 cameras, AR, audio, and MR to accessories to accompany new immersive technologies, you’ll find a sizable list in the run down below.
Big Announcements at Press Conferences
The HTC Vive Pro was the most exciting pre-CES announcement from HTC Vive.
Before CES even started VRFocus attended the Nvidia press event, where the company showcased its latest technology in autonomous cars. The biggest trend by far at this year’s CES, was how both VR and AR are being used to help ensure the safety of future cars, but also testing autonomous cars in environments that otherwise could not be controlled. Nvidia announced AutoSim, a VR simulator for self-driving cars as well as Drive AR, software that gives drivers information about what is around the car. All this information will be featured on the windscreen or dashboard screen. Think Google Maps on your heads-up-display (HUD).
It was HTC Vive that really stole the show that day after its initial Twitter tease of a HMD with new resolution, announcing the new HTC Vive Pro and Wireless adapter. The promise of no screen door effect and going untethered? It was a big day for VR lovers around the world. To add a cherry on top, the HTC Vive Pro will feature two microphones for noise cancellation capabilities and it’ll work with both 1.0 and 2.0 base stations.
Not exactly room-scale virtual reality, but a quick and easy access to transport users into a digital re-created world.
With the announcement of the HTC Vive Pro, Dell revealed at its press conference a partnership with HTC Vive to make it easier for consumers to get a full VR package with their desktop by allowing customers to purchase both the VR-Ready Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop and an HTC Vive.
With no new Oculus Rift being teased or showcased, VRFocus managed to catch up with Kopin, showcasing the Elf VR headset. With a pixel density of 2,940 PPI, dual 2K resolution, 120 Hz for each eye, and a promise of smaller, lighter size and no screen door effect, Kopin is making ambitious promises for VR applications in the future. The Elf VR HMD is not yet available for consumers, but Kopin has said to keep an ear out for news just before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018.
Pico Interactive showcased its standalone headsets Pico Goblin and Pico Neo CV. Both headsets will be compatible with the Vive Wave platform, giving Pico customers access to 400 titles from the Vive owned store. A taster perhaps of what other standalone headsets might be such as Oculus Go and Vive Focus. The Pico Goblin is retailing for $269 USD and the Pico Neo CV can be pre-ordered for $749 on Pico’s website.
Lenovo also demonstrated its standalone device, Lenovo Mirage Solo. The headset utilises the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, has 4GB RAM, with 110-degree field-of-view (FoV). The headset also uses Google’s WorldSense technology for inside-out tracking and comes with a wireless Daydream controller. The HMD is set to be released in Q2 this year.
Zeiss VR One Connect is now also compatible with Steam VR. Supporting both iOS and Android, the Zeiss VR One will need two wireless three degrees of freedom (3DoF) controllers that are linked via Bluetooth to enjoy full VR. The Zeiss VR One Connect is set to be available at major US retailers in the spring of 2018 at $129. No details on an international launch date are currently available.
Then there was Timescope’s terminal, which wasn’t what one would call “true VR”, in the sense that it’s not room-scale, you are not able to teleport or physically pick up objects with controllers – but still a form of new VR for public spaces. From the age of seven, members of the public are able to use the Timescope terminal to then see into the past or future of certain locations. All 3D content is as historical accurate as possible, with historians and engineers that have worked hard on making the terminals suitable for everybody – including people wearing glasses.
VR Platforms, VRContent, Training and Social VR
It might become easier to start a platform when making numerous amounts of VR content, and trying to find a solution to distribute the content to their clients and audience. This seems to be exactly the case for Jaunt, Ikonospace Art and Serious Factory.
Jaunt has created the Jaunt XR platform, which gives clients an easy way to distribute large amounts of VR content. With a media manager, player engine and intelligence suite to track information of how users interact with 360 content – its biggest benefit is that it allows all 360, VR films to be distributed across various VR HMDs.
Ikonospace is a small Dutch start-up company that use VR to create virtual art exhibitions. The platform would enable any artist around the world to build, create, digitise and finally curate their own art exhibition. CEO and Co-Founder Joris Demnard, personally comes from a family that specialise in curating and putting together art exhibitions. With simple design tools, one can create a building, decorate the interior and then place their art in it.
Serious Factory have a special toolkit that enables users to create social scenarios. Think of it as directing a social space where you can control the characters interactions, facial expressions, reactions and create the perfect social training scenarios. The platform allows for full customisation of characters from ethnicity, outfit, and interactions to the 3D environment where the interactions would take place. The final scene also has a point system, which would allow recruiters to see in which category users failed in or excelled in.
Fibrum is the largest Russian developer for VR games and applications, having dipped its toes into e-sports as well as creating the Fibrum Pro HMD. Fibrum now focuses on a platform called Desirium, a mobile VR app and platform that’s similar to Jaunt’s app, where the company can host 360-degree and VR content. You can download the app on Google Play, App Store, Google Daydream or Samsung Gear VR for a free trial period now.
Make your dreary gym workout plan fun with VR, gaming and highscores.
VRFocus got into the grind of CES with Black Box VR, a new concept that combines gaming with gym workouts. Instead of getting bored at the gym, trying to make your exercise routine more interesting by listening to your ‘Gym Workout Session 1’ playlist on Spotify or attempting to enjoy the visual images on the TV screen, you’ll soon be able to dive into a HTC Vive headset (accompanied with special trackers on each arm) and carry out various work outs through Black Box VR. Several Black Box VR gyms will be opening on the West coast of the United States, to make your average gym workout more interesting.
Anybody who’s been trying to use VR for exercise will have heard of Sprint Vector, Survios’ action-packed multiplayer VR title. Survios announced several Sprint Vector tournaments and that it would be coming to various VR arcades soon, which can also be experienced in California.
Serious VR takes things very serious indeed, specialising in VR training and performance data focusing on industrial companies such as defence, metal and automotive sectors. The plan is to change manuals and e-learning into an information schedule to implement VR for training processes. The benefits of immersion that VR offers seem be very cost-effective and more efficient than conventional training for industrial companies at the moment.
French company Light and Shadows use both VR and AR to provide solutions to major industrial enterprises, having created various devices and training applications for companies that are looking for ways to train or operate in VR. With a background in 3D environments, they showcased a training simulation that combined leap motion with the HTC Vive. Using just your hands, VRFocus managed to pick up mechanical and industrial pieces in a factory.
vTime gets an audio boost with DTS custom audio technology.
All in all, VR companies exhibiting at CES showcased various platforms that wanted to be cross-platform friendly and were looking to have users create and generate their own content in order to boost their platform. For the most part, it seems like these platforms are oriented at large industrial companies looking to train staff or employees, whether it be in factories or in social situations. With it comes a lot of responsibility to create easy-to-use toolkits, quick production work flows as well as the tools to create the best immersion. For the most part, it has been HTC Vive that’s been the winner when looking at how companies are using the HMD to help introduce VR to the masses.
360 Cameras
Kodak’s three lense camera shoots 8K and will have a waterproof case to film underwater in.
There were only two cameras that really showcased what 360 VR could offer in the future. Besides Sony and Zeiss’s previously mentioned, it was Chinese company Pisoftech and Kodak that offered 8K capabilities. Lenovo also dips into VR, but uses 180 degrees instead.
Pisoftech has a background in mass surveillance and data. They decided to venture into the realm of hardware when they saw that the products their clients were making could be more efficient if they made it. The Pilot Era camera can shoot 8K and has the capability to stitch internally. In other words, no need for an external device or software to stitch for you anymore. It’s quite big as well, 61mm x 61 mm x 159mm and weighs around 565g, however it may be worth it if you don’t want the hassle of stitching your images and if you want 180 minutes of battery life. 8K comes at a huge price though, its estimated price is at £3,000 GBP, not exactly affordable for the average consumer. The product is expected to be available on Amazon in April 2018.
What Pisoftech offer in 8K internal stitching, Kodak makes up for in size. Showcasing two brand new cameras that as of yet have no name, Kodak is also dedicated to creating 8K VR footage but in stereoscopic 3D VR. The first to be shown is the three-lens 8K PixPro 360 camera that is able to film at 30 frames per second (FPS) or 4K at 60FPS, potentially even at 120FPS. A waterproof version is said to be released around the same time to enable underwater filming. Half the size of the Pilot Era camera, this camera does not offer internal stitching but is very small and could potentially last a long time if combined with external batteries.
The second camera shoots 4K 30 FPS and can fold out and do 3D stereoscopic 180 images. It was designed specifically to please the push YouTube and Google are making into 3D on their platforms. You can also tether the cameras together and make a full 360 3D unit, if you were to have three of them. When speaking to Kevin Kunze, he mentioned that the three-lens 8K camera would be $1,000-$2,000 cheaper than other 8K cameras on the market and both cameras would hopefully be coming out in Q4 this year.
Lenovo hasn’t exactly created a 360-degree camera but instead opted for the Lenovo Mirage Camera. The device enables users to capture VR video in broad 180-degrees from its two front facing lenses, which can then be viewed on the Lenovo Mirage Solo HMD (mentioned in the HMD section).
It really depends on what you’re looking for when it comes to cameras, 8K, size, weight, price or the effort of stitching. It’s interesting to note that both Lenovo and Kodak have created VR 180 degree cameras due to the push that Google have made for this content on the YouTube platform. Lenovo’s Mirage Camera for example natively integrates VR 180 images and videos onto both YouTube and Google photos.
Augmented Reality
AR was a big buzz word when it came to autonomous cars. Nvidia showcased this with their Drive AR, but it was WayRay that really got people on the show floor queuing up to have a try.
WayRay, is a Swiss developer of holographic AR navigation system for connected cars. They showcased NAVION, the world’s first ever holographic AR navigator, and the advanced version of the AR Infotainment System for cars. Placed on a dashboard, NAVION shows directions, trip details and display real-time indicators for things like pedestrians, POIs or alerting to hazards exactly where the driver needs them to be — on the road ahead — with no headgear or eye wear required. NAVION works hands-free and responds to the simple voice commands or to unique hand gestures.
Hololampon the other hand depends on interactions with your hands. Tracking individual faces, it’s able to change and alter the perspective of holograms to appear 3D. This can include anything, from food to architectural buildings. The holograms can be interacted with as well, so you can choose to change the colour of a room for example by tapping on the hologram.
AstroReality takes 3D printed objects and then uses their AR app AstroReality to help inform users about planets. AstroReality showcased how this was done by using 3D printed planets such as Mars, Earth and the Moon for example at CES. They hinted at working on other 3D printed objects and AR for other uses cases such as Dinosaurs, Rocks and other things. They’ve been very popular with astrologists, space-enthusiasts and classrooms.
uSens has not only partnered with Pico interactive on hand-tracking for mobile VR, but has managed to find a way to bring AR to almost all Android phones with the uSensAR app. uSens also announced a partnership with Chinese technology firm Spreadtrum, and uSensAR will be bringing AR camera effects to the Spreadtrum SC9853 chipset platform which will be in “hundreds of millions” of smartphones in 2018.
AiFishowcased the Wonderlens app which remarkably manages to capture individuals from their phones or tablets to anywhere they want without the need for green screen. This is all done in real-time as well, so no need for Chroma keying or masking – it’s all done on your phone or tablet. For those who aren’t filmmakers – this is remarkable and ground breaking technology at the tips of your consumer fingers and should definitely be tried (it can be argued that Wonderlens is actually MR). AiFi also showcased Holo Messenger turning you into a hologram which then gets projected in a personal video message to friends and family. Founded by former Google and Apple engineers, AiFi is currently working on the advanced checkout-free shopping experiences in the US. Apparently they’re doing Amazon Go, but on a much larger scale in US retail stores.
XXII is a French company that has taken the profits made in VR and AR and have gone into Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Its created various escape room VR experiences and have now gone into smart retail, where the system uses sensors to analyse customers. They use AR to show and explain how their smart retail AI can be used. Similar, but smaller in size to AiFi it looks like the combination of immersive technologies and A.I. are proving to be a great combination for selling products.
The feedback VRFocus was getting from exhibitors was that AR was the first step to bring VR into the mass market. AR was an easier and less drastic way of introducing the technology to consumers. The buzz around autonomous cars and AR definitely looks like a new exciting possibility for future entertainment – right there on your dashboard. Stepping into an autonomous car in the future, will possibly be like stepping into a theatre. The combining of AI with both VR and AR can be very interesting, but is just at the start. Booth AiFi and XXII are blurring the lines and we could potentially see various interesting outcomes from both companies if they were to apply it in new and exciting ways.
Audio
Can you imagine being in a busy and loud room where only you hear the sound and voices?
Audio is equal, if not more important when it comes to feeling immersed. You can hear a mistake a lot quicker than seeing a mistake. If audio doesn’t quite work the way it does in real life, it breaks the immersion for many people. Besides vTime’s partnership with DTS, Dirac and Noveto aim to help create more immersive environments for both VR and AR.
Some tech needs to be experienced first hand, VR is certainly one while Noveto’s audio tech is another. The company showcased what it called ‘virtual headphones’, named Sowlo, projecting sound into your ear like a pair of headphones. The system tracks the users’ ears as well, so even if you turn your head a certain degree, the sound and volume would stay the same. Noveto demonstrated this for a conference call and interior of car use cases, explaining that the days of ‘headphones’ would soon be over. The system works with no need for any accessories on the user at all, no headphones, cables or added accessories. It just needed you and your ears.
Swedish company Dirac launched Dirac VR last year, a 3D audio platform for VR. This year at CES Dirac showcased the next iteration of the Dirac VR platform. The audio rendering of a virtual environment showcase how the location and volume level of the audio adjusts as the head rotates with a VR headset. In other words, if you move your head, sounds bounce off the walls the same way they would if you were doing this in real life.
Noveto’s Sowlo has the potential to not only change the way users interact with audio for VR, but also for everyday use cases. It has the potential to really enable social VR and really alter the way we can experience audio as a whole. Dirac’s experience in audio means that the re-creation of environments will create more immersive and realistic sound environments. Both look very promising to enhance VR worlds through means of audio.
Mixed Reality
Being hands-free would enable health care providers to work more efficiently.
There was not too much MR that VRFocus saw on the show floor at CES. Luckily the company that did showcase MR are doing something that could revolutionise the future of public health care. Making it more efficient, quicker and potentially lifesaving.
Exelus, a French telemedicine solution company has created a comprehensible mobile diagnostic platform using Microsoft’s Hololens. Partnering with Holoforge, they’ve created Nomadeec. It’s focused on delivering and providing the most accurate information as efficiently and quickly as possible between healthcare providers. Designed for nursing homes and out-of-hospital care facilities, it would allow nurses, care assistants, night watchmen and doctors to communicate with one another. Nomadeec is currently being used in France and could be a glimpse of what future healthcare methods healthcare providers will be using in future.
The last part of this recap is dedicated to accessories that are made to enhance your VR experience or can be used by developers to help develop and create new VR content.
When it comes to untethered VR, or VR without wires and cables that attach you to a laptop or desktop, HTC Vive users can rejoice at the announcement of the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter. However TPCast are also providing another option. The TPCast 2.0, which according to TPCast will utilise the latest generation of ultra-low latency codecs and upgraded real-time data control protocol. This will allow the company to deliver high quality video with low latency and real-time transmission at a range of distances. TPCast’s General Manager for Americas Udi Yuhjtman confirms that regardless of which HTC Vive HMD you’re using (Vive or Vive Pro), you’re able to use the TPCast 2.0 for both.
Feeling and Touching in VR: Gloves and Haptic Feedback
French company Go Touch VR uses haptic feedback to create the illusion of touch, except you don’t need to wear a glove. So no matter what size your hands or fingers are, you will be able to feel haptic feedback. It’s probably important to note, that long fingernails do not work with the system. By wearing small devices at the user’s fingertips, the units provide pressure on the fingers, allowing for multiple haptic feedback sensations. The VRTouch Developer Kit began selling in October 2017 and has since sold to several companies that include BMW.
Dutch start-up company Sense Glove is also seeking to find a solution for haptic feedback. However instead of putting items on your fingers, you need to put on what looks like a very complicated exoskeleton of a glove. It not only provides haptic feedback though, but force feedback as well. This was demonstrated at CES by having users trying to crack an egg and various other circular objects. The idea is to help the user feel the shape and density of virtual objects.
BeBop Sensors showcased their newly announced BeBop Sensors Marcel Modular Data Gloves that allow for either 6 or 9 degrees of freedom with a sensor sub-frame latency at 120 Hz. The data glove uses smart fabrics, with sensors tracking force, location, size, weight, bend and twist.
TreeTech is a Dutch company that realised that PC gamers were moving to the couch with VR and Steam Link box. So they created the PO!NT Controller, a modular game controller that brings the keyboard and mouse shortcuts to a controller. TreeTech also create custom module controls, and can be approached by developer for custom experiences. They will start producing the PO!NT controller in Q3, and on the market in Q4 retailing at $149.
Jamzone is a Dutch company that’s created a videogame to help train users to learn and cope with stress. Stressjamuses a special waistband that measures heart rate variability to read your body’s state of mind. So in other words it knows when you are calm or stressed. Stressjam then takes you on a guided journey where you can only complete certain tasks by making yourself calm or stressed. Jamzone want to use it for B2B purposes and want large companies to use it to help prevent stress, burnout and depression in their employees by training them to control their stress levels in VR.
VRFocusstumbled upon the Yaw VR Motion Simulator which makes VR more like a Cinema 4D experience. The Yaw VR offers full 360 degrees swivel, tilts, shakes, spins and motions that make you feel like you’re in real life. You can pre-order the Yaw VR and it is compatible with the Gear VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for £629 if you get an Early Bird version.
On a special note, Pico Zense, AiFi and various other companies seem to be working on depth sensing technology at CES. The ability for VR or AR headsets to recognise the location around them could change and alter the way we interact with digital objects as well as pave the way forward for mixed reality content. All in all, it’s clear that there are numerous exhibitors who are looking for new solutions to solve problems in the fields of VR and AR.
Conclusion
CES 2018 showcased untethered VR without the need to link to a PC or laptop, trying both the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter and TPCast 2.0 was very strange in the sense that the usual ‘safety net’ or umbilical cord that kept you grounded to the sense of existing reality was gone. However with Oculus’s Santa Cruz and HTC Vive’s Wireless Adapter coming to the market – TPCast may struggle to stay relevant by the end of the year. The most common trend amongst HMD manufacturers such as Kopin or Zeiss One and VR content producers such as Jaunt, Fibrum, Ikonospace or vTime was that they wanted to be cross-platform and enable user generated content. This means that users need access or full customisation to what they’re creating in VR, but also make VR a much more accessible platform. It was very refreshing to see Timescope take VR outdoors and to public places where numerous tourists, and anybody from the age of seven is able to experience a location in a new way. It just goes to show that no matter which HMD you have, it’s all about content.
With regards to 360-degree cameras the trend is looking to get higher quality resolution and bumping up the cameras to 8K. It’s then just a matter of size, prize, weight and intent. There’s a definite trend towards using 3D 180 degree cameras for YouTube and Google’s sake, as is seen in Lenovo Mirage Camera – although not many except the Lenovo Mirage Solo seem to be discussing being a platform for the 3D 180 degree video or image content that would be created with the cameras. The foldable Kodak camera seems to try and combine both stereoscopic 180-degree 3D as well as full 360-degree filming – but at what cost? Stitching is still a massive problem when it comes to creating 360 content, but is paying $3,000 worth the price for not having to stitch?
When it comes to AR, the autonomous cars were the winners. AR on the dashboard or windscreen were two of the biggest hypes at CES when Nvidia and WayRay discussed them. Not only would information become easier, but it seemed like a natural progression having all this information accessible. Within five years, it will be expected that every new vehicle should have AR integrated in it. This means that in some sense AR will have reached the general consumer population to a certain degree. uSens as well as AiFi do deserve a special mention. uSens not only showcase impressive finger tracking, but uSens AR would also bring AR to cheaper android phones – especially in China opens up the AR market to various new types of content, users and market. No longer will AR be something only iPhone users can afford, but something that is for everybody. AiFi is one to watch with regards to how they are using A.I. with AR and VR. Though Wonderlens and Holo Messenger seem like small quirky apps, the technology behind it really showcase the intelligent sensors and software created by AiFi that enable them to go into the mass smart retail market.
When it comes to audio, it’s clear that vTime is trying to address immersion through realistic audio. It’s great to see a company such as Dirac who have built custom made audio for various locations and applications intently try and create a realistic audio as possible for VR. It was however Noveto that really blew VRFocusout of the water. Not only could this revolutionise the way users interact with audio as a whole, but it would also enable various users to go into a public space without the need to wear headphones on their VR headsets to enjoy an experience. No unnecessary wires, hygiene problems or headphones that aren’t suited to your specific ear shape.
There was only one real contender that truly showcased a working platform and model that is revolutionising the healthcare industry, and that is Nomadeec. A small thing such as enabling hands-free care whilst giving real time data back to the hospital as well as being able to call a doctor regarding the patient can be life changing and perhaps even life saving for patients that need immediate care. Though Nomadeec would be implemented in large business such as care homes or out of-hospital care facilities, it’s clear to see the potential of it as Nomadeec roles out. Hopefully Nomadeec will be brought to more countries and have a quick as well as immediate positive impact on patients in need. The only barrier to entry then becomes the price as well as training of staff the use the expensive Microsoft Hololens.
And last but not least, accessories. Now it’s hard to say which glove or accessory was the best at CES. When we reached BeBop Sensors it was nice to see something that felt complete, I personally was unable to use Go Touch VR because I have long fingernails and my colleague Peter demoed the Sense Glove. However after much discussion VRFocusconcluded that when it comes to being prepared for consumers, BeBop Sensors was the closest to being ready. Go Touch VR and Sense Glove both felt like early prototypes which needed several iterations whilst BeBop Sensors was almost there, had haptics on the fingers, was small and worked for both myself and Peter who have very different hand sizes.
A personal favourite of mine was Stressjam. This was probably because of how drastic and immediate of a change was asked from me whilst at CES in my state of mind. When I came out of Stressjam, it had a similar effect to how I felt when I used Noveto’s Sowlo system. Personally, I also believe that being able to control stress is a very healthy and useful ability for a population that suffers a lot from stress, depression and other illnesses as a result of that. It would be great to see VR implemented in a healthy and fun way that is not only associated with shooting zombies, scary horror VR videogames or training simulations.
Finally one thing that was most prominent from the whole show, was the continuous showcasing of VR experiences by using HTC Vive. Almost every single experience used the headset, from Black Box VR to training simulations that combined it with magic leap. Another thing that was noticeable was the incredible number of Asian or Chinese people at CES. It’s very clear that China is a huge market to be tapped, and it will be interesting to see more Chinese VR and AR tech coming out of the continent as well as seeing how HTC Vive will fare in the Eastern market.
[Update] Wie angekündigt ist Sprint Vector für die Oculus Rift sowie HTC Vive erschienen und auf Steam und im Oculus Store erhältlich. Derzeit lässt sich das Rennspiel mit Rabatt beziehen: Bei Oculus kostet Sprint Vector 24 statt 30 Euro, die Steam-Fassung ist mit 22,40 statt 28 Euro noch etwas günstiger. Die Version für PSVR soll nächste Woche am 13. Februar folgen. Ungewöhnlich ist die Fortbewegungsmethode, die an unser Spiel Lucid Trips erinnert: Tempo gewinnt man durch das Schwingen der Arme. Erste Reviews zum Titel sind bereits erschienen, Road to VR vergibt Sprint Vector beispielsweise hervorragende 9 von 10 Punkten.
Originalmeldung vom 31. Januar 2018:
Nach der erfolgreichen geschlossenen Betaphase veröffentlicht Entwicklerstudio Survios ihren VR-Titel Sprint Vector nun am 8. Februar für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive auf SteamVR sowie im Oculus Store. Auch Konsolenbesitzer dürfen sich freuen, denn der Release des rasanten Rennspiels folgt nur wenige Tage später am 13. Februar für PlayStation VR (PSVR). In der geschlossenen Beta konnte man bereits Einblicke über das Gameplay erhalten, das uns ab Februar erwartet.
Sprint Vector – Features aus der Closed Beta
In Sprint Vector dürft ihr in einem intergalaktischen Wettbewerb gegen eure Kontrahenten antreten und in Hochgeschwindigkeitsrennen durch anspruchsvolle und bunte Rennstrecken sausen. Der VR-Titel glänzt dabei mit einer innovativen Fortbewegungsmethode, bei der ihr euch ähnlich wie in Lucid Trips durch Armschwingungen vorwärts bewegt.
Dabei gilt es Hindernissen auszuweichen und vor euren Gegnern im Ziel anzukommen. Doch um euch gegen die Konkurrenz durchzusetzen, müsst ihr die Spielmechaniken beherrschen, die neben Rennen und Springen auch das Fliegen durch verschiedene Passagen erfordert. Außerdem dürft ihr frei verteilte Power-ups einsammeln, um euch einen entscheidenden Vorteil zu verschaffen. Mit bis zu acht Spielern gleichzeitig könnt ihr euch auf die virtuelle Rennstrecke begeben, um eine Bestzeit zu erlaufen. Eure Ergebnisse werden danach auf einem Leaderboard festgehalten.
In der Closed Beta konnte man bereits zwölf unterschiedliche Karten begutachten, die für kompetitive Multiplayer-Runden zur Verfügung stehen. Den Spielern stehen dafür acht intergalaktische Charaktere mit frei schaltbaren Skins für die Rennen zur Option.
Wer lieber für sich alleine sprintet, dem stehen Solorennen gegen die AI zur Auswahl, um die eigenen Fähigkeiten zu verbessern und die Eigenheiten der Maps kennenzulernen. Für erfahrenere Spieler gibt es zudem neun Challenge-Strecken, die eure Fähigkeiten herausfordern. Die Maps enthalten je drei spezifische Aufgaben, die es zu meistern gilt.
Sprint Vector erscheint am 8. Februar für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive auf SteamVR und im Oculus Store sowie am 13. Februar für PlayStation VR (PSVR) im PlayStation Store. Passend zu den anstehenden Olympischen Winterspielen 2018 spendieren die Entwickler den Käufern der PC-Version ein kostenloses Launch Skinpack für Winterathleten.
With Sprint Vector’s closed beta now completed you maybe wondering when the actual videogame will become available. Well worry not as developer Survios has now announced the official launch dates for both the PC and console versions.
Sprint Vector will hit Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on 8th February, with PlayStation VR users having to wait a few days extra, seeing a launch on 13th February.
VRFocus has been extensively covering Survios’ follow-up to the popular Raw Data, having previewed the title on a couple of occasions as well as giving out codes for last weeks closed beta. Sprint Vector puts up to up to eight players in a high-octane intergalactic game show created by media mastermind Mr. Entertainment. Recruited from across the universe, players must compete in heart-pumping, sweat inducing races where they must navigate colorful but deadly obstacle courses full of twists, turns, traps, boosts, power-ups, shortcuts, and platforming elements.
Features include: public and private online multiplayer modes, whether you wish to race against friends or the entire world; 12 race tracks that feature pyramids to scale, alien ruins, toxic waste, icy tundras and much more, all littered with multiple routes and obstacles to slow you down. To add to the challenge there are power-ups to collect, allowing you to drop proximity mines, increase speed with a nitro boost or attack fellow racers with rockets.
It’s not just about multiplayer either. All the courses are available in single-player, so you can practice before heading online. You can also tackle three specific challenges across nine single-player challenge courses with Local and Global Leaderboards.
At launch, the Sprint Vector Championship Intergalactica Winter Games cosmetic skins pack will be available to all PC racers free of charge. Arriving just in time for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, these international-inspired skins represent 16 countries and are available across all eight playable characters.
If Survios release any further details on Sprint VectorVRFocus will keep you updated.
