Category: Survios

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Raw Data Is Getting Prequel Comic Series

Virtual reality (VR) shooter Raw Data by Survios is one of the most popular VR titles on Steam, surpassing $1 million (USD) in sales in just one month. The title will now be getting a comic mini-series tie-in.

As reported by Den of Geek, the Raw Data comic series will be a seven issue prequel. The story of Raw Data concerns a group of hackers tasked with breaking in to a major corporation in order to find information on their nefarious plans, fighting off armies of lethal robots in the process. The comic will explore the backstory of robot sidekick Simon Teller, with a first issue titled ‘Promotion Material’. The comic mini series will be written by Nick Bragg, who previously worked on CW’s The 100, with artwork by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles artist Michael Dialynas.

“It felt like the world of Raw Data was too big to be just a game,” said Jonathan Callan, Survios Senior Writer, in a release. “We love comics, and we wanted each creator to bring his or her own style, to help spotlight all the different stuff that we know about this world that the player might not get to see.”

Copies of the first issue of the Raw Data comic are available for free to attendees of San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) and can be obtained by visiting the Survios booth at the ‘VR Con’ section of SDCC, which is located at the Omni Hotel.

Raw Data recently introduced the new Hostile Takeover PvP expansion, and Design Director at Survios Mike McTyre recently spoke to VRFocus about Raw Data and Survios’ plans for VR.

VRFocus will bring you further news on Raw Data and other VR tie-ins as it becomes available.

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Run Run Run or in This Case Sprint in Virtual Reality

When it comes to virtual reality (VR) the biggest problem is simulation sickness. Survios have tackled this head on with Sprint Vector a VR racing videogame that uses locomotion VR and demands players to swing their arms and pushing triggers to run and leap instead of the traditional analogue motions used in gaming.

This is certainly entertaining to watch as a spectator, Sprint Vector was a huge attention grabber at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2017, with long queues of people wanting to play the game. You will feel like a virtual gorilla as you climb and swing  up walls or an extremely accomplished virtual cheetah as you sprint, leap and jump hurdles. Of course when you first start playing you look like a newborn calf struggling to stand up on its wobbly legs. VRFocus has covered Sprint Vector and Pete can tell you what it’s like first-hand as well as discussed the new features coming to Sprint Vector.  however watching a video interview might just be the quickest way to get up to date with what Survios has been doing behind the scenes for Sprint Vector.

Mike  McTyre, the design director of Survios tells VRFocus that they’ve developed something called the fluid locomotion system, where a player can travel up to 60-70mph with no symptoms of nausea. He explains that Sprint Vector is a merging of the virtual with the physical with competition. He believes that this game has a huge potential for what virtual reality is for the industry an has unlocked the potential for future experiences to be made. Since the Game Developers Conference (GDC), they’ve added nitro boost and mines, so you can now boost ahead of competitors as well as plant little mines to trip them up during the race. The game has not be released yet, however you can sign up to a closed beta. Sprint Vector will be released on the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, so far Survios has only showcased races for up to two players but during the release you will be able to race up to eight players. If you don’t have friends who have a VR kit, or you want to practice before showing off your skills online, you can still play with up to eight players with other AI players.

To find out more watch the video below.

 

 

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Survios has Been Listening to You and Delivers: Raw Data

VRFocus has extensively covered what Survios has been doing, but if you haven’t tried out Raw Data here’s a little recap. Raw Data is a first-person (FPS) experience designed for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. With the help of a katana and a pistol you will have to fight off a wave of robot enemies. Choose from three heroes, each with their own weapons, special abilities and combat styles.

VRFocus speak to Mike McTyre, the Design Director about how Survios used their long duration in early access to listen to the virtual reality community. With Raw Data coming to PlayStation VR later this year, and PC exclusive Hostile Takeover expansion they are now also bring Player VS Player (PvP) across all platforms as well with joystick movement support. Mike points out that virtual reality(VR) is completely new and that when you develop for VR you should do something you can’t do anywhere else besides VR. Watch the video below to find out more.

 

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Open Beta for Raw Data PvP Opens Today

Popular shooter Raw Data is expected to get a full release in September 2017 for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, but before that happens, players who already own the Early Access version of the title can participate in an open Beta of the PvP expansion Raw Data: Hostile Takeover.

Players who have bought a copy of Raw Data will be able to participate in the weekend Open Beta test. The Beta build of Raw Data is already available to download so players can grab the files ready for when the Beta servers go live on Friday 7th July at 12pm PT. The Beta test will run until Saturday 8th July, with the servers closing at 9pm PT on that day.

Events will be available to players over that time period, such as a Friday ‘Play with the Devs’ session at 3pm-5pm PT, and ‘Happy Hours’ on both Friday and Saturday.

Steam users can opt-in to the Beta by going in to the Steam Library, right-clicking on Raw Data and selecting the BETAS tab from the Properties menu. The development team do note that users who choose to join in the Beta will be playing with an unfinished build, so bugs and glitches should be expected. Single-player and co-op content will also be disabled with users are playing the PvP Beta in order to prevent corruption to existing save files.

Developer Survios have also set up a channel on popular chat application Discord where players who choose to join in the PvP Beta can join in the Hostile Takeover server to discuss the PvP expansion with fellow players as well as the developers. Further information can be found on the Raw Data Steam page.

VRFocus will bring you further news on Raw Data as it becomes available.

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E3 2017: A Hands-On, High Speed Trek Through Sprint Vector

E3 2017: A Hands-On, High Speed Trek Through Sprint Vector

Fast experiences in VR have to tread a thin line when giving players freedom over control. Locomotion is a fickle beast in the virtual ecosystem as developers continue to experiment as they seek a perfect balance of movement of comfort.

Survios has established itself as a leading VR developer with its game Raw Data, but now the studio is trying to propel even further with a title that pushes what is perceived to be acceptable when it comes to fast locomotion. It’s called Sprint Vector and we got our hands on it at E3 2017.

Before getting put under the hood for this high-speed experience, the mechanics were broken down for me. Forward propulsion is managed by swinging your arms in a natural running motion with you pulling the Vive controller trigger at the highest point of each swing and releasing at the base. The direction of your sprint is controlled by the direction your head is turned. There were buttons for jumping, where you press and then swing both arms toward the ground and release to push yourself upward, and there are special points on a map that allow you to climb. Climbing can be managed normally by grabbing and reaching out for the next point, or you can kick it into high gear by grabbing and using the same motion as a jump to send yourself flying up a wall to grab a much higher point.

When we first reported on Sprint Vector’s reveal, a Survios rep had this to say about the game:

We kept hearing that natural locomotion is impossible in VR. It makes people too nauseous. So instead of giving into that, we decided to prove them wrong. In this game players are not just walking or strolling, they are running jumping flying on the ground through the air using our fluid locomotion.

Once I got the headset on and the controllers in my hand, I learned that they accomplished just what they wanted. I played a solo run at first and did a pretty solid job moving through, over, and around all of the obstacles toward the goal. There’s a newly implemented ability to shoot beams from your hands and a portion near the end of the course was designed to take advantage of that, but I was so engaged with the running motions that I weaved through all of the large vases instead of shooting them.

Once I was done, I watched another journalist play after they’d just watched me and he took things up a notch with how fast he swung his arms and tried to climb up walls. He didn’t best my time, but the stage was set. The Survios team gave us a break and then pitted us against each other in a race. I got a chance to check out their special power-ups for the versus mode and I kept blasting my opponent with an item that slowed him down a great deal, though I wasn’t 100 percent sure of how I was deploying it. It ended in a victory for the UploadVR team but the biggest win is just how fun this game was. There are more things in the works like wall running and drifting, but the key here is that they have a very fun foundation to build upon.

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Hit VR Shooter Raw Data Gets Full Release and New Features

Survios’ massively popular virtual reality (VR) shooter is giving players another reason to put on their head-mounted displays (HMDs). Raw Data is getting a brand-new update, bringing the game out of early access and adding a whole host of new features.

But before the full launch, Early Access players will be able to enjoy one last update this summer. Players will enjoy a PC-exclusive Hostile Takeover expansion that’ll provide new Player VS Player (PvP) gameplay, and players across all platforms will now enjoy joystick movement support.

The new PvP mode will have new maps, revamped abilities and locomotion movesets all exclusively available in Hostile Takeover, taking players deeper into the Eden Corp narrative.

The new SyndiK8 hero is called Elder the Rogue Hunter, an archer using the latest in future technology to assassinate targets, such as homing arrows, explosive barrages, multi-shots and more.

When the full release drops in September, the game will be available across HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR.

Survios’ Chief Creative Officer and co-founder, James Iliff, shares the development team’s passion and gratitude towards players; “Our entire development team is extremely grateful for our dedicated player community, whose support and passion drive us every day. We love hearing all the feedback from our eager fans, and we’ve implemented many of those suggestions into the title with the goal of making the most exciting VR action game in the market. It’s truly a VR experience built by and for the VR community.”

Raw Data will receive a full release in September 2017, giving gamers a great reason to either plug back in, or jump in for the first time. For everything on Raw Data and VR gaming, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.

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Racing Game “Sprint Vector” is an Intense Workout with VR Locomotion that Just Works

Andrew-AbedianSprint Vector is an “adrenaline platformer” racing game that relies upon a unique locomotion technique of swinging your arms in order to run through an obstacle course. It’s the latest game from Raw Data developer Survios, but with a much more light-hearted stylized art aesthetic that has a unique mash-up of a game show, extreme sports, and a competitive racing game with an Sonic-inspired obstacle course. It’s also a unique combination of active exercise with a combination of embodied and abstracted gameplay mechanics.

I had a chance to catch up with Sprint Vector game designer Andrew Abedian at GDC where we talked about the mechanics of racing, the internal habits that are being formed by Survios developers, the intensity of exercise and stamina required to play the game, achieving flow states, and it’s potential to evolve into a competitive eSport. It’s a super fun experience to watch other people play either in a tournament competition in mixed reality or just as a quirky form of VR performance art (examples down below).

LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST

Sprint Vector is now ready for Beta Sign-ups here.

Here’s a number of examples of different styles of people playing Sprint Vector

Gameplay footage from GDC:

Support Voices of VR

Music: Fatality & Summer Trip

The post Racing Game “Sprint Vector” is an Intense Workout with VR Locomotion that Just Works appeared first on Road to VR.

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Sprint Vector Gets Bigger With New Features

Survios has announced more of what we can expect from their virtual reality (VR) parkour-skiing hybrid, Sprint Vector. The videogame was praised by those who played it at GDC 2017, and the developers are keen to point out that there’s still more to come.

Sprint Vector is a game that takes on the task of locomotion in VR in a unique way. Instead of simply moving in the virtual world by pushing an analogue stick forward, players swing their arms in wide arcs, alternating motion and using the triggers to maximise the distances they can run and leap.

VRFocus played the game earlier this year, and said; “Whether its the motion of your arms or the design layout, Sprint Vector doesn’t induce those feelings of simulator sickness that many may expect when looking at [the game]. The subject is always a difficult one to approach due to everyone being effected differently, but it would seem that the direct approach to controlling your own speed – and subsequently making your body move more – can help mitigate those issues developers try to avoid using controls like teleportation.”

New features players can expect in Sprint Vector include built-in weapons, items and power-ups. New running techniques – drifting and wall running – just add to the variety of moves and traversal the game offers, also potentially opening the door to new kinds of levels.

Each player can now blast objects in the environment to change the path forward, and grab Nitro and Slow Mines – the former boosting your speed, and the latter can be left in wait to slow down your foes.

Sprint Vector is no longer just a tech demo for a new system of movement, as Survios Game Design Director Mike McTyre makes clear; “When we first unveiled Sprint Vector earlier this year, we were blown away by the reaction to the Fluid Locomotion system.”

McTyre continues; “It’s one thing to be able to talk about seamless motion controls in VR, but it’s quite another to be able to implement them at such high speeds without causing the player any discomfort. Now, we’re taking that core experience and adding in fun weapons and power-ups to make the game more competitive and exciting for both players and spectators.”

Sprint Vector will be at E3, along with Survios’ critically acclaimed title Raw Data.

For more on VR, stay on VRFocus.

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‘Raw Data’ Launches out of Early Access Today with 25% Discount, Comes to PSVR October 10th

Survios’ stunning VR action game Raw Data (2017) is officially out of its long, but healthy stint on Steam Early Access for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The high-flying shooter, slicer, and high-tech beat ’em up will also be available on PlayStation VR come October 10th.

Update (10/5/17): Corrected this story to indicate that the PSVR launch of the game will come on October 10th rather than simultaneously alongside the 1.0 launch on Rift and Vive.

Update (10/5/17): ‘Raw Data’ has exited Early Access today, launching the ‘final’ version of the game for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, followed by the PSVR launch on October 10th. Through October 17th players can take advantage of a 25% launch discount on Steam and Oculus. Check out the snappy new ’90s-style trailer:

Survios has also created a cool mock website for its secretly evil corporation, Eden Corp. Go to the website below and enter in the following login credentials.

edencorp.tokyo
Log In: Simon
PW: Ed3nLi3s

Check back for our updated review. In the meantime, check out our unscored Early Access review. You may also want to read about the interesting metrics and lessons the studio learned throughout development.

Original Article (06/17/17): Announced at E3 2017, Raw Data will launch out of Early Access simultaneously on Vive, Rift and PSVR in September, bringing a wealth of improvements to its already polished Early Access state. Raw Data’s first-person combat is some of the most impressive VR action we’ve seen to date, and recently made a comfortable transition to Oculus Touch after its debut on the Vive in July 2016; hopefully the move to PSVR will be similarly successful.

Photo courtesy Survios

Cross-platform online co-op is currently possible, but the final summer update to the PC version will see a ‘Hostile Takeover’ PvP expansion that allows ‘Eden’ vs. ‘SyndiK8’ competitive matches with up to 10 players. The trailer heading this video shows the new mode in action.

This mode is exclusive to PC, and includes new maps, revamped abilities and locomotion movesets. You can sign up to the closed beta here.

“Our players have been clamoring for PvP ever since Raw Data’s earliest demos,” said Mike McTyre, Survios Game Design Director. “Raw Data was always meant to be played with your friends beyond traditional co-op. Now, whether it’s an intense one-on-one duel or a chaotic 10-person battle, players can actually feel the adrenaline-charged intensity of fighting for their lives—only now against each other.”

A new playable SyndiK8 hero is being introduced, Elder the Rogue Hunter, described as a “technologically-enhanced archer” armed with assassination-centric mechanics including homing arrows and holographic decoys. This adds a fourth option to the existing Bishop, Saija, and Boss characters, each offering a different play style. A “vibrant new environment set in Eden Corp’s deceptive Botanical Gardens” will also help to strengthen the launch content and increase gameplay variety.

Photo courtesy Survios

The game’s visuals are also receiving further polish, with a move to Unreal Engine’s forward renderer—used to great effect in games like Robo Recall—Survios promises a “massive graphics boost that amplifies the pixel clarity.”

“It’s been an exciting journey building Raw Data, and it’s amazing to be here adding the final features and polish that will bring everything together,” said James Iliff, Survios Chief Creative Officer and co-founder. “Our entire development team is extremely grateful for our dedicated player community, whose support and passion drive us every day. We love hearing all the feedback from our eager fans, and we’ve implemented many of those suggestions into the title with the goal of making the most exciting VR action game in the market. It’s truly a VR experience built by and for the VR community.”

The game is being shown at Survios’ E3 booth alongside their upcoming VR platformer Sprint Vector.

The post ‘Raw Data’ Launches out of Early Access Today with 25% Discount, Comes to PSVR October 10th appeared first on Road to VR.

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Survios Sets ‘Sprint Vector’ Release for Late 2017, Details New Features

Los Angeles-based VR studio Survios has continued to improve its ‘adrenaline platformer’ Sprint Vector since its reveal at GDC 2017 in March, adding weapons, powerups and new movement systems. Detailed in a press release at E3 2017, the game is set to launch for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and Touch by the end of the year.

The new game from the creators of Raw Data (2016) is another showcase of their ‘Active VR’ philosophy, employing an innovative, nausea-avoiding Fluid Locomotion System to navigate at high speeds around a virtual environment. Using motion controllers to track ‘sprinting’ arm movements (along with jumping, climbing, and Superman-style flying), players propel themselves forward in an intuitive, momentum-based way, described by the developers as ‘intended motion’. While artificial locomotion techniques are often used as a substitute for physically moving around, in this case the game requires significant physical exertion in order to be competitive, and is intended for room-scale spaces.

image courtesy Survios

Our hands-on at GDC was very positive; an ‘incredibly fun’ game with breakthrough controls for VR locomotion. Since then, the developers have enhanced the movement with new drift and wall-running mechanics, as well as adding weapons, items and power-ups for more ways to influence the outcome of a race. Along with a standard blasting ability to ‘destroy environmental obstacles’, players can periodically grab two new items, ‘Nitro’ (boosting your speed) and ‘Slow Mines’ (dropped behind to slow your opponents). Additional power-ups, weapons, levels, and playable characters will be revealed in the coming months.

Much like Raw Data, the studio has taken solid gameplay mechanics and combined them with a distinctive style and personality – in this case a ‘bombastic spacepunk world’ where you’ll step into the shoes of a diverse range of playable characters, participating in a gameshow hosted by a robot called Mr. Entertainment, who provides amusing running commentary. The game also features cross-platform multiplayer support for up to eight players.

Survios is showcasing Sprint Vector alongside Raw Data at their E3 booth this week, and has opened a sign-up page for the beta test.

The post Survios Sets ‘Sprint Vector’ Release for Late 2017, Details New Features appeared first on Road to VR.