This new feature allows players to speak to Skully — the little anthropomorphic skull found on the main table — and ask him to perform actions and affect objects around the room using just their voice. It utilizes Meta’s new Voice SDK on Quest headsets, but is also available on the PC VR version of the game as well.
Here are some of the things you can do with voice interaction—now available in Waltz of the Wizard on Quest and SteamVR! pic.twitter.com/SZmKde6PA8
In tech demo videos from Aldin, the voice interactions include asking Skully how he is, asking to make objects bigger or smaller, asking for objects to become weightless and even asking for potion ingredients to be turned into frogs.
Aldin says the update adds over 200 new voice lines and character commands, but the aim is to let you interact with the world using a combination of voice, hand and gesture input, just like you do in real life:
Voice and extended multimodal interaction is an important part of Aldin’s vision for natural VR/AR interfaces and believable reality experiences, which the company has been exploring since 2013. Believable reality experiences in this sense refer to content that aims to feel like real-life experiences in alternate realities— where we act like we do in reality and the world reacts believably to our presence. Voice and multimodal interaction is an important part of making that possible, opening powerful new ways to make VR feel more real and magical to use.
Aldin says more information on the voice interaction update and its implementation will be shared soon on its blog.
The voice interaction update is available now for Waltz of the Wizard on Quest and PC VR via Steam and Rift.
An upcoming update for Aldin Dynamic’s Waltz of the Wizard will add voice recognition functionality, allowing you to talk to characters and cast magic using your voice.
Here’s a snippet of what Aldin Dynamics had to say about the voice recognition update:
As the first VR experience with in-depth voice integration, the update adds to Waltz of the Wizard’s uniqueness in offering the greatest collection of natural interfaces for a believable experience of reality, combining hand-tracking, gestures and voice. The combined effect is an ultra-interactive reality that’s only possible in VR.
A teaser trailer, embedded above, features a player using their voice to address Skully, who responds to the player’s voice when called. Talking to the game’s cast of characters is just one aspect of the new technology — players may also be able to cast spells with their voice, with the tantalizing promise of combining verbal cues with open-air hand gestures seemingly within grasp.
Meta recently confirmed a next-generation standalone headset code-named Cambria coming next year that’ll have a much slimmer profile, eye and face tracking, and better AR passthrough. Such inputs could also dramatically change VR game design and enhance the overall experience that Aldin is building toward.
“Cambria offers features we waited a long time for,” Aldin CEO Hrafn Thorisson wrote to UploadVR. “We’ve been designing experiences whose primary aim is to feel like reality since day one. Characters with reactions to your movements and gestures. We added handtracking because we want you to use hands naturally, voice is an obvious missing piece to make a reality experience, expand our character interaction systems and push the reality experience format forward.”
Once the update lands, Quest users will be able to play Waltz of the Wizard in controller-free setup that offers a high degree of immersion, taking advantage of both hand tracking and voice recognition technology at the same time. After the Natural Magic expansion earlier this year, however, only certain areas in Waltz of the Wizard supports hand tracking. That said, the developers are actively work on supporting hand tracking again throughout the entire experience.
Meanwhile, Meta seems to be building up a collection of experiences that work well in scenarios with only hand tracking, such as with the recent release of Vertigo Games’ hand tracking air guitar game Unplugged.
Waltz of the Wizard’s voice recognition update is coming soon to Oculus Quest.
Ever since Aldin released Waltz of the Wizard six years ago the studio has continually used the title to push the latest virtual reality (VR) technology, with its latest update to Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic its biggest to date. Continuing that trend, today Aldin has begun teasing what’s next for the magical experience, in-depth voice integration.
The Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic update that arrived back in the summer added a basic spell that you could cast with your voice by holding your hands up to your mouth. By the sound of it, that’s going to get a major upgrade so that: “people will soon be able to talk to characters and cast magic using their voice,” the studio explains. That should in turn make the gameplay experience even more immersive, imagine attacking enemies with a simple shout.
Aldin is adding this new feature thanks to Meta’s latest voice command improvements in the v34 software update. Meta’s new Voice Commands allow users to pause and play media in Oculus TV, show or hide Move stats or open the settings tabs. “With in-depth voice integration, the update adds to Waltz of the Wizard’s uniqueness in offering the greatest collection of natural interfaces for a believable experience of reality, combining hand-tracking, gestures and voice,” the studio adds.
However, Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magicis a multiplatform title so just like the hand tracking functionality, using your voice will likely be exclusive to Oculus Quest. Additionally, while it’ll be a free update it won’t be accessible by all. Meta’s Voice Commands are only available in the United States with English set as the default language.
There’s still much Aldin hasn’t released regarding this new voice integration, what type of spells will it offer, will there be various ways to cast using your voice; talking normally or shouting producing different effects for example. And most importantly how platform dependant it’ll be.
Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic is currently available for Oculus Quest and PC VR headsets. The update wasn’t rolled out to the PlayStation VR version which is still listed as Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition, this is because Aldin halted development in 2020 due to that lack of VR product updates from Sony.
For continued updates on Waltz of the Wizard, keep reading VRFocus.
Waltz of the Wizard is a spell-casting VR experience that got much deeper with the entrance of the ‘Natural Magic’ expansion on Quest and SteamVR headsets in July, which fundamentally changed the game by bringing a new magic-based combat system and a massive dungeon to fight through. Now Iceland-based studio Aldin Dynamics has pushed out the game’s first big update, called ‘Powers’, which includes a lot more than just a set of new magical powers.
The free update focuses on increasing diversity of the Natural Magic campaign by tossing out seven new powers to control, which come in addition to the game’s initial sonic scream, flexible casting, and telekinesis system.
Here’s a rundown of the game’s seven new powers, making a total of 10:
Lightning Bolt — Rubbing your hands together charges particles with electricity for a lightning cast.
Tornado — Swirls your hand in circles to form a tornado of particles.
Neutron Orb — This powerful attack condenses magic into a devastating neutron orb.
Neutron Explosion — If you’ve formed a neutron orb, you can make it explode to push enemies away.
Spectral Blade — A quick motion of closed fists spawns a blade. You can have one in each, and it leaves a satisfying streaks and realistic ectoplasm liquid dripping.
Spectral Orb —Bowling with magic is now possible. Simply do an underhanded bowling cast and see particles form into a ‘solid’ shape.
Spectral Shield — Quick crossing of your arms creates an instant block for incoming projectiles.
1 of 7
Lighting Bolt | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Tornado | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Neutron Orb | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Neutron Explosion | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Spectral Blade | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Spectral Orb | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Spectral Shield | Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
Natural Magic also now has two new enemies which are said to pay “active attention to moving things in the environments, react to your hands during melee, avoid dangers like explosives and additionally perform dodging maneuvers instead of driving straight for you all the time.”
New enemies are called ‘Demolisher’, which detonates as close to you as possible, and ‘Larvops Droppers’, a larger flying baddie that rains down explosives.
You’ll have a few explosive weapons on your side to fight them though:
Regular Grenade (pink) — Simple enough, pull the pin and it beeps until it explodes.
Proximity Mine (yellow/gray) — Once activated, tentacles slither out of holes and can attach it to any surface. Once attached, it becomes a proximity mine that triggers when you or characters stand too close.
Sproingbomb (orb) — Like the timer version, but bounces like a rubber ball. Sprooooiiiinng.
Holy Hand Grenade (gold) — Bathe thine enemies in the holiest of forces.
Playing through the campaign, you’ll also notice new cave environments, which feature destructible stalagmites and stalactites. It all sounds like ample opportunity to use the environment to your advantage in a fight.
Image courtesy Aldin Dynamics
The second new area occurs in level three of the campaign. Called the ‘Observer Fortress’, it promises plenty of flying baddies and the new Larvops Dropper enemy type.
We’ll be live in our VR broadcast studio today with Hrafn Thorisson, the head of Aldin Dynamics, to discuss five years of VR development with Waltz of the Wizard and building toward Natural Magic.
The huge update for the game released this week on Oculus Quest and Steam and, with it, came a price increase to $19.99 reflecting the title’s scope and ambition.
First released as one of the earliest free VR demos on Steam in May 2016, Waltz of the Wizard emerged as magic-infused playground that’s reminiscent of Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The developers have been building on this foundation for half a decade now while exploring precisely how they can make a player feel like a witch or wizard. First the game expanded to become the Extended Edition and, on Quest, it became one of the few titles that supported hand tracking throughout the entire game. Now, the title is known as Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic and while it doesn’t support hand tracking yet in the new areas, it seems pretty clear that the developers are aiming for a future where magic is real in virtual reality and you can control it with your bare hands. In this latest update you carry in your hands the ability to summon magical energy with a simple fist-clenching gesture and then propel it out into the world where you can direct its flight toward enemies, like you are Harry Potter or Wanda Maximoff. You can also put the magic in your mouth and yell out into the world with a kind of sonic scream of sorts.
We’ll be live at 1 pm Pacific time today in our virtual studio at the video linked below with Thorisson exploring what you can do with these new magical tools and what’s next for one of VR’s longest-developed titles.
Owners of Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition, the spell-casting VR experience for SteamVR and Quest, are getting a major free expansion today called ‘Natural Magic’. It brings to the the game a new magic-based combat system and a massive dungeon where you can finetune how to use your singular, albeit surprisingly flexible spell.
Waltz of the Wizard has been in continuous development by Iceland-based studio Aldin Dynamics since it was launched on Steam back in 2016. It’s an amazing game in its own right, and now it’s getting a big update which essentially brings a substantial new mode to its mostly non-linear sandbox-style gameplay.
In Natural Magic, you’re tasked with going deep into the stronghold created by the strange interdimensional beings that have invaded your world. Your only way to defend yourself from the enemies that lurk within is essentially a singular spell, which is more like a Swiss army knife than it appears at first blush. The star of the show really is the spell itself, and how it makes you feel when you use it correctly. Particles swirl around your hands; executing a perfect cast and using the full extent of your abilities to tackle different enemies feels absolutely electrifying.
You can blast out the particles from both hands to get the most destructive shot—simply pull your palms towards you while grabbing to ‘gather’ magical particles and then release to shoot them out. If you toss them out with a quick motion, they’re powerful and compact. Toss them out slowly, and the particles gently leave your hands and spread apart for a wider area of effect.
On its own, it sounds like a spell you might see in any magic game, but there’s more to it than that. Those particles can be guided in mid-air by holding the trigger again and moving your hand; you can move around corners, chase flying enemies, and navigate your shot through tight spaces like windows. You can speed up and slow down the particles just by moving you casting hand forward or backwards, making it indispensable in certain levels.
By slowing down and directing your shot mid-flight, you can also cover baddies with particles and telekinetically control them, which usually means smashing them into a wall for extra damage or into the mouth of an open pit.
Then there’s the ‘sonic scream’, which is done by holding the gathered particles up to your face and actually physically yelling. This sends enemies flying backwards when they get too close for comfort. You’ll need to give the game permission to use the microphone to do this, but it’s not really a fundamental weapon to the game. I never really used it because I didn’t want to be the upstairs neighbor randomly screaming at magical robots—no more than usual, that is.
Mastering all of these sub-spells is a big reason to pop your head into Natural Magic. After the first hour of gameplay, you really start to get a feel for each piece of the spell. It feels, well, natural to gather magic, cast, change your mind mid-flight, pick up a baddy and smash him into a wall. It’s a clever, flexible little system, and I hope other developers take notice of just what innovations Aldin keeps cooking up in Waltz of Wizard.
The expansion’s magic system and absolutely gobsmacking level of polish on everything is a bit underserved by the overall slowness of its pace though. Around the 15th level, which took me around two hours to reach, you start to see a lot of the same level architecture reshuffled. You fight past mostly all of the same baddies, which includes basic grunts, flying drones, and tank enemies. There is a bit more variety in the game than that, notably a difficult magic-using enemy, but the bulk are always doled out in predictable ways that sometimes feel like a chore worth avoiding than something earnestly engaging. If you’re quick enough, you can even run past almost everything on your way to the exit room if you want, and I found myself doing that more than a few times after turning the corner to find the umpteenth gang of ground enemies.
Image courtesy Aldin
It’s a free expansion for owners of the Extended Edition (see explanation below), and without looking a gift horse in the mouth too closely, it’s important to note that the new dungeon area in Natural Magic currently doesn’t include puzzles to solve, chests to loot, upgrades to find, shops to visit, or currency to spend—only magic-casting, bad guys, and the expectation to reach the exit room to gather a piece of a mosaic before heading into the next level. The whole Natural Magic part of the game is 40 levels-long, which isn’t something to sneeze at, but I think it could have been much better served by cutting that number in half and doing away with some of the levels that felt like playing constant repeats.
Although I wish there were more stand-out levels, and more of the sort of clever gadgets to play with back in the ‘Tower’ section of the game, you have to hand it to Aldin for spinning a truly compelling world into existence and constantly growing it. Just like back at the Tower, voice acting reminds me of the hopelessly corny ’80s sword and sorcery flicks, and also a bit of the famed British kid’s show Knightmarefor good measure. It’s just too scrappy and cheesy not to love.
It also shouldn’t be underestimated how good the game looks and plays, even on Quest 2 where it legitimately feels like it’s actually running with the power of a PC by how smooth everything works. Particle effects, lighting, physics-based enemies, smooth locomotion in addition to its standard teleporting scheme—all of them are compute intensive tasks that Waltz of the Wizard seems to handle with astonishing ease.
In the end, Waltz of the Wizard was always worth playing, if only for its fun and mysterious gadgets and moments of exploration it presents. Natural Magic is an excellent add-on, and will have you spending hours of time beating baddies with magical panache.
If you already own Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition, you’ll get Natural Magic for free. At launch of the expansion on July 6th, the game is being renamed Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic and is increasing in price from $10 to $20 for new owners. Aldin says updates will arrive in similar fashion in the future, as the studio is committed to continuing development on the title.
The Natural Magic expansion is available now for Waltz of the Wizard on Oculus Quest and SteamVR.
The update is free for existing owners of Waltz of the Wizard at launch. After launch, developers Aldin Dynamics confirmed that Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition will be renamed to Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic and see a price increase from $9.99 to $19.99.
According to Aldin Dynamics, the Natural Magic expansion uses a new “magic physics engine” that leverages “natural movements, gestures and mic input” to simulate magic actions that manipulate the environment and cast spells:
The foundation of Natural Magic is built upon a unique magic physics engine that’s entirely new to VR, where magic is conjured and controlled through natural movement as if it were real. Venture into a 40-level fortress to recover lost artifacts from beings that harness magic to control time and space – or discover strange oddities and secrets in a friendly wizard tower and mysterious courtyard.
Natural Magic is not the end of the road for Waltz of the Wizard content either — Aldin Dynamics says it is still working on “new technologies, content and features” for the game that will be released as an update in a similar fashion to Natural Magic.
Waltz of the Wizard has been around since 2016 and there aren’t many virtual reality (VR) videogames that can claim to have the same longevity. Aldin Dynamics has continually sought to enhance the experience, releasing Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition in 2019 and now its biggest update to date, Natural Magic. With this new feature rollout, the title will be permanently renamed Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic, allowing players to explore and do even more within this magical realm.
Apart from a couple of select areas you could unlock and teleport to, Waltz of the Wizard was primarily focused on creating a highly interactive experience with your wizard tower, filled with objects to shoot, discover and even conjure by mixing ingredients up. Hence why it was always a great videogame to introduce VR newcomers to, especially on Oculus Quest with all the finger tracking functionality.
Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic feels a lot more geared towards fans of the videogame, giving them even more control and things to do. For the first time, there’s now a permanent second area called the Courtyard. Quiet and peaceful, this is designed as a sort of sandbox area where you can practice those new magical abilities, offering both offensive and defensive capabilities. Currently, as this new update is for SteamVR and Oculus platforms (PlayStation VR misses out), the hand tracking functionality on Quest only works in the Tower, not the Courtyard, so it’s controllers all the way.
Using your new magical powers you can quickly fire off projectiles with both hands to attack an enemy, or grab the projectile mid-flight to alter its trajectory. Aim it towards an inanimate object like a barrel and you’ll be able to pick it up and fling it around. You can also bring your voice into play. Bring those hands near your mouth to eat some of those magical particles and then shout (quite literally) to send out a sonic sound wave!
All of this is going to be very useful when you decide to enter the Fortress, a 40-level maze housing hidden artefacts, monsters and traps. Each of these artefacts begins to make up a picture in the Courtyard so it’s well worth trying to piece this expansive puzzle together. Down in the depths, there’s plenty of time to master those spells, flinging explosive barrels from afar or taking control of opponents bodies to smash them against the walls. All in all, there’s plenty of fun to be had in Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic.
All this new content does come at a cost though. If you already own Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition then it’s a free update to Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic, so happy speel casting. For those that haven’t, the videogame is doubling in price to $19.99 USD to “match the quality and volume of content” the developer says. There’s certainly plenty more there and considering Aldin’s penchant for developing new content, Waltz of the Wizard will only get bigger. When it does, VRFocus will keep you updated.
So the traditionally ‘biggest videogame event of the year’, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021 has now concluded and it was a very mixed bag of announcements wasn’t it? Heavyweights like Microsoft/Bethesda and Nintendo certainly helped carry the show when it came to all the normal fair, whilst quirkier entries from Limited Run Games gave the event some much-needed frivolity. As for all the virtual reality (VR) news, there were some updates, too few surprises and some glaring omissions which could’ve stolen the show.
The Good
Let’s start with the good stuff and there were some highlights worth mentioning. A Township Tale by Australian team Alta was definitely one of them. A big open-world role-playing game (RPG) that has been available direct from the studio for PC VR headsets for a little while now is getting a native port to Oculus Quest. A virtual server can be created for up to eight friends to team-up, choose various classes and explore the world together. Most importantly, there’s not long to wait for A Township Tale which arrives on 15th July.
When it came to updates Cloudhead Games’ Pistol Whip didn’t disappoint by officially unveiling the new Style System to mix up the rhythm action gameplay. It’ll be a bumper summer update as it’ll be combined with the new Smoke & Thunder campaign.
Another update that VRFocus is looking forward to and isn’t too far away is Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic. This is a magical videogame that seems to keep going and going, with developer Aldin Dynamics constantly enhancing the title. The update will add new ways to cast magic spells and offer new locations to explore and fight monsters in.
Looking ahead into next there’s the visceral Samurai Slaughter House by Tab Games. Instantly bringing back memories of MadWorld for Wii thanks to the black and white aesthetic, Samurai Slaughter House is a physics-based combat where the only splash of colour comes from the enemies blood. It’s coming to PC VR headsets in 2022.
The Dull
Then there were the announcements which really didn’t feel like proper E3 news, lots of brief videos with a bit more gameplay but no launch dates or anything really tasty.
Green Hell VR,Song in the Smoke, Rhythm or the Universe: Ionia, and Against are all exciting projects which saw new footage arrive or went behind the scenes yet there was no wow factor, nothing that jumped out genuinely new.
The same could be said for Windlands 2 finally coming to PlayStation VR this summer, a whole three years after its original debut for Oculus Rift. It’s nice for PlayStation VR owners to get access as well as a physical version, however, there was no mention of new content to spice up the reveal.
And then there was NERF. The next project from Secret Location, NERF Ultimate Championship only provided a teasing cinematic trailer for the 2022 shooter. A surprise, most definitely. A good one, well we’ll have to wait and see.
The Glaringly Absent
So what was missing, or more accurately, what were we hoping to see that never materialised? There were three VR titles VRFocus was hoping to see appear in the press conferences, two from Ubisoft in the form of Splinter Cell VR and Assassin’s Creed VR, and Resident Evil 4 from Capcom.
Only revealed back in April and the first confirmed Oculus Quest 2 exclusive, Resident Evil 4 is a collaborative effort between Capcom and Oculus Studios to bring one of the best versions in the franchise into VR. It being reworked for the standalone headset with new controls allowing you to dual wield guns and melee weapons for the first time. The last update came during the Oculus Gaming Showcase which was only a couple of months away so some new footage would’ve been nice. A released date definitely wasn’t expected, with a 2021 launch currently earmarked a date will likely arrive during Facebook Connect.
Splinter Cell VR and Assassin’s Creed VR, on the other hand, is a very different scenario. These were both teased by Ubisoft at Facebook Connect in 2020 and nothing has been heard of them since. If ever there was a time to drop some details it would be E3 week. Any info on either of them would’ve been the big VR reveal of the week, instead, Ubisoft’s big news was a sequel, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope for Nintendo Switch – loved the original so that’s a bonus.
Keep that VR chin up
Don’t dispair though, this isn’t the end of VR. This summer has some awesome VR videogames on the way like Sniper Elite VRfrom Rebellion and Just Add Water, Fracked by nDreams, Winds & Leaves by Trebuchet, and Song in the Smoke from 17-BIT. Plus Resolution Games has Realm of the Rat King DLC for Demeo coming or if there’s a Zero Latency location near you there’s always Far Cry VR.
Waltz of the Wizard is set to see a major free expansion called ‘Natural Magic’ which will add a new “simulated magic” system to expand player capabilities alongside a dungeon for players to plunder and battle new enemies.
Waltz of the Wizard is a long-running VR title that’s been in continuous development by developer Aldin for years now. What started as a sort of VR sampler platter is evolving with a larger magic-based sandbox and a brand new dungeon for players to conquer. This is all coming in the free ‘Natural Magic’ update that’s now set for a July 6th release date.
While the current version of Waltz of the Wizard lets players experiment with various magical abilities, potions, and more, ‘Natural Magic’ is promising to expand the game with a “unique simulated magic system with intuitive controls and temporary power-ups that change how it works.”
Image courtesy Aldin
Beyond the expanded magic system, there’s a large courtyard for players to experiment in, along with a fortress with enemies that players can take on once they’ve learned the ins and outs of their abilities. Inside the fortress, developer Aldin says players will be able to find artifacts that tell a story, and on the whole, the studio says the expansion adds “hours of entertainment” to the game.
Image courtesy Aldin
The expansion will be free for players who already own the game (currently $10), though the studio says the base price will increase around the launch of the expansion. Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic is set for a July 6th release date on Quest, Rift, SteamVR.
