Vertical Robot – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

May 10, 2018

Vertical Robot Reveal May Launch Date for Red Matter

Spanish indie studio Vertical Robot revealed its second virtual reality (VR) title Red Matter during Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) last year. Today, the studio has announced that the official launch date has been set for 24th May, with pre-orders now available through Oculus Store.

Red Matter is a narrative-driven puzzle experience specifically for Oculus Rift. Set in an alternate future where an ongoing cold war ensues between two superpowers: the Atlantic Union and the People’s Republic of Volgravia, you play Agent Epsilon, an astronaut from the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. Your mission will be to recover top-secret information concerning research carried out by members of the People’s Republic of Volgravia.

“For this game we wanted to create a distinct, out-of-the-ordinary sci-fi world,” remarks Tatiana Delgado, Vertical Robot co-founder in a statement. “We found inspiration in Soviet space race visual propaganda, because of how bold and iconic those images are. However, we wanted to distance ourselves from reality by creating a dystopian fantasy in which the Cold War is waged between two made-up nations: the Atlantic Union and the People’s Republic of Volgravia.”

To succeed you’ll need to solve puzzles in the highly-detailed yet brutal environment which only becomes more and more surreal as the story progresses. At your disposal are an array of hi-tech tools to decipher hidden messages and mechanisms whilst uncovering ever deepening secrets in the facility.

Vertical Robot has sought to offer players complete freedom of interaction with all objects and the environment in a natural, unrestricted way. To do this, the team decided to feature the Oculus Touch controllers directly inside the videogame world to which different tools can then be wielded. “One of such tools is a set of claws that allow your to interact with the environment in a surprisingly natural and intuitive way, allowing players to grab, inspect, and handle objects and solve puzzles encountered in-game with literally no restrictions,” the team points out.

With the launch taking place in a couple of weeks time pre-orders are open at a slightly discounted rate. Red Matter can be purchased for £22.99 GBP rather than £24.99 up until release. For any further updates on Red Matter, keep reading VRFocus.

October 12, 2017

Hands-on: ‘Red Matter’ is an Adventure Puzzle Set in a Wonderfully Weird Pseudo-Soviet Dystopia

Red Matter is an upcoming story-driven VR adventure puzzle game, first revealed at Oculus Connect, that puts you in a retro-futurist world that borrows elements from the Cold War-era and teases them out to an interesting logical conclusion.

Created by Madrid-based studio Vertical Robot, Red Matter places you in the role of an astronaut from the Atlantic Union who’s tasked with investigating one of a Volgravian top secret research project located on a distant planet.

Starting out the demo in an a rocky clearing, I find what appears to be a Volgravian sign bearing some faux-Slavic language using the Cyrillic script. With a data tool in my left hand and a gripper claw in the right, I point to the sign to activate the data tool’s translator function, revealing that a research facility is just up ahead.

image courtesy Vertical Robot

The low-gravity environment of the planet means that instead of bounding your way around by foot, it’s more efficient to use your boosters to get from place to place. In real-world terms, this functions as an on-rails teleport; you pick your landing point and are transported there in a lofty arc at a variable speed controlled by the player. The default speed is nice and slow with no abrupt changes in acceleration, although you can speed up the boost from place to place to make it a quicker experience.

Moving towards a brutalist-style concrete building featuring a giant Soviet-style red star above its sign, I point my translator tool again at the illegible Volgravian script sitting below it. Yup. That’s the place I need to get into.

Pushing a button with my claw, the door retracts, revealing an industrial facility of some sort. The research subject is still unclear as I make my way further, replacing some fuses to another door that I scrounge from nearby panels. The door is heavy, and moves satisfyingly slow, giving it a weighty feel.

image courtesy Vertical Robot

With one door puzzle down, I enter a small round room with a strange device in the middle. On the wall is a diagram with written instructions on how to operate it. Reading carefully, I pop open the device to reveal a strange two-handed crank that rotates the interior shell of the room to face an unseen metal blast door, that upon opening leads to an employee area.

I head into the employee area leading to several engineering departments. A schedule on the wall tells me which sector I need (of course with all the Soviet iconography of gold-trimmed red stars), as I’m told by my commander I need to find a specific secure room with who knows what in it.

image courtesy Vertical Robot

Rustling through the employee lockers, I find a keycard. Instead of putting the card into my inventory, I was told I could scan it with my translator tool and record the data so I could then spit it back out later so I could leave the physical card behind. Traveling to the door and opening it up with my copied keycard data, I find a cell-sized room with a single lever covered with a few strange plants. Touching the alien flowers turns them an iridescent color – a sign that something even more strange was next if I pulled that lever.

I knew I had to, so I pulled the lever, and that’s when a strange substance leaked out of the panel, slowly spreading out over my whole field of view to obscure the world around me. Fade to back, demo over.

Design Director Tatiana Delgado calls the game’s Volgravian setting a “cross between the encroaching surveillance of George Orwell’s dystopian societies and Kafka’s absurd bureaucracy.” Delgado told me that while it’s still in development, that Red Matter is aiming for a 2.5-3 hour gameplay length, but it was too early to talk about launch dates at this time. The game is currently being advertised as an Oculus-only experience.

The post Hands-on: ‘Red Matter’ is an Adventure Puzzle Set in a Wonderfully Weird Pseudo-Soviet Dystopia appeared first on Road to VR.

October 12, 2017

Vertical Robot Working on New VR Puzzle Adventure Red Matter

Spanish development studio Vertical Robot, the team behind exploration platformer Daedalus for Gear VR has today revealed its next project. Unveiled during Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) the studio is working on Red Matter, a sci-fi virtual reality (VR) puzzle adventure.

“Set during a dystopian Sci-Fi Cold War, take on the role of Agent Epsilon, an astronaut of the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned Volgravian moon base on a frozen, faraway planet,” reads the studios official description. “Your mission: to investigate a shady top secret research project.As the adventure progresses, paranoia sets in. You’re no longer sure who you really are or who you’re working for. Use an array of hi-tech tools to decipher hidden messages and mechanisms and uncover ever deeper and darker secrets of the facility. But beware of what you may find… Once you discover the truth, will you be able to stomach it? Keep it secret. Hide it from yourself.”

Red Matter - Screenshot 02

Red Matter has so far been confirmed for Oculus Rift, there’s no release date just yet.

Vertical Robot has released an initial trailer for Red Matter showing pure gameplay footage, with some interesting looking grip tools that are used for most of the puzzles.

For further updates on Red Matter, keep reading VRFocus.

May 17, 2017

Developer Vertical Robot Releases Surreal Gear VR Title Daedalus

Independent Spanish development studio Vertical Robot have launched their first virtual reality (VR) game for the Samsung Gear VR, an exploration platformer inspired by Greek myth of Daedalus.

The story follows the ancient Greek myth of architect and inventor Daedalus, who has been imprisoned by King Minos so the secrets of the deadly labyrinth of Crete cannot be shared with anyone. Each night, in his dreams, Daedalus explores the labyrinth he helped create while flying with his winged creations to try and seek a way out. The storyline ties together the myths of Daedalus and Icarus with the stories of the labyrinth of the Minotaur while putting a unique spin on the ancient story.

The player needs to help Daedalus find the three platforms that unlock the gate to the next area of the labyrinth. As the players gets deeper into the dream labyrinth, the architecture comes increasingly bizarre. The player needs to learn how to jump, boost, glide and take advantage of updrafts to navigate the environment and help Daedalus escape his prison. The gliding mechanic is handled by activating a staff which has little wings that snap open when the glide is active, resembling a Caduceus staff.

The development team at Vertical Robot have gone to some trouble to create a suitably surreal, dream-like atmosphere using advanced graphical techniques such as fluid simulation and realistic lighting. The dark ambient soundtrack was created by Spanish composer Eduardo de la Iglesia.

The title is available now through the Oculus Store for £3.99 (GBP) and is compatible with Touchpad or Gear VR controller. A video trailer for the title can be viewed below.

VRFocus will bring you further information on Daedalus and other Gear VR titles when it becomes available.