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1

Early Dev / Re: Introducing... RogueVR, a VIRTUAL REALITY experience of the classic!

« on: August 09, 2015, 07:49:12 PM »

What you essentially just said is that any first-person RPG is bound to fail in VR.

Why do I say "any" first-person RPG? Because your mindset falls into the same trap as other people's (as I noted previously): that first-person experience in VR should imitate first-person experience on the computer screen... ie, real-time / free-range movement.

The reality is actually the opposite; turn-based is actually even more suitable for VR than it is in a typical 3D non-VR first-person game, and here's why:

• rapid movements in VR cause vertigo/nausea/motion-sickness. You can't just be running around all over the place. (about the closest you can come is a game like Temple Run, where you are moving quickly but constrained to one forward direction... so, no major movement/orientation changes. Even that is borderline.)
• you can't just use a controller (or mouse or keyboard) to move around the environment like you do on a computer screen. It is instant vertigo when your head thinks it is facing one direction, then suddenly it spins to face another. Likewise, the motion of your body movements (like strafing) when moving is jarring.
• because of the two above conditions, a game that involves slow and methodical moving (walking, especially in the direction you are facing) is ideal. Well, since you can't very easily use a controller to do this and have it be a comfortable experience, this means there are generally "look-triggered events" that need to occur, which automatically slow the game down, but make it a 100% natural fit for turn-based (not real-time) gameplay

Our project is to showcase the ways that things must change when you go from first-person on a computer monitor to first-person in VR. People want to do it the same way... you can't (or, at least, you shouldn't, because it's a miserable experience)

[In fact, even our industrial-espionage game has a major innovation/difference in the method of movement/gameplay, such that movement and even speed become a natural part of the game; hint:  you aren't walking/running around like most FPS games because, as I've already pointed out, that experience sucks in VR. Anybody who thinks CoD, Battlefield, CounterStrike, Team Fortress would be fun in VR should give it a try and keep a timer running to see how long they can go before feeling queasy.]


While RogueVR is not exactly tile-based (that could possibly put too much of a constraint on the suspension of disbelief), it is fairly slow and methodical turn-based -- no need to run around, and you have time to actually make decisions and choices. (Honestly, I've often preferred this even for non-VR first-person RPGs on the computer... I never did the real-time battles in Fallout 3, for example; always chose the turn-based combat system.)

I get the feeling not many (if any?) people on this forum have tried much VR...
It's really motivational for us to get this game out there and show how things should be done!

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Early Dev / Re: Introducing... RogueVR, a VIRTUAL REALITY experience of the classic!

« on: August 09, 2015, 05:46:03 AM »

Actually, all of the above seems very astute:

1) Yes, a dungeon-crawler RPG set in a procedurally-generated world will not have the originality of the first Rogue. And that's why we call them "roguelikes" -- as tribute to that wonderful idea of random generation for replayability!  The fact of the matter is that we could have very easily made the same game (more or less) and called it "Dank Dungeons" or something; it would have the same fantasy setting, creatures, and D&D-based gameplay, and would be procedurally generated... so would that be better than using the word "Rogue" anywhere in the title or publicity? We felt that it would actually be more of a rip-off/disingenuous to do so, because we would be pretending like what we are doing is completely original... when it isn't. We owe it all to Toy, Wichmann, et al. some 35 years ago. (and, in fact, we have tried to reach out to them via email, even before Kickstarter campaign and any production, to see if they would like to be on-board this project in any capacity, but unable to reach them so far)

2) The observation that it is still probably too "early" for wide acceptance, and that VR as an industry, is probably too young is also pretty spot-on, I think.  This Kickstarter was, in part, an experiment to gauge that -- to see both interest and how widespread adoption (or planned near-term adoption) of VR games is.  To that degree, we are seeing a lot of interest (hundreds of likes and followers on Facebook in the past 5 days)

3) While the "concept" of the game is not original, the fantasy rogue-like clone aspect was really meant to propel something that is brand new: virtual reality and the particulars related to it. This project actually began not because we were looking to make a Rogue clone or even a roguelike at all, but because we are developing an interactive suit that lends itself naturally to immersive gestural and full-body interactions (swinging a sword, archery, etc.) and thought a fantasy setting would be perfect to showcase that. Once we realized how simple it would be to go from there to a full-fledged experience if we kept it simple (ie. original Rogue or similar), it was a no-brainer to take that next step. [PS. That VR jacket/harness and its capabilities will be revealed soon...]  Even without the jacket, there are certain ways in which VR creates new ways of thinking about interaction and game design, much like Rogue brought new ways of thinking about graphics and graphical gameplay all those years ago. There are constraints, limitations, and opportunities that are unique. For example, the way you move around the world has to change even from FPS-style gameplay (Facebook/Oculus didn't seem to get the memo on this -- they are building thumbstick controllers, and moving like that via controller is a completely motion-sickness-inducing experience. And I don't get motion sickness easily); it is a whole new world, and while the concept and setting of our game are a complete tribute to Rogue, the bigger tribute is recognizing how to move things forward in exciting new directions when they present themselves. 

The setting, monsters, potions, etc. are irrelevant; the main "content" that Rogue contributed was procedural design, and in that regard, every procedural and roguelike game has "taken" their content. And it's a great thing. Likewise, the new thing we hope our project contributes to the world of gaming is a showcase of how to effectively have a natural, intuitive, user-friendly interface to interact with a VR fantasy RPG world.

4)  We are going to continue the process, at least to the point of first-level demo so people can get the full experience (yes, it would have been preferable to have the demo out before the Kickstarter, but starting the Kickstarter was a no-risk scenario. If we fail, what did we lose? A couple of hours of time for posting the content and spreading the word?)  The Kickstarter was a multi-purpose endeavor, and raising funds (sadly, we are seeing a lot of developers lowering their standards to settle for paltry, poverty-level funding because that's all Kickstarters manage to make these days...)  was only part of that. Many purposes were: (a) get the word out / build publicity; (b) gauge public interest; (c) set deadlines and accountability for ourselves (really, for me; we are a microstudio and I am the developer, the other person is more for business and HR etc); (d) if we get the funding, then great, it becomes a priority and ensures we can meet the deadline and make it happen

As such, it may "fail" as a Kickstarter but failure is just a stepping stone to success. If failure were a problem, software wouldn't exist because everybody would throw in the towel at the first bug. (has anybody here made bug-free software on the first try? I know I haven't.)

The main thing to remember is: This isn't a cash-grab. It isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. It isn't a way to stab the original creators of Rogue in the back. It is a labor of love centered around a tribute to a game that was one of my earliest PC gaming memories and one of the first moments I realized I wanted to -- and actually could -- program the computer to do what I wanted it to (I was 8 years old, and decided to start programming in BASIC on a 286 DOS machine at that time.)

The Kickstarter may or may not fail (we are slowly building momentum, and there's no telling when that will become critical. Probably no sooner than we can get a real demo out  ) We may or may not re-boot it at a later date (like, after VR comes out for the public, esp. all three of the majors: Oculus, Steam, Sony. Hint: We probably will), but we can promise you this: VR is an amazing way to experience the world of Rogue (which, after all, was an attempt on its own to get the user to have to rely less on their imaginations and provide a more graphical experience for the time), and I promise you that if you haven't tried it yet, you should.

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Early Dev / Re: Introducing... RogueVR, a VIRTUAL REALITY experience of the classic!

« on: August 08, 2015, 05:28:54 AM »

Fact:

The original Rogue used content from Dungeons & Dragons (including some battle/to-hit/AC mechanisms)... was that quite bad?

The original Rogue also used a copyrighted creature -- the Ur-vile, a creature created by author Stephen R. Donaldson in his books, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant


The fact of the matter is that I am not using ANY "content" from the original; Rogue does not own the rights to trolls, dragons, orcs, zombies, etc. -- the original "took" many of those from D&D (who, in turn, had taken them from legends, folktales, mythology, Lord of the Rings, etc.)  We are including the kestrel and quagga (which are/were real animals, not a unique creation) just because it was kind of odd and hilarious that they were in a dungeon, so we wanted to keep that aspect for nostalgia's sake. 

The only Rogue content we have used is an exact screenshot of the original gameplay, just to remind people what the game was like (and to introduce it to those who never played)

If you have an issue with RogueVR, then you must really be livid about the likes of Hack, NetHack, etc. (which even *gasp* used the exact same letters/graphics to represent some of the same creatures!)


So, we have to respectfully disagree that it is somehow wrong or disrespectful to make a dungeon-crawling roguelike -- complete with all the requisite well-loved types of fantasy creatures and elements -- that is faithful to the classic (while still being something completely new and original -- never been done before!)

It's an idea that, despite low funding so far, we are finding a lot of excitement and support for online. We thought maybe a roguelike forum would feel the same!  [Maybe we didn't put enough ASCII in our virtual world  ]

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Early Dev / Re: Introducing... RogueVR, a VIRTUAL REALITY experience of the classic!

« on: August 06, 2015, 08:44:56 PM »

This is "based on" (ie. as faithful as possible) the original Rogue classic, ie. the one released for PC by Epyx in 1985

There will be changes as necessary, but the goal is to have a game that Rogue players would instantly recognize... even if the look, feel, and user interface are drastically different. To avoid copyright issues (just in case), we are changing a few of the monster names etc., but otherwise it is essentially the same.

If you have a Windows computer with Oculus, you can click here to try a little teaser demo -- no real gameplay yet, though, other than some walking around... a first level, non-procedural demo with some items and monsters and interactions will be coming soon. Following that, a procedural demo will be made available to anybody who signs on for early access

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Early Dev / Introducing... RogueVR, a VIRTUAL REALITY experience of the classic!

« on: August 04, 2015, 11:40:28 PM »

This is what we are currently developing, to have it ready just in time for release of the Oculus Rift and SteamVR in 2016!

Introducing... http://www.sanctuarymedia.com/RogueVR/2015/08/04/roguevr-virtual-rogue/

Let us know what you think and, if you want to make this a reality, be sure to become a Kickstarter backer at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sanctuarymedia/roguevr-roguelike-virtual-reality-oculus-steam-and