Super Puzzle Galaxy – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

July 9, 2018

‘Super Puzzle Galaxy’ Exits Early Access, 24 Additional Levels Released in ‘Warp Ball’ DLC

Super Puzzle Galaxy (2018), a physics-based puzzle game from Vive Studios and 2Bears Studio, has just existed its seven-month stint in Early Access. To boot, the studios have also launched the game’s second DLC pack today, dubbed ‘Warp Ball’, which adds 24 new levels and two new obstacle types.

Super Puzzle Galaxy is a physics sandbox based in outer space that lets you sculpt sand across 16 challenge levels (base game) in effort to get the ball to the goal.

Image courtesy Vive Studios, 2 Bear Studio

Players use the new Warp Ball ability to solve 16 more additional puzzles. A new ice trap and rotating obstacles are available in Create Mode. You’ll also be able to use the Warp Ball ability to solve the eight challenge levels and see if you can collect all galaxy gems—making for 56 levels with both the base game and Warp Ball DLC.

The game is available on Steam and Viveport. Priced at $2 extra, the Warp Ball DLC is offered separately from the base game on Steam, and as an in-app purchase on Viveport.

The post ‘Super Puzzle Galaxy’ Exits Early Access, 24 Additional Levels Released in ‘Warp Ball’ DLC appeared first on Road to VR.

July 5, 2018

Super Puzzle Galaxy Leaves Early Access, Warp Ball DLC Pack now Available

Indie developer 2 Bears Studio has worked with HTC’s own in-house developer/publisher Vive Studios on a couple of exclusive titles for the headset, Arcade Saga and Super Puzzle Galaxy. The latter arrived in Early Access back in December 2017, proving to be a novel physics sandbox puzzler. Today, Super Puzzle Galaxy has left Steam Early Access whilst adding further DLC to expanded its gameplay.

Super Puzzle Galaxy

Super Puzzle Galaxy is very much like a sci-fi sandbox on some alien world. The core 32 level campaign is all about the manipulation of sand (no sandcastles though), having to guide an orb from a starting position to a goal whilst avoiding traps and other dangerous obstacles on route and collecting little glowing HTC Vive emblems on route.

To expand the gameplay further there are 16 challenge levels to test your sand crafting skills on, plus a fully featured level editor. This features the exact same content as the main campaign so you can build as many fiendish levels as you can think of.

VRFocus previewed Super Puzzle Galaxy earlier this year, remarking: “Super Puzzle Galaxy might be a single-player experience yet it’s one of those VR titles that’ll thrive through community content creation.” Going on to add: “Even at this early stage there’s a reasonable amount of content on offer, all of which looks highly polished and very well put together.”

Super Puzzle Galaxy

With the launch from Early Access 2 Bears Studio has released another DLC pack for the title. The Warp Ball DLC contains 24 new levels and 2 new objects; the new ice trap that can freeze your ball and slow down your momentum, and the new rotating obstacle that will turn other obstacles. Plus there are 8 new challenge levels. The previous Boost Ball DLC came out in February and featured 24 new levels, 2 objects, and 8 additional challenge levels. Both DLC packs retail for £1,69 GBP.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of 2 Bears Studio, reporting back with any further content updates.

January 17, 2018

Preview: Super Puzzle Galaxy – Sand Castles Just Aren’t a Challenge Anymore

Unless you had a particularly boring childhood then you’ll likely have the odd memory or two of playing at the beach, trying to make sandcastles before ultimately destroying them like some gargantuan monster. While those carefree days might be over, that’s no reason to quit having some sand-based fun as 2 Bear Studio – the team behind Arcade Saga – has now delivered its latest project onto Steam Early Access, Super Puzzle Galaxy, a puzzle title that’s all about manipulating the gritty yellow stuff.

Super Puzzle Galaxy

If the first paragraph got your hopes up that Super Puzzle Galaxy is some awesome sandcastle builder then VRFocus has to say that’s not the case. But that’s not to say the title isn’t good, in fact the puzzler has all the hallmarks of a devilishly addictive videogame that makes use of HTC Vive’s roomscale technology.

All the puzzles revolve around a sandpit type area, which you can pick up and more about at leisure to find the most comfortable spot. The objective, like so many other titles of this ilk – Bounce – is about getting a ball to the goal whilst picking up three tokens on route. There’s no time limit – although a global leader board does record it – with the main challenge being to manipulate the level to make a decent route.

This is all done with one controller, having a square brush-like tool that can raise and lower the sand at will. For fine tuning gulleys and ramps the tool size can be altered by spinning your thumb around the controllers’ touchpad. While this does make for easy building, getting it just right takes a good eye and a fine touch for those more difficult levels.

Super Puzzle Galaxy

Super Puzzle Galaxy might be a single-player experience yet it’s one of those VR titles that’ll thrive through community content creation – much like Fantastic Contraption. There’s a campaign with several levels to get you started and show you the sort of levels that can be created. The actual creation mode looks to feature the exact same tools 2 Bear Studio used to make the campaign levels so there’s plenty to work with to make your level as difficult as possible.

Even at this early stage there’s a reasonable amount of content on offer, all of which looks highly polished and very well put together. Naturally as development continues more features including additional levels and creative options will be added to beef up what’s already a solid VR experience. Super Puzzle Galaxy has all the hallmarks of a VR fan favourite puzzle title, and VRFocus will certainly be interested in seeing hoe development continues.

November 17, 2017

HTC Announces New First-Party Titles, ‘Front Defense: Heroes’ & ‘Super Puzzle Galaxy’

HTC’s internal development and publishing arm Vive Studios has announced two new games coming to Vive in early December. Physics puzzler Super Puzzle Galaxy from 2 Bears Studio and multiplayer WWII shooter Front Defense: Heroes from Fantahorn Studio will both launch with promotional pricing.

As detailed in a recent entry on the official Vive blog, both games are second entries from Vive Studios development partners 2 Bears Studio and Fantahorn Studio, creators of Arcade Saga (2016) and Front Defense (2017) respectively. Although Arcade Saga was updated with Oculus Touch support, both games were originally designed to take advantage of the Vive’s room-scale VR capabilities, and the new games Super Puzzle Galaxy and Front Defense: Heroes have also been described as ‘room-scale’ experiences.

Image courtesy 2 Bears Studio

Super Puzzle Galaxy will be available in early December on Steam with 75% off the standard $9.99 price at launch “for a limited time”. This physics-based puzzler involves terrain and object manipulation and will contain 48 levels and an in-game editor to create more.

“Super Puzzle Galaxy was born out of a passion for creating compelling and engaging VR content for the whole family that challenges the player’s problem solving and creative abilities,” said David Sapienza, Executive Producer of 2 Bears Studio. “Adding user-generated content was a core tenet of creating something that empowers the community, and Super Puzzle Galaxy delivers a unique room-scale VR experience. We’re excited to see the levels and Rube Goldberg contraptions the community is able to come up with.”

Front Defense: Heroes aims to build on the strengths of the first Front Defense title, but with a focus on multiplayer – a feature missing from the original. Launching on Steam and Viveport in early December at a promotional price of $4.99, the new game will feature multiple maps, offering 5v5 multiplayer across capture the flag, deathmatch, and defense mission modes. As described in our Front Defense review, its room-scale game design was the highlight, as you could only physically move around a predetermined space (no artificial locomotion was possible), taking cover behind your virtual defenses. Front Defense: Heroes appears to be expanding on this concept, introducing a new locomotion system called ‘V-Move’, described as “unique” and “innovative” on the Vive blog.

“With Front Defense: Heroes we’ve built upon our experience with Front Defense to engage the community and offer new challenges with every match,” said River Ho, producer at Fantahorn. “As a dynamic multiplayer shooter, Front Defense: Heroes lends itself perfectly to the competitive ethos of VR e-sports, an important feature as VR gaming matures.”

The post HTC Announces New First-Party Titles, ‘Front Defense: Heroes’ & ‘Super Puzzle Galaxy’ appeared first on Road to VR.

November 16, 2017

Front Defense: Heroes und Super Puzzle Galaxy im Dezember für Vive

Die Vive Studios kündigen die VR-Spiele Front Defense: Heroes und Super Puzzle Galaxy für HTC Vive an. Beide sollen bereits im nächsten Monat auf SteamVR erscheinen. Der Multiplayer-Shooter Front Defense: Heroes ist die Weiterentwicklung der Zweiten-Weltkriegs-Simulation Front Defense, während Super Puzzle Galaxy als familienfreundliches VR-Rätselspiel mit der Möglichkeit zur freien Levelgestaltung überzeugen möchte.

Front Defense: Heroes – Multiplayer-Shooter mit eSports-Potenzial

Front Defense

Der Roomscale-Multiplayer-Shooter Front Defense: Heroes von Fantahorn Studios ist ebenso wie der Vorgängertitel Front Defense im Zweiten Weltkrieg angesetzt. Doch statt euch eine Singleplayer-Kampagne vorzusetzen, liegt der Fokus des Spiels auf Fünf-gegen-Fünf Multiplayergefechten in unterschiedlichen Spielmodi. Im Death-Match-, Capture-the-Flag- und Defense-Mission-Modus dürft ihr mit einer Auswahl diverser Waffen auf verschiedenen Karten gegeneinander antreten. Zusätzlich kündigen die Verantwortlichen eine neue einzigartige Fortbewegungsmethode namens V-Move an, die sich besonders für Multiplayer-Spiele eignen soll.

Die Entwickler nutzten ihre Erfahrungen, die sie mit Front Defense sammeln konnten, um sie in ihrem neuen Projekt umzusetzen und dem Shooter ein fesselndes Gameplay zu verpassen. Zudem soll der VR-Titel dank seiner verschiedenen Spieloptionen sich gut für kompetitive eSports-Matches eignen.

Front Defense: Heroes soll Anfang Dezember auf Steam und Viveport zum Aktionspreis von 4,99 Euro erscheinen.

Super Puzzle Galaxy – familienfreundlicher Rätselspaß

Super-Puzzle-Galaxy-HTC-Vive

Das zweite Projekt Super Puzzle Galaxy geht hingegen einen völlig anderen Weg. Innerhalb des VR-Rätselspiels wird der Spieler auf einem intergalaktischen Planeten ausgesetzt, um dort durch die Veränderung der Spielwelt insgesamt 48 unterschiedliche Rätsel zu lösen. Dabei sind der Kreativität kaum Grenzen gesetzt, denn durch das Drücken und Ziehen allerlei Objekte müsst ihr Wege und Durchgänge freilegen, um neue Fähigkeiten freizuschalten.

Neben den vorhandenen Rätseln ist es außerdem möglich, per Editor eigene Karten zu erstellen und diese mit anderen Spielern zu teilen. Damit möchten die Entwickler eine lebhafte Community zum VR-Titel schaffen, die miteinander interagieren und sich austauschen kann.

Super Puzzle Galaxy von 2 Bears Studio soll Mitte Dezember auf Steam für 9,99 Euro zum reduzierten Preis erhältlich sein.

Wir werden euch über die genauen Veröffentlichungsdaten der beiden VR-Titel auf dem Laufenden halten.

(Quellen: VR Focus | Vive Blog)

Der Beitrag Front Defense: Heroes und Super Puzzle Galaxy im Dezember für Vive zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

November 15, 2017

Vive Studios Working on Super Puzzle Galaxy and Front Defense: Heroes for 2017 Release

HTC’s own in-house developer/publisher Vive Studios has already release a couple of virtual reality (VR) titles over the past year, 2 Bears Studio’s Arcade Saga and Fantahorn Studios’ Front Defense. Today, the teams have revealed their next projects, Super Puzzle Galaxy and Front Defense: Heroes respectively.

While the original Front Defense was a stationary WWII-inspired wave shooter, Front Defense: Heroes is a multiplayer combat experience. A 5v5 room-scale multiplayer shooter, players can choose to be Axis or Allies, with multiple maps to play on, weapons, and several game modes, including: capture the flag, death match and defense mission mode. Additionally, Fantahorn Studios will be debuting a unique locomotion system called V-Move.

“With Front Defense: Heroes we’ve built upon our experience with Front Defense to engage the community and offer new challenges with every match,” said River Ho, Front Defense producer. “As a dynamic multiplayer shooter, Front Defense: Heroes lends itself perfectly to the competitive ethos of VR e-sports, an important feature as VR gaming matures.”

Front Defense: Heroes image

In 2 Bears Studio’s Super Puzzle Galaxy, players manipulate the world’s terrain by pushing, pulling, and manipulating sand and other objects to solve physics-based puzzles. At launch, it’ll feature leaderboards and 48 pre-built puzzles with more to follow. Plus, Super Puzzle Galaxy will allow users to create their own puzzles with an in-game editor which they can share then with the community.

“Super Puzzle Galaxy was born out of a passion for creating compelling and engaging VR content for the whole family that challenges the player’s problem solving and creative abilities,” said David Sapienza, Executive Producer of 2 Bears Studio “Adding user-generated content was a core tenet of creating something that empowers the community, and Super Puzzle Galaxy delivers a unique room-scale VR experience. We’re excited to see the levels and Rube Goldberg contraptions the community is able to come up with.”

Both Front Defense: Heroes and Super Puzzle Galaxy will be available in early December on Steam, with the former also on Viveport. Front Defense: Heroes will have a promotional price of $4.99 USD, while Super Puzzle Galaxy will retail for $9.99 with limited time launch discount of 75 percent off.

The double launch will come just as Vive Studios celebrates its first anniversary. As further titles are announced VRFocus will keep you updated.