Murder Mystery The Invisible Hours is Coming to Oculus Quest Soon

The Invisible Hours - ScreenShot_05

Tequila Works’ murder mystery title The Invisible Hours is almost three years old having previously launched on PlayStation VR and PC VR headsets. As is the trend due to Oculus Quest’s popularity, the studio is porting the experience over to the standalone headset for a new audience to enjoy.

Limited details are available at present, with Tequila Works recently making the announcement via Twitter, only saying that it was ‘coming soon to Oculus Quest.’

The experience is designed more like a piece of immersive theatre, where players can freely explore and observe an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion; like a fly on the wall.

The synopsis explains that: “A group of strangers receive a curious invitation from the enigmatic inventor, Nikola Tesla, offering each of them the chance to make amends for their darkest wrongdoings. When the last guest arrives at Tesla’s isolated mansion laboratory, they find him dead – murdered. Disgraced Swedish detective, Gustaf Gustav, vows to find the killer amongst the other guests: a blind butler, a convicted murderer, the world’s most famous actress, Tesla’s former assistant, the son of a wealthy railroad magnate, and rival inventor Thomas Edison. But none of these people are what they seem.”

The Invisible Hours screen1

As players wander the hallways listening to the various characters conversations they’ll be able to untangle the dark truth behind the mysterious tale. They’ll also be able to explore the mansion and search for clues hidden within the walls.

The Invisible Hours received a very positive response when it first arrived so this is one title to certainly look forward to, providing a nice change of pace for all the shooters and rhythm-action videogames.

Those who do like the theatrical element may also want to take a look at Tender Claws’ The Under Presents and its recent addition Tempest. This is an actual live experience in VR so you have to book a time slot as a professional actor takes you and other guests through Shakespeare’s classic play, with everyone receiving their own small part to play.

As Tequila Works release further details regarding The Invisible Hours on Oculus Quest, VRFocus will let you know.

Time-bending Murder Mystery ‘The Invisible Hours’ Coming Soon to Quest

Tequila Works today announced that their VR murder mystery game The Invisible Hours (2017) is making its way to Oculus Quest “soon,” the studio says.

The Invisible Hours offers up a unique time-bending gameplay mechanic, which lets the user freely explore the complex Clue-style ‘whodunit’ as an apparition—sort of like an immersive theater piece that you can control, rewind, and experience at your own pace. You follow suspects around and slowly unravel the multi-thread murder mystery.

The Invisible Hours is also a triumph in character animation and overall graphical fidelity. In a Gamasutra post, the creators speak a little about the game’s traditional facial and motion capture of live actors.

“On the shoot, we had to track data very, very carefully: the project amounts to an unprecedented 2,240,000 frames of character data in Motion Builder. As such, it proved to be one of the most complex motion capture shoots in videogame history. But once processed, it was a relatively conventional pipeline to assemble the data inside the engine.”

There’s no timeframe on the Quest port yet, only “soon.”

The post Time-bending Murder Mystery ‘The Invisible Hours’ Coming Soon to Quest appeared first on Road to VR.

The Invisible Hours Brings Its VR Murder Mystery Drama To Quest ‘Soon’

While things might seem to go slowly on the new release front for Oculus Quest a lot of the time, that hasn’t been the case lately. There’s a slew of big titles dropping very soon and now we can add murder mystery drama The Invisible Hours from Tequila Works to that list.

The game’s developer, Tequila Works, announced it’s “coming soon” to Oculus Quest over on Twitter:

The premise in The Invisible Hours is essentially like one giant murder mystery party is playing out before you and as an outside observer you have to piece together the pieces to solve the murder of one Nikola Tesla.

Rather than actually “doing” a lot in The Invisible Hours, you spend most of your time observing and searching for clues while you browse environments and listen to conversations. The characters, world building, and performances are the cornerstones here — and being able to explore more freely on the wireless Oculus Quest will be a great boon to immersion.

In his original review from 2017, Jamie from UploadVR wrote the following before awarding it a 9 out of 10 on our previous review scale:

“The Invisible Hours is unlike anything else you’ll play or watch in VR this year; a genuinely enthralling murder mystery boldly told in an entirely new way. Its character-driven drama is near faultless not just in the dialogue and plotting but also in the superb staging and pacing that brings the world to life. It’s an experiment that pays off in spades and could well provide a template for VR storytelling to come.”

That’s pretty high praise.

Stay tuned to UploadVR for more news on upcoming Oculus Quest games like The Invisible Hours. Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

The post The Invisible Hours Brings Its VR Murder Mystery Drama To Quest ‘Soon’ appeared first on UploadVR.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son Coming to EU Stores in December for PlayStation VR

Perp Games, purveyors of physical virtual reality (VR) videogames for PlayStation VR has announced its working with Tequila Works to bring Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son to retail, starting with European stores in December. 

Groundhog Day VR image3

Released in September across multiple formats, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son continues on from the original 90s movie. Created in collaboration with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and MWMi, the videogame puts you in the shoes of Phil Connors Jr., the son of the protagonist of the iconic film, as he returns to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Just like his father Connors Jr. is forced to relive the same day over and over. The only way out is to listen to friends and family and help them out by solving elaborate puzzles inside the time loop.

“Groundhog Day is a timeless classic, a tragic comedy –or a comedic tragedy? – of philosophical tones. We are big fans of the original movie so, of course, we were in for the sequel… in VR! With Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son we wanted players to come for the lulz but stay for the depth,” said Raul Rubio, CEO and Creative Director of Tequila Works in a statement. The journey from selfish to selfless is plagued with hilarity, introspection and many, many loops. We are delighted that fans can put this refreshing and narrative-complex VR title on the self, next to its illustrious predecessor, as a resonating monument to all daddy issues in the world. To World peace!”

Groundhog Day

“Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is one of the most talked-about VR games of the year, coming from one of the most talented VR studios in the world. We can’t wait for retailers to be able to offer to take the trip back to Punxsutawney later this year and are thrilled to have been given the chance to work with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality to bring this game to a wider audience”, adds Rob Edwards, Managing Director of Perp Games.

European stores will have Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son available from 6th December 2019 for PlayStation VR. A North American launch will follow, no date has been announced at the moment. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

The VR Job Hub: Tequila Works & Talespin

Both Talespin and Tequila Works have released new projects this month, with the former specialising in immersive training solutions for enterprise use cases. The latter is a videogame developer, its latest project being Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. Which sounds interesting they both have plenty of jobs on offer.

Location Company Role Link
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Art Director Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Tool Programmer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Programmer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Community Manager Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Monetisation Designer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works IT Technician Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Game Designer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Animator Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin 3D Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin HR Manager Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin Senior Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin Unity Tools Developer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Business Development Associate Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Content Marketing Specialist Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Project Manager Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Senior 3D Technical Artist Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son Review: Live, Learn, Repeat In 2019’s Most Surprising VR Game

Frankly speaking, I’d have been impressed if Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son resembled a best-forgotten, straight-to-DVD sequel. This is not, I’m sure you’d agree, the most obvious of options for a VR follow-up. And yet, somehow, it fits like a glove.

This is a remarkably natural concoction of immersive storytelling and interactivity. It probably wouldn’t be in the hands of anyone other than Tequila Works, a studio with suspiciously specific experience in the field of time-bending narratives. It’s as if the team itself had been making the same game over and over until it arrived at this, a perfect outlet for its fixation on time-distorted stories.

And it really runs with the opportunity, intricately navigating a multi-stranded narrative in which Phil Connors Jr., a familiar brand of mean-spirited vlogger, reckons with the legacy of his enlightened father. Connors Jr. is sharp-tongued and responsibility-adverse, which comes to a head when he returns to his home town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Forced to relive the same day over and over, he wrestles with being raised by a know-it-all of a Dad and the disdain it fostered inside of him.

It’s one of the weighty themes that shows Tequila Works, which could have simply adopted the film’s gimmick alone, is keen to carry the burden of a true sequel. It’s as much a modernization as it is a follow-up, reimagining the rules of Groundhog Day in a world with smartphones and vegans.

Between scenes you’ll see tweets from Connors Jr. that flesh out the day in refreshingly abridged form and, if you access your tablet, you can scroll through old photos to get a sense of his self-involved past. Combined with a faithfully-recreated rendition of Punxsutawney and an art style that allows for expressive, if occasionally clownish, character performances, there’s more than enough reason to give this brave attempt its fair chance.

If there’s a foot wrong it’s in the expletive-ridden script. The game is often funny but occasionally mistakes the 26-year gap between installments as an excuse to swap Bill Murray’s signature deadpan style for foul-mouthed rants.

This just doesn’t feel at home in a world and story that otherwise does the original justice. There’s genuine affection for the source material here, from Connors Jr.’s biting sarcasm infecting every well-meaning cast member to the sandbox freedom of a world with few repercussions. And, yes, that does include some hilarious attempts at virtually ending it all.

More importantly, though, the plot does an eloquent job of justifying nearly every development and interaction you’ll uncover in Like Father Like Son.

Comfort

Groundhog Day uses node-based teleportation, letting you warp to specific points in the given scene. It’s entirely comfortable, though I recommend playing seated as you won’t be moving much. There’s no smooth locomotion, but locations are quite small in size so it doesn’t feel necessary. Definitely don’t let its omission make you pass on this one, though.

Watching Groundhog Day VR piece itself together puzzle by puzzle is a treat all in itself. The day is comprised of five sequences you’ll repeatedly visit. Every day there’s an opportunity to learn something new about a character or do something that might help them. Your brother, for example, is feeling the weight of recent events on his shoulders and is in desperate need of a coffee. Your broken machine threatens to send him off the deep end, but you can eventually learn how to fix it and save the day. Doing so might reveal a new snippet of information that can help you on your path to self-improvement.

True, it’s small in scale but this keeps things cohesive. Every time a hint was dropped, I knew exactly when and where it applied, and progressively accumulating the knowledge to resolve an initially impossible situation was immensely rewarding. Plus, at about five hours in length, Tequila Works gets impressively economic mileage out of this handful of scenes. The masterfully-constructed breakfast scene has probably around seven or eight necessary variations before the credits roll.

This probably sounds alarmingly (and understandably) repetitive. And it can be in some cases, though Tequila Works does an admirable job of creating shortcuts where possible. Once you’ve learned how to make breakfast, you can simply order it to your house instead, for example, and many actions cause a ripple effect that ensures you won’t have to repeat the same tasks over and over.

Groundhog Day VR Review

PC VR vs PSVR

The PSVR version of Groundhog Day holds up really well in comparison to its PC counterpart. There’s a slight reduction in lighting quality, but the game’s considered art style means everything else looks practically identical. Plus the pacing and design is perfectly suited for PSVR’s 180 tracking. Tequila Works has done right by the platform here.

And yet, somehow, with all these plates already spinning, the developer manages to throw a mostly enjoyable set of minigames and puzzles into the mix, too. Again, they’re often superbly validified, like refining your spray painting skills in order to win the respect of a young graffiti artist that’s hours away from getting himself in trouble. Most of them also feature unique and brilliantly intuitive interactions, like carving a stone statue with a hammer and chisel or mixing drinks at a bar. Crucially, they’re all based around skills you’ll actually improve on with a small bit of practice. I didn’t pass all of them the first time, but usually on the second go I got the hang of it.

There’s almost enough varied and convincing interactivity to rival a game like Vacation Simulator here. Not every minigame is a winner; a dance-off with the lovably naive Ned Ryerson feels just a little too forced if mechanically enjoyable. But once you’ve passed them (each lasts a few minutes) they can be forgotten, should you so choose.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son Review: Final Verdict

What a pleasant surprise, then. Against all odds, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son nestles itself neatly amongst the growing number of VR titles that marry compelling, involving narrative with thoughtful interactivity. It’s a game with a welcome amount of heart, refusing to settle for the usual standards of tie-in media. Dare I say it, it’s even a worthy follow-up to a movie you’d have thought best left untouched. Bravo.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is available now on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index.

This review was conducted using an Oculus Rift S on Oculus Home. For more information on how we review experiences and games, check out our Review Guidelines.

The post Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son Review: Live, Learn, Repeat In 2019’s Most Surprising VR Game appeared first on UploadVR.

Review: Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son

When done correctly repetition can easily work as a videogame mechanic, as seen in puzzle solvers Transpose or Tetris Effect. Get it wrong, however, and a repetitive gameplay arc can become monotonous and boring very quickly. So when Tequila Works announced Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, a sequel to one of the most famous time loop films ever, it sounded like a very bold move. The worry was that could a story about repeating the same day over and over again work in virtual reality (VR) to the extent that frustration and boredom wouldn’t sink in?

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is as close to a direct sequel to Bill Murray’s original Groundhog Day movie from the early 90s as you’re going to get. You play his son, Phil Connors Jr, who managed to escape the town of Punxsutawney and hates going back. Alas, as an up and coming vlogger Connors Jr has returned to capture the famous Groundhog Day event for his viewers, getting caught in a similar time loop to his father.

The first day starts the same as any other, waking up in your old bed to the crackle of the radio. The title has a very gentle pace to begin with, as you begin to interact with the characters and learn their stories – which is highly important – as well as each of the four main locations.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is a very controlled affair in many respects. There’s no freedom of locomotion to go exploring the town as each area has fixed positions to teleport to. This does make for a very comfortable experience for any player, although more experienced VR players may find it a bit too restrained. The use of this mechanic also means you always know which characters form the core of the story, having to complete their individual side missions to learn new information or unlock another branch in the narrative.

Groundhog Day

And it’s this relatively complex entwinement of individual stories which is key to Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. Without it having to repeat these days over and over could become laborious. Talking to each character, in turn, offers a maximum of three conversation threads, each one whittled down the more you repeat. To keep track you have a tablet where you can look at the map (utterly useless) your various tasks to achieve (very handy) and other lesser options like a camera to take photos. The tablet is also where you can quickly reset the day or the actual scene you’re in should new info come to light such as getting a conversation thread really wrong.

So there’s plenty of talking to be had in Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. To mix that up with some interactive gameplay most characters have a mini-game which needs to be solved to complete their portion of the title. These can vary from showcasing your graffiti skills to a know-it-all kid, using a range of tools to improve your father’s statue, or even going so far as to put you inside a coffee machine to learn how to make a cappuccino. It’s all very light-hearted in keeping with the comedic theme of the videogame, whilst being highly interactive.

But Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son does have a serious thread running right though as in keeping with the film. Touching on themes such as family, friendships, work, parenthood and righting the wrongs of past mistakes. What makes Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son great is the emotional connection it manages to create, increasing that vested interest in seeing the story through. It’s a facet only a few VR experiences manage to replicate, and they’re normally not videogames.

Groundhog Day VR image3

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is a lovable VR adventure that doesn’t do any disservice to the original material on which it’s based. There’s quite a bit to do if you look close enough as the title is all about paying attention to your surroundings. As such there can be quite a variance in gameplay time, expect around 6 hours on average, thanks to the different repetition elements – constantly repeating certain mini-games actually makes them easier. With a unique art style and engaging story, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son offers an unexpectedly enjoyable adventure, and you don’t even need to have seen the film. That being said, it’s time to see if Groundhog Day is online somewhere.

80%

Awesome

  • Verdict

Groundhog Day Dev Diary Reveals Inspiration For VR Sequel

The creators behind Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son revealed some of the project’s inspirations and design ideas in a new video.

The game from Tequila Works, produced in partnership with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality and MWM Immersive, comes out next month and we’ve barely scratched the surface of the title in our hands-on time at Gamescom.  Tequila Works made The Invisible Hours (Review 9/10) with its ghost-like game mechanic allowing the player to unfold the story at their own pace and curiosity levels. Groundhog Day takes from that as well as the playfulness of titles like Job Simulator and Rick and Morty VR and sets it inside the world established by the 1993 film Groundhog Day.

But while The Invisible Hours made you a kind of ghost, in Groundhog Day VR you’re the son of the original character in present day and able to affect the story flow of the people around you in the same kind of repeating time loop Bill Murray’s character faced in the original movie.

It is kind of like your dad beat a video game back in the ’90s and now, as his son, you are faced with a similar task using the same sort of time loop mechanic as the original film.

“The idea of what would it be like to grow up as the child of this character, this bigger than life figure, was really interesting,” said Sony Pictures’ Jake Zim, in the video.

Check out the developer diary embedded above and check back for updates on Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son.

The post Groundhog Day Dev Diary Reveals Inspiration For VR Sequel appeared first on UploadVR.

Preview: Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son – Become the Coffee Bean

When listing some of Bill Murray’s greatest films what do you automatically go for, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Zombieland or how about Groundhog Day? The latter might not be most people’s first choice for a virtual reality (VR) videogame but that’s exactly what Tequila Works is going for with VR sequel Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. Demoed for the first time on the PlayStation VR stand during Gamescom this past week, the title is a mixture of mini-games designed to make everyone happy.

Groundhog Day

Due to the restrictions of a games show most demos tend to be the first level or sometimes midway through the title depending on how far development has progressed. What Tequila Works had on offer was in fact three curated segments showcasing the mini-game elements of Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son.

Just like the 1993 film, you’re stuck in a time loop. However you’re not playing Bill Murray’s arrogant self-centred character, Phil Connors, instead, you’re Phil Connors Jr, who just so happens to take after his father.  To get out of the situation you need to solve puzzles, or more accurately, help solve people’s problems putting them before yourself.

So first up you needed to make an awesome coffee to lift your brother’s spirits. This was a two-stage mini-game with the first part taking place inside the coffee machine. To know coffee you have to be coffee and in this instance, that means smashing apart beans in timed sequences. This particular section offered the most challenge with coffee beans weirdly floating in the air to be destroyed as quickly as possible using glowing orbs to throw at them.

Groundhog Day

After that came the outside of the coffee machine, lining up water pipes, pulling levers to hopefully pour this wondrous cup of coffee (should really have been tea). The third was a far more artistic affair, with you trying to impress a young graffiti artist by spray painting an animal design. Whilst not requiring a great deal of accuracy, so long as the relative stencil outline was met then all was good unlocking a paint mode to test those spray painting skills.

The film was always a good-natured comedy and Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son certainly gives off that vibe. In gameplay terms, the mini-games were amusing enough for a few minutes yet there was no chance to really connect with the story and the characters. A Tequila Works staff member did note there would be greater interactions and dialogue which will hopefully lift the experience above just another mini-game compilation. Additionally, there was no sign of the main time loop mechanic the whole story premise is based around which was a real shame.

Plus it’s important to get this right. Groundhog Day was a comedy gem. It may not have been a massive blockbuster but the film has garnered millions of fans around the world, becoming synonymous as the time loop movie copied many times over. As such, doing a disservice to this beloved film will likely see some intense backlash.

Groundhog Day

To be honest, VRFocus isn’t too worried. Tequila Works is well versed in VR development having released The Invisible Hours, a rather good murder mystery, back in 2017. Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son arrives in less than a month’s time on 17th September for multiple headsets – not just PlayStation VR – so you’ll soon know whether to watch the film again or play the VR sequel.

Gamescom 2019: Groundhog Day VR Promises A Journey Of Self-Discover And Coffee Making

There’s something very ‘Bill Murray’ about coffee, isn’t there?

A dependency on a warm, pedestrian beverage, a futile attempt to lift yourself out of the early morning blear that seems to be stretching on for an entire day. It’s fitting, then, that my demo for Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son begins in front of a coffee machine.

Or, rather, inside of one.

Developer Tequila Works doesn’t see this VR-native sequel as a game or movie as such. Like some of the most intriguing VR experiences, it’s a blend of the two; a curious mashup of interactivity and storytelling. Tequila Works wants get you directly involved in the narrative. That will often mean interacting with characters and manipulating the time loop that your character, Phil Connors Jr, finds himself in. Occasionally, it also means completing minigames dotted around the town of Punxsutawney, which was the focus of my demo.

One of these includes learning to make coffee with a machine, which is envisioned as a sort of arcade shooter. You have to fire orbs at coffee beans, each of which has to be destroyed quickly before they regenerate. Doing battle with the various cogs and mechanical parts was a surreal, somewhat meta sensation, though the game itself was quite intuitive and enjoyable.

After that, I had to fix the machine itself by rearranging its innards. Again, it was a fairly straightforward bit of gameplay; realign some pipes to redirect steam and then match up a rotating network of more pipes. Following that I played a graffiti game where I had to carefully trace outlines on one of the walls in the town.

These puzzles were simple and fun, if unremarkable. I’m most interested in the way they fit into the wider game; Tequila Works says one ‘day’ in Like Father Like Son takes a little over half an hour. That said, you can skip over puzzles you’ve already completed (a handy way of communicating Connors’ increasingly familiarity with the world).

Groundhog Day VR

But I didn’t feel like I was seeing the core of what Like Father Like Son is all about. The experience’s other elements, like using the game’s repetitive cycles to your advantage and learning how to manipulate the characters around you, seems far more fitting. The original Groundhog Day is a film about self-discovery and improvement. Updating that for 2019, an age where smartphones make small towns like Punxsutawney smaller than ever, is going to be fascinating to see.

Tequila Works also says it plays with VR’s inherent silliness. Take a game like Blood & Truth or London Heist, where you’re always tempted to ‘break’ the game and mess with characters, throwing things at them or making, uh, certain gestures. That’s tonally in stride with the world of Groundhog Day; Connors Jr can be a troll and not have to live with the consequences. I can’t wait to test the limits of that thinking.

Granted, it’s tough to communicate those mechanics and plot points in a limited demo slot on a bustling show floor. For now, at least I’m assured in the fact there’s an entertaining puzzle game laying the foundation. As for the rest? Tequila Works seems confident it’s got a compelling take on the time loop genre on its hands. Given the team’s work with the excellent The Invisible Hours, I’m quite optimistic that they’re on the right path.

Fortunately we won’t have to wait too much longer to dive into that more intriguing side; Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is due out on PC VR and PSVR on September 17. We’ll have more on the experience leading up to launch.

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