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XING: The Land Beyond Releases New GIFs

Developer White Lotus has been working on puzzle adventure title XING: The Land Beyond for a very long time. Lead developer John Torkington notes in a blog post that 19.7% of his life has been spent working on the title. It seems the end is near, though, as the developer recently announced the title would be released on 18th September, 2017.

As stated on the XING: The Land Beyond developer blog, work continues on the title, with the main focus for the team at the moment being elimination of bugs, finishing and mastering of the soundtrack, and the final polishing for various events. The team have also been looking to producing a new trailer ready for the launch announcement, which you can find HERE.

 

XING: The Land Beyond is a puzzle-adventure title that takes players into a mysterious ‘afterlife’ where there are secrets waiting to be uncovered, hidden messages that might reveal the truth about why you are there, and even who you are. The gameplay revolves around environment-based puzzles that require various powers and abilities that can be unlocked as you progress.

The title is planned to be available for HTC Vive, with two different options for locomotion, free movement involving holding down the touchpad, and teleportation movement, to offer comfort to those prone to simulation sickness.

The developers also offered some more close-up looks at what work has been done on the title with the release of some new GIFs, which you can see below.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on XING: The Land Beyond as it becomes available.

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Sketchfab Favs: Sherlock And Unicorns

Sketchfab Favs: Sherlock And Unicorns

Every week VR artists are making amazing new sculptures using tools like Tilt Brush and Oculus Quill. These elaborate artworks go beyond what’s possible in our world, often creating entirely new ones. It would be a shame to let these go to waste, so we’re highlighting four awesome new pieces featured on 3D model site Sketchfab that we’ve come across recently.

This week we’ve got Sherlock, spitfires, and unicorns in disguise

Unicorn in Disguise, by art-3d.com

Unicorn in disquise
by art-3d.com
on Sketchfab

We love this take on a… well we’re not quite sure what it is. A dinosaur with braces, a unicorn horn and wings? Sure, why not? This piece was made in Oculus Medium and really displays the impress level of fidelity the platform can achieve.

Spitfire, by jamajurabaev

Spitfire
by jamajurabaev
on Sketchfab

Here’s a piece that shows you why Gravity Sketch is so good for 3D model making. This is a faithful recreation of a classic fighter plane, right down to the details on the wings. It’s one of those VR pieces that you’d think was a great 2D sketch until you moved it.

Haunted House by bcarroll

Haunted House
by bcarroll
on Sketchfab

This great Oculus Quill sketch pays tribute to a beloved era of B movie horror. We love the cheesy 70’s vibe and the spooky ghost in the background. A great demonstration of using Quill’s strokes to bring scenes to life.

Detective, by danielpeixe

Detective
by danielpeixe
on Sketchfab

Another Quill piece, this time showing a brilliant rendition of the modern Sherlock. This is probably as close as you’ll ever come to meeting Benedict Cumberbatch, but we’re more fascinated by the intricate thought patterns the artist has created above. Great work.

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The Biggest HTC Vive Releases For The Week Of 08/06/17

The Biggest HTC Vive Releases For The Week Of 08/06/17

Welcome back to the Vive list. It’s a pretty slow week here, but there’s still some great stuff worth your time, including the return of a beloved classic.

In the meantime, if you missed the previous iteration of this list, you can see those new releases here. And don’t forget that UploadVR has a Steam community group, complete with a curated list of recommendations so that you don’t have to waste any money finding out what’s good in the world of VR.

We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.

The Big Releases

Rez Infinite, from Enhance Games
Price: $24.99 (Rift, currently discounted)

The classic rhythm action game finally makes a move from PSVR over to PC headsets. Rez Infinite allows you to play the entire original game inside VR for the first time, plus it included a new Area X mode that allows for free movement. This is a classic revived inside VR.

Recommendation: If you loved the original you have to try this out.

War Robots VR: The Skirmish, from Pixonic
Price: Free (Rift)

More well-polished mech action waits for you here. War Robots VR is a quick teaser of what the main series would look like inside of a headset. It’s not the longest VR experience and only uses gamepad, but it’s worth checking out for free.

Recommendation: Definitely give this one a look.

Let’s Bowl VR, from Rising Fun Games
Price: $17.99

Bowling might not be the most immediately obvious and requested VR activity, but we won’t complain if a polished version of the game hits headsets. Let’s Bowl VR looks like it’s up to snuff, even in Early Access mode.

Recommendation: Love to bowl? Well then this is a no-brainer.

Uploands Motel: VR Thriller, from Gurashop
Price: $7.99

A story driven escape room game is on offer here, and it looks pretty intriguing even if the visuals and voice acting sound a little basic. Still, there aren’t that many escape room games that seem to have genuine effort put into them.

Recommendation: Definitely worth a look.

Also Available

imos VR LOFT
Darts VR
Impromptu Vector Field Painter
Synthetic Dreams
Dracula: Vampires vs. Zombies
Sankhara
Grand Expanse
Gal*Gun VR
Rift Coaster HD Remastered VR
Range Day VR
Dream Coaster VR
Sommad
Super Ultra Monster Smash
TimeToDie
AliveInVR
VR Crane Master
Silver.tv
TimeLock VR
BoostBots VR
Special Force VR
Deadly Rescue

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The Biggest Oculus Rift and Gear VR Releases For The Week Of 08/06/17

The Biggest Oculus Rift and Gear VR Releases For The Week Of 08/06/17

A rock solid week of new releases awaits you here. If you’re on Rift then there’s the return of a beloved classic. If you’re on Gear there’s some ports of some great PC VR games.

If you missed the previous entry of this list you can see those new releases here. And don’t forget that UploadVR has a Steam community group, complete with a curated list of recommendations so that you don’t have to waste any money finding out what’s good in the world of VR.

Plus — check out our list of the best Oculus Rift games and best Gear VR games for more suggestions!

The Big Releases

Rez Infinite, from Enhance Games
Price: $24.99 (Rift, currently discounted)

The classic rhythm action game finally makes a move from PSVR over to PC headsets. Rez Infinite allows you to play the entire original game inside VR for the first time, plus it included a new Area X mode that allows for free movement. This is a classic revived inside VR.

Recommendation: If you loved the original you have to try this out.

War Robots VR: The Skirmish, from Pixonic
Price: Free (Rift)

More well-polished mech action waits for you here. War Robots VR is a quick teaser of what the main series would look like inside of a headset. It’s not the longest VR experience and only uses gamepad, but it’s worth checking out for free.

Recommendation: Definitely give this one a look.

The Tower, from Headroom.one
Price: $4.99 (Rift)

This is an intriguing exploration of VR’s room-scale mechanics. The Tower has you climbing (you guessed it) a giant tower, avoiding obstacles as you go. It certainly has the potential to be a lot of fun, and it’s only in Early Access right now.

Recommendation: Give it a look, we really like it.

Cloudlands: VR Minigolf Mobile, from Futuretown
Price: $9.99 (Gear)

Cloudlands has been available on Rift and Vive for a while now, but this mobile edition allows people with Gear VRs to giver it a try. This is a fun and imaginative little golf game that shows you how sports can be all the more fun inside VR.

Recommendation: A great game to check out on Gear.

Ultrawings, from Bit Planet Games
Price: $9.99 (Gear)

Another mobile VR port of a PC VR game. Ultrawings supports Gear’s new motion controller and allows you to take flight around an island. It’s a breezy experience that quickly shows you the power of VR.

Recommendation: Check this one out, although be aware that the PC version did have its issues.

Also Available

SBSVR
Atlas Obscura VR
imos VR LOFT
Darts VR
Impromptu Vector Field Painter
Synthetic Dreams
Dracula: Vampires vs. Zombies
Sankhara
Grand Expanse
Gal*Gun VR
Rift Coaster HD Remastered VR
Range Day VR
Dream Coaster VR

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Oculus Begins A ‘Free To Try’ Demo Program With Defense Grid 2

Oculus Begins A ‘Free To Try’ Demo Program With Defense Grid 2

After spending money to upgrade or buy a VR-ready PC and then drop hundreds on a VR headset like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, the idea of spending even more money on games is a bit daunting. Luckily there are a ton of great free options out there for all platforms, but the paid titles often offer the best experiences. That’s why demos and free trials are so useful.

It’s tough to tell if you’re going to like a game (especially a VR game) without trying it first. Only so much of the experience can be captured in 2D images and videos so until you strap on the headset and immerse yourself in the game’s world, you’ll never really know what it’s like to experience it for yourself.

Luckily on Steam there is a generous refund program, many developers upload demos, and there are often free play weekends and deep discounts that make games more accessible than ever. Before today, Oculus Home did feature demo options and discounted sale periods but there was no way to “try” a game before you bought it.

Today, Oculus announced that Defense Grid 2 is the first game to receive a “Free to Try” feature on Oculus Home for both Rift and Gear VR. This is different from a demo because you’re not just playing a separate, standalone slice of the experience. You’re actually downloading and playing a full, complete copy of the title, but only a part of it is available unless you pay. Sort of like gated content in the free version of a premium mobile app. This differs from a demo because you’re playing the most updated and stable version of the game and all of your progress is going to stay and carry over when/if you buy the full thing.

For Defense Grid 2’s trial you only get access to the first Chapter. On Reddit, a developer from Hidden Path indicated that they are the first game to get this feature, but we’ve also reached out to Oculus for comment and more details.

What do you think of a “Free to Try” period for VR games? Let us know down in the comments below!

h/t: Reddit user AtlasPwn3d

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Ultrawings Lands on Samsung Gear VR

Bit Planet Games, LLC, has launched the popular Ultrawings on Samsung Gear VR. Following its Oculus Rift and HTC Vive debut, the developer recently announced Ultrawings will be flying onto PlayStation VR soon and now the videogame has landed on the leading mobile virtual reality (VR) platform from Samsung and Oculus VR.

Ultrawings on Samsung Gear VR features three aircraft and three unique islands. Players must undertake a variety of objectives, such as performing spot landings, flying through score rings, and emergency landings in order to earn in-game currency for unlocking new vehicles and locations.

“We partnered with both Oculus and Samsung to bring over the popular VR flight game to mobile with nearly all game modes, planes, and environments intact!” Stated Christopher Stockman, Studio Director at Bit Planet Games, in communication with VRFocus.

On Samsung Gear VR, Ultrawings provides support for bluetooth gamepads as well as the 3DoF controller released earlier this year. Ultrawings is available to download via the Oculus Store now, priced at £7.99 GBP, and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest VR projects from Bit Planet Games.

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Out of Ammo: Death Drive Due for Launch This Month

Last year DayZ developer RocketWerkz released its first virtual reality (VR) project, Out of Ammo, for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. This month will see the developer launch a sequel in the form of Out of Ammo: Death Drive, mixing up base building strategy with first-person action.

In Out of Ammo: Death Drive players will need to collect scrap, build emplacements, possess individual units and make use of whatever they can find on the battlefield to shoot, crush and maim the zombies hordes.

Out of ammo: death drive screenshot 1

A single-player experience with a campaign stretched out over seven levels, Out of Ammo: Death Drive’s defensive emplacements range from a grenade launcher to decimate large hordes, an automated turret, and there’s even a kennel to summon Alby, a magical healing dog.

For those that like to get into the action, there’s an assortment of weapons available, from shotguns and assault rifles to baseball bats and katanas for that up close and personal touch.

Out of Ammo: Death Drive is due for release via Steam on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive this month, although RocketWerkz has yet to confirm a date.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of RocketWerkz, reporting back with further updates.

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Be Free as a Bird When Fugl Flies Onto Steam Early Access Next Month

Relaxing, almost meditative virtual reality (VR) videogames are nothing new, but they do tend to be fairly laid back affairs. Due to launch on Steam Early Access is Fugl, a sort of bird sim where there’s no actual goal, you’re just given the opportunity to explore a wide open world and discover its secrets.

This is a voxel-based, procedurally generated place in which players choose a bird and then fly off to see what they can find. And there are things hidden away in the various areas of Fugl. There are icy wind blown caves, tropical paradises, great deserts, old growth forests and more to explore, each with its own unique wildlife to find. Locating these different animals will also have an effect on the bird as it can shapeshift, taking on new visual characteristics and flying behaviours of the animals found.

Fugl_colibri

“With Fugl we want to offer a different kind of game experience. It’s really about getting your mind off hectic daily life and immersing yourself into a vast game world with childlike curiosity”, said Johan Gjestland, co-founder of Team Fugl in a statement. “The players have no set goals and timers, so can enjoy Fugl at their own pace, making their own goals and story. No matter if you want to observe some animals, feel the breeze under your wings as you glide across the landscape or navigate tight caves, Fugl let’s you experience the world as you want.”

Fugl will launch on Steam Early Access just for PC on 14th September. The studio expect to be in early access for wround six months. When the title fully ready for release it’ll then support VR headsets, although Team Fugl hasn’t yet stated which ones.

As development continues of Fugl, VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.