Everything You Need To Know: Facebook Login, User Data And Privacy On Oculus Headsets

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Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 is one of the best headsets available on the market. It also requires a Facebook login, and agreeing to Facebook’s terms of service for the device.

Here’s our outline of what you’re committing to when using a Facebook headset — including what logging in with Facebook means, how your personal data and information is being used and what access Facebook has to the real time data of your headset.

History and Context

For those who are unaware, here’s a brief contextual overview for the information listed below.

In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus, the virtual reality startup company started by Palmer Luckey, for approximately $3 billion. Despite insisting that Oculus still would operate somewhat independently from Facebook, the Oculus branch of Facebook slowly but steadily became a bigger part of the Facebook ecosystem and less of its own entity.

Up until recently, owners of an Oculus headset could simply log in with an Oculus ID/account when using their device — no direct Facebook association required. It was possible to link your Facebook and Oculus accounts together for social features, but it was never mandated and remained an optional feature. However, over time, this began to change.

In May 2018, Facebook required that users would need to link their Facebook and Oculus accounts together in order to access Oculus Venues.

In December 2019, Facebook stated that Oculus VR data would be used to provide “more relevant content” like ads on Facebook if your Facebook and Oculus accounts were linked.

Facebook announced its most recent headset, Oculus Quest 2, in September 2020. However, it also announced that the device requires a Facebook login — without logging in with Facebook, there is no way to use and access the headset. All new first-time sign-ins on any Oculus device would require the user to log in with a Facebook account. Users who already owned a headset before October 2020 and are using an Oculus account without a linked Facebook account will only be able to do so until the end of 2022, at which point Facebook will fully end support for Oculus accounts. Facebook says it plans to share details about how those account owners will be able to access their purchased content after that date.

Logging in with Facebook

As outlined above, all first-time sign-ins on any new Oculus headset now requires logging in with a Facebook account. If you are setting up a headset for the first time, you will have to log in with a valid Facebook account. Standalone Oculus accounts are still supported for users who set up a headset before October 2020 and chose not to link their Facebook account, however it is no longer possible to create an Oculus account for your headset. Logging in with Facebook is the only option.

This also means that your access to the headset is also dependent on access to your Facebook account. If access to your Facebook account is revoked, so too is access to your headset. Likewise, your Oculus purchases are tied to your Facebook account. If you delete your Facebook account permanently, you also lose access to all your purchased content associated with that account for good.

According to the company’s terms and conditions, your Facebook account, which you would use to log into an Oculus device, “must… use the same name that you use in everyday life.” You also cannot use Facebook if your account was previously disabled for violations of Facebook terms and policies.

Despite logging in with Facebook, you can still have an ‘Oculus ID’ as your display name for games and apps. This allows you to remain somewhat private while playing online or taking part in social services like Facebook Horizon.

Facebook Account Requirements

There are also some things to watch out for in regards to the Facebook account you use to log in to your headset with.

Firstly, you want to make sure you are using a ‘real’ account that has your real name — there have been reports of users being suspended when they tried to use or link an account that was a ‘dummy’ account (a fake account created that uses a fake name and incorrect or made-up details) or an account that was not their primary Facebook account. Facebook can change its detection systems at any time, so it is possible for those who do create such an account to be caught years in the future.

Around the release of Quest 2, a small number of users had their accounts banned in what appeared to false positives, completed automatically by the account verification system. The same also reportedly happened to some users trying to reactivate an old Facebook account, or some people who had just made a brand new account as well. We believe the process to reverse the ban involves manual human-approval, which is often lengthy and requires some kind of photographic proof of identity.

It’s worth noting that the vast majority of Facebook users who linked an Oculus Quest device remain unaffected by this automatic ban process and experience no issues. That being said, a small percentage of Quest users have been affected due the reasons above (and likely other unreported reasons too). You can read more in our report detailing all the issue from October last year.

In response, Vice President of Augmented and Virtual Reality at Facebook, Andrew Bosworth, said that it was only a “small number” of users were affected but that “people should continue to make sure their Facebook accounts are in good standing before they buy the headset.” You can read his full response here.

On-Device Headset and Tracking Data

Some users would be understandably concerned about linking their Facebook account to a device that tracks human movements and uses four external cameras at all. However, Facebook repeatedly assures users that they do not collect or store Oculus Quest camera or guardian data.

Facebook’s tracking system uses data from the cameras to create a 3D map of the world — while the camera imagery is not stored in any way, a 3D cloud of points identifying the placement of unique static features of the environment is saved locally on the headset for any room where you have a Guardian boundary set up. This allows the system to recognize what room you’re in and load the Guardian boundary you previously created. Facebook tells us that this data doesn’t leave the local device.

The Oculus Quest headsets also have a small white light on the top of the headset which is “hard-wired to the sensor power rail.” This means that whenever the camera sensors are supplied with power, the light should turn on. You can learn more about the Facebook’s camera tracking system here.

Activity Data and Ads

While Facebook says that on-device data such as the camera imagery does not leave the device, this is not the case for some activity and content data. In December 2019, Facebook confirmed that your activity on an Oculus device, such as which apps you use, will be used to target “relevant content” to you, such as ads or Facebook events. For example, Facebook might collect data of which VR apps you’ve been using on your device and then target you with suggestions for “Oculus Events you might like to attend or ads for VR apps available on the Oculus Store” while you’re using Facebook.

In late December 2020, Facebook’s head of its efforts in VR and AR wrote notes to employees outlining a potential shift to the company’s direction on privacy. Andrew Bosworth wrote how he wanted the company differentiate itself on the basis of privacy while “holding a higher bar for sending data to the server than we do for processing it locally.”

“I don’t want us to just meet the consumer expectations for privacy today,” he wrote. “I want us to differentiate our products on the basis of privacy. Let other companies scramble to keep up with us.”

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Any questions on Facebook logins, user data and privacy on Oculus headets? Let us know in the comments and we’ll try to clarify as best we can.

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The Secret of Retropolis Is A Lovely-Looking VR Point-And-Click Adventure

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Hankering for some classic LucasArts or Double Fine-style adventuring in VR? The Secret Of Retropolis could be just what the doctor ordered.

This PC VR title is on its way to Steam this summer. It’s an adventure-mystery in which players embody a robot detective that gets hired by a movie star. The game pays tribute to 90’s classics like Full Throttle, getting players to scour environments for key items to solve puzzles. Check out some early gameplay below.

The Secret Of Retropolis Trailer

As you might have guessed, the game’s assets were built with Oculus Quill. Not only does Retropolis look very nice on the visual front, it’s got some great ideas for VR, too. As a robot, you can reach out to items in the environment with spring-operated arms, meaning you don’t have to move from your spot. Developer Peanut Button says this is a seated experience that will be ideal for first-time VR players, too. You’ll also be able to interact with fully-voiced characters via a dialogue tree.

That’s about all we know of the title right now, though you can follow a Twitter account for more gameplay clips. As for a final date and chances of Oculus Quest and PSVR versions? We’ll keep an eye out, but no word just yet. Peanut Button also has some other experiences to check out on its website, if you’re looking for more from the developer.

Will you be checking out The Secret Of Retropolis? Let us know in the comments below!

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Land Of Amara: How This Farming Sim Aims To Plant The Seed To Be Like Stardew Valley VR

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In this feature we investigate how Paw Stamp Studio aims to recreate the simple farming pleasures of Stardew Valley in VR with their in-development game, Land of Amara.

Note: This game has been in development for several years and has undergone significant changes. The images and videos embedded in this article may not represent the game’s final version.

Land of Amara

Developing a game is a lot like farmwork. At least, that’s what Finn Pinkenburg discovered when he created Paw Stamp Studio and started his debut game, the VR farm simulator Land of Amara. It’s based on Pinkenburg’s love of games such as Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, but like with starting a new game of Stardew Valley, Pinkenburg quickly realized the magnitude of the task ahead of him.

“I changed or completely reworked the project a lot of times and changed direction because I realized things weren’t working the way I wanted them to or the project wasn’t scalable,” Pinkenburg said. “That’s because I learned [game] development while doing it and made a lot of mistakes (and still am making quite a lot of mistakes). But it’s becoming better and better.”

Before founding Paw Stamp Studio Pinkenburg worked as a level designer for Quantum Frog Software in Hamburg, Germany. He became interested in programming after a while, which opened a new door for him.

 

“I realized I’d like to make something on my own because it’s totally a different thing when you do something for other people’s ideas instead of pursuing your own vision,” Pinkenburg said.

That vision was rooted in VR almost from the beginning. Pinkenburg first started tinkering with various test builds on PC, starting with an AI-controlled sheep. Shortly after that the seed for his idea sprouted and he purchased his first VR set, the Oculus Rift DK2, just to see how challenging VR development was.

The ease of creating a scene and, moreover, experiencing what Pinkenburg calls “real 3D” convinced him it was time to nurture his project in earnest.

“It was super easy,” Pinkenburg said of his first small VR development attempts. “You basically only had to exchange the camera rig to see everything in 3D. When I saw the sheep in front of me in 3D, I was blown away. It’s hard to describe. That’s when I decided to start Land of Amara and haven’t stopped since.”

Despite his newfound determination, Land of Amara was still very much a vulnerable seedling at that point.

“The project didn’t start with a vision of what it should become,” Pinkenburg said. “The only thing that was there was my experience playing games I always loved, like Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. I had a goal to do something similar, but because I wasn’t aware I wanted to make my vision a fully playable game.”

He started a Land of Amara Patreon account in August 2018 to gauge interest in the project. The positive fan response — which Pinkenburg attributes to the absence of AAA developers in VR — encouraged him to continue, and in 2019, he brought a friend on board to help with design so he could handle programming. That’s when the difficulties started.

Like planning a new field, figuring out Land of Amara’s foundational features became Pinkenburg’s first challenge.

“I learned you can’t just go for things, since everything is a separate system on its own,” he said. 

The first few builds released, including 2018’s playable demo, focused on testing prototypes and contained no actual gameplay systems. The latest playable version, released December 20, 2020, is the first with recognizable farming gameplay loops and a host of additional improvements, such as a tutorial system, new scenes, and a stamina system. It’s also laying the groundwork for relationships with NPCs through a new gift-giving mechanic. Additional systems leading to deeper relationships are still a ways off, though, since they aren’t as crucial for shaping the core experience.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley VR Ambitions

One thing Pinkenburg said he loves most about farm-sim games and wants to focus on is how, if designed well, they make simple grinding tasks feel worthwhile.       

“I always felt Stardew Valley has a good balance between grinding and not giving you the feel it was grinding, when in the end, everything is grinding,” he said. “Relationships are a grinding system because of how you approach the townspeople every day. But it doesn’t feel like it because the end goal is a good way of making the grind feel rewarding. The same is true for other tasks like feeding the animals.”

Skill-based activities form another important element Pinkenburg wants to include, and he used Stardew Valley’s fishing as an example. While you can buy upgrades to make fishing easier, skill and learning the system ultimately determine success.

“You cannot lose the skill,” he said. “You gain it and always have it. So even if you start a new Stardew Valley game, you’re still good at fishing.”

Though he has a few physics-related ideas in mind, Pinkenburg said he’s not sure what kind of skill-based mechanics he wants for Land of Amara just yet. 

However, adding gameplay elements with such evident similarities to existing games presents another challenge: balancing the heritage crops with the new hybrids. While Pinkenburg said he believes familiar mechanics feel fresh in VR just because players have to use them differently, he still isn’t satisfied with grafting other ideas onto Land of Amara.

“I don’t like copying things.I initially tried too hard to be different [with Land of Amara], and that caused my development progress to stop in some ways,” Pinkenburg said. “But I realized it’s way too hard to learn [game development] and re-invent the wheel at the same time. I think it’s pretty much impossible not to copy something from other games anyway.”

Pinkenburg used fishing as an example again. Land of Amara’s current fishing mode has players casting their line into the clouds beneath their island, but it’s mechanically similar to Stardew Valley’s fishing. Players use their hands to reel the line in and try to keep it in the sweet spot long enough to catch the fish. 

It’s good enough — for now. Pinkenburg said he wants Land of Amara’s mechanics to stand out for more than just using VR physics and plans on overhauling them in future builds.

Speaking of VR mechanics, Pinkenburg ran into a bit of a quandary shortly after starting Land of Amara’s development, one that had far-reaching effects.

One thing Pinkenburg appreciates about VR is how it removes the extra interface between player and game. 

“There was always something in between with other games, like a controller or keyboard, that converted actions,” he said. “VR doesn’t have that restriction, so the brain directly understands how things work because we know how to use our hands and how throwing works or how to chop a tree. That’s a huge difference, this instant transition into the game with your bare hands.”

That’s all well and good, but Pinkenburg soon realized it doesn’t make for a relaxing farming experience.

“I realized there are only a VR few games where you can just sit in your chair and chill while playing,” he said. “Imagine a game like Stardew Valley you sometimes play for hours in a row, and you have to move all the time. That would be way too exhausting. You should be able to play the game without doing anything physically, just sit in your chair and press one button again and again and get in this brain AFK mode.”

Pinkenburg took a four-month break from active updates earlier in 2020 to develop a solution to the problem, one that transformed both how he approaches Land of Amara and how players will experience it.

Instead of using a first-person approach with physics-based controls built in, Land of Amara now lets players swap between first and third person at will. First person uses movement and motion controls, while in third person players see their farmer and move them around with controls, just like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon.

He said he’s confident Land of Amara’s graphics and VR’s real 3D will keep players immersed, even when playing in third person, and perhaps even more so because they can appreciate the music and other effects even more.

Pinkenburg has a few ideas in mind for Land of Amara’s music that he thinks will likely raise some eyebrows. Stardew Valley uses a blend of retro and synth, while Harvest Moon gets by with charming, bucolic tunes for each season. He plans on Land of Amara’s farmers handling their daily routine accompanied by a specific kind of hip hop.

“I listen to a lot of lo-fi music when programming, and I discovered lo-fi is quite fitting,” he said. “So I put in some low-fi tracks which in some way is uncommon. The bass in lo-fi hip hop is not really something I know from most other farming games. I’m interested to see people’s reactions when they hear hip hop lo-fi in the latest version.”

Pinkenburg knows lo-fi hip hop won’t match everyone’s tastes, though, and added a radio system in the most recent version so players can import their own downloads to the game for a custom soundtrack.

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To keep up with Land of Amara’s development, consider pledging to the Patreon.

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VR FPS Hyper Dash Getting Full Quest Release With Cross-Buy After SideQuest Launch

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Triangle Factory’s Hyper Dash is the next game to get a full launch on the Oculus Store after initially debuting on SideQuest last year.

The multiplayer shooter is now listed in the coming soon section of the Oculus Store. The game’s open alpha build launched on SideQuest back in April 2020 with cross-play on PC VR headsets. Watch the trailer for that early release below.

Hyper Dash Oculus Quest Trailer

Hyper Dash offers 5v5 arena-based VR multiplayer similar to Solaris or, as we mentioned when we reported on the game’s reveal in 2019, RIGS. The game caters to a range of movement styles but establishes snappy pacing with rails to grind along, dual-wielding weapons and more.

The full Quest launch will keep cross-play support and throw-in cross-buy across Rift and Quest, too. The game will launch with four multiplayer modes, an offline option with bots and dedicated servers.

But this isn’t the first game to launch fully on Quest after an initial release on SideQuest. Contractors, another multiplayer FPS, did the very same last year after running a beta that had to be sideloaded. Along with a place for tech demos and experiments, SideQuest has become a destination for titles that don’t get approved for sale on the Quest store, but clearly some titles go the other way.

Quest isn’t the only store to be getting Hyper Dash soon, though; it’s also pegged for release on SteamVR in Q1 of this year. We’ll let you know when we have a final release date for both versions of the game. Will you be checking out the Hyper Dash Oculus Quest version? Let us know in the comments below!

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Baobab Studios’ Next Project Is Namoo, Premiering At Sundance

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Baobab Studios have announced its next project, Namoo, an immersive animated film for VR directed by award-winning filmmaker Erick Oh.

Namoo (the Korean word for ‘tree’) is described as a ‘narrative poem come to life as an immersive animated film, and is inspired by the life of Oh’s grandfather. Centered around one tree, Namoo “follows the meaningful moments of one man’s life,” where “the tree starts as a seed and eventually grows into a fully-mature tree, collecting meaningful objects that represent positive and painful memories in its branches.”

You can view the announcement trailer below, giving us an early look at the stunning animation style.

Namoo was created with Quill, the VR animation tool available for PC VR. As you can see from the trailer, that gives it a very distinct visual style similar to many other Quill animations we’ve seen before, but with a bit of Baobab polish added on top.

Erick Oh is a Korean filmmaker based in California, and has worked across many different animation mediums. His work has been presented and awarded at various festivals and award ceremonies. Previously, Oh worked as an animator at Pixar on films like Cars 2, Brave, Monsters University, and Inside Out. He has a plethora of awards and lots of experience to his name, which you can view over on his website.

Namoo will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, which is currently running until February 3rd. As with other Baobab titles that debuted at film festivals, it’s likely that Namoo will see a wider release onto VR headsets sometime in the future.

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Into The Darkness Is A Promising VR Adventure With Boneworks-Like Physics

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Into The Darkness, a new indie VR  game from Cosmos Games,  promises a compelling story involving transhumanism in the near future merged with exciting VR action-adventure gameplay that uses a Boneworks-like physics system.

Announced this week, the game will be available for PC VR in late 2021, developed by Vietnamese studio Cosmos Games and published by GameBoom VR and PlayWay.

The game takes place in a dystopian sci-fi setting where humans are trying to move consciousness into machines in order to live forever. Here’s a summary of the story from Cosmos Games:

Humanity is trying to achieve immortality by transferring consciousness to machines. Transhumanism, however, is a dangerous path, and a poorly conducted experiment can end in a tragedy. As agent Frank, you are sent to one of the research facilities with which contact has been interrupted, and the previous agents never returned. Navigate through environments, solve the puzzle, engage the enemy… to find out the dark secret behind the experiments.

You can sneak an early look at the game’s visuals and gameplay in the announcement trailer embedded above.

As you can see from the trailer, Into The Darkness is looking to implement a comprehensive physics system that works similarly to pioneers in the field like Boneworks. All of the objects have weight and physics that react in a manner consistent with the real world. Towards the end of the trailer, there’s even a glance at a Half-Life: Alyx-style glove system that lets you force pull items toward you.

Into The Darkness will launch for PC VR in Q2 of this year, available on Steam for Oculus Rift, Valve Index (including finger tracking support), HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

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Hitman 3 DLC Will Happen, Likely Reimagining Existing Maps

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Hitman 3 already offers plenty of content for VR fans, but there might be more in store; Hitman 3 DLC is a go.

In an interview with The Gamer, IO Interactive executive producer Forest Swartout Large confirmed that the studio will “definitely” do DLC for the just-launched game, but don’t expect new maps and bonus missions. “I think for now we are not looking at new maps like the bank and the island,” Large said.

Hitman 3 DLC Confirmed

“We’re more looking at using existing locations and reimagining them, twisting them. And this time around, we can use the whole trilogy. We can look back at Hitman 2016 maps, Hitman 2 maps – we have all the locations.”

Of course, there’s no guarantee that this DLC will definitely support PSVR on PS4 — the bonus missions in Hitman 1 and 2 don’t — but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Looking further forward, Large said: “We’re continuously working on Hitman so we are already looking to the future.”

We thought Hitman 3’s PSVR support was pretty great, even with some limitations, awarding the game 4/5 in last week’s review. It’s currently exclusive to Sony’s headset (and only available in the PS4 version of the game, not PS5), but there is some hope IO could bring it to PC in the future.

Elsewhere, IO is working on a James Bond game, too, but there’s no word yet on if that could support VR. Again, keep those fingers crossed.

What do you hope to see out of Hitman 3 DLC? Let us know in the comments below!

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‘Tilt Brush’ Derivative Apps Come to PC VR & Quest Mere Hours After Google Open Sources

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Google’s VR art creation app Tilt Brush isn’t free, but the company made it open source a few days ago after announcing it has stopped active development, so it was only a matter of time before independent developers got under the hood to publish their own Tilt Brush-derived apps. Now you can play around with the first batch on PC VR and Oculus Quest.

Open Brush – PC VR

Developer Icosa Gallery has published its own fork of the Tilt Brush software, dubbed Open Brush. Although there’s a few missing features for now, notably the ability to use the eraser, Open Brush is already enabling some of the hidden brushes that Google never released before shelving the project.

You can download the experimental build of Open Brush over at Itch.io for free, and get painting through SteamVR-compatible headsets right now.

Icosa Gallery says there’s also a Quest version in the works, however it’s not ready just yet.

SideSketch – Quest

If you own an Oculus Quest or Quest 2, you can also test out the latest third-party clone from developer Shane Harris, called SideSketch.

Image courtesy Shane Harris

For now it appears to be a direct clone without any added features, albeit free of charge. Like Open Brush on PC, SideSketch is missing the eraser function.

To get SideSketch, you’ll need to set up SideQuest on your Quest headset, the unofficial app store for all things Quest. Check out our simple guide of how (and why) to use SideQuest to get up and running with SideSketch and a plethora of free and paid apps.

Tilt Brush for WebXR

The amazing thing about WebXR is that all you need is a URL, a compatible web browser and a PC VR or Quest headset to start playing and connecting in virtual spaces.

WebXR applications are notably smaller than apps that require a direct download and installation, and it seems a WebXR Tilt Brush derivative from developer Douglas Adams of msub2, called Silk Brush, is still brewing as a result.

First drawing with the WebXR port of Tilt Brush, from here on out known as Silk Brush! #TiltBrush #SilkBrush #WebXR pic.twitter.com/Px3ZZIrj9z

— m₂ (@msub2official) January 29, 2021

At the moment, Adams says its still only capable of basic drawing, as he’s still working on integrating the wand’s complete set of functions—not a simple task since it needs to be light enough to run in-browser.

Seeing Tilt Brush as a potential WebXR application is really exciting though. Not only will users be able to pop in and create things quickly, but the hypothetical addition of multiplayer could make it a great place to quickly connect with others for everything from product ideation to collaborative art. Adams hasn’t mentioned that bit yet, although it was buried in the code as a ‘to-do’ by Google before they stopped active development.

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Know of any apps making use of Tilt Brush code? Let us know in the comments below!

The post ‘Tilt Brush’ Derivative Apps Come to PC VR & Quest Mere Hours After Google Open Sources appeared first on Road to VR.

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Ultraleap’s New ‘Gemini’ Software Overhaul Drastically Improves Two-handed Interactions

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Ultraleap, the company behind the Leap Motion hand-tracking controller, has released a Developer Preview of its hand-tracking engine Gemini. By many accounts, Ultraleap’s latest software overhaul dramatically increases the ability of the company’s camera modules to do more precise and stable two-handed interactions.

Gemini is now available in Developer Preview for Windows 10, and is designed to work with all existent Leap Motion controllers as well as Ultraleap’s more recent Stereo IR 170 camera module.

In comparison to Orion (V4), which was released in June 2018, its Gemini (V5) engine is said to offer better smoothness, pose fidelity, and robustness. It also improves hand initialization, and brings “significantly better performance with two-hand interactions,” Ultraleap says.

As seen in the gif below, the solidity of Gemini (V5) is pretty astounding. Not only are both hands more accurately tracked, but occlusion appears to be much less of an issue too, as fingers interlock and move in front of each other with comparative ease.

Ultraleap is set to integrate Gemini into a number of XR headsets, including Varjo VR-3 and XR-3 headsets, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 5G reference design, which makes use of Ultraleap hardware.

Antony Vitillo of XR publication Skarred Ghost went hands-on with Gemini using his first-generation Leap Motion tracker. To him, the software overhaul represents “the best hands-tracking system I’ve seen until now on all headsets for what concerns the interactions between two hands.”

“What really surprised me is the stability of two hands interactions. For the first time, I’ve been able to make the fingers of my two hands cross and interweave [together], and the tracking kept working reliably.”

Granted, Vitillo’s five year-old Leap Motion does present somewhat of a roadblock due to its comparatively small field of view, however Ultraleap says with its updated IR 170 camera module that “hands will almost certainly be tracked before they come into your sight.”

In practice, Ultraleap hopes its new software will let developers create hand-tracking-focused applications in preparation for the next wave of AR and VR headsets to make more prominent use of the technology. Facebook’s Oculus Quest standalone notably includes hand-tracking for use within its system UI and a handful of applications, however it hasn’t become a standard input method yet.

The post Ultraleap’s New ‘Gemini’ Software Overhaul Drastically Improves Two-handed Interactions appeared first on Road to VR.

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Star Shaman’s Balance Update Adds Linear Progression

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Here’s an interesting one – VR roguelike Star Shaman gets an update today that optionally stops it being a roguelike. Or less of one, at least.

The Balancing Update, as it’s called, includes a Boss Checkpoint mode that saves your progression once you’ve beaten one of the game’s towering enemies. The original version of Star Shaman (which can still be played) saw players gathering resources before taking on bosses and moving to the next level to rinse and repeat. The number of resources needed continues to grow and death takes you right back to the start.

New Star Shaman Update Goes Live

But in Boss Checkpoint mode, dying will take you back to the last boss, making it much easier to get through a run. The game’s combat has also been further balanced, and you refill health when regenerating a planet.

Elsewhere there’s a new spell that shoots out a rippling shot that ricochets and 14 new moons added to the levels. Finally, there are 11 new achievements to earn, if that’s your thing. If you haven’t already picked the game up then it’s currently the Daily Deal on Quest, too, going for 20% off.

We thought Star Shaman’s core mechanics were brilliantly fluid but agreed that progression in the original version moved at a crawl. Developer Ikimasho has clearly done a lot to address this since launch; this is the second update the game’s seen since launch, with the first adding new weapons and 90Hz support.

Will you be checking out today’s Star Shaman update?

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Japanese Archery Game Bow Man Hits Oculus Quest

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It’s a busy week for new Oculus Quest releases – a new Japanese archery game called Bow Man just hit the platform.

Bow Man is developed by DMM and is on sale for $14.99. As the name suggests, the game hands you a bow and arrow and puts it to use across 80 levels. There are plenty of VR archery games out there already, of course, but Bow Man uses a Japanese bow called a yumi.

With it, you’ll shoot targets and enemies, making sure to dodge incoming attacks. It’s a test of skill, requiring precise aim (though there is a target reticle to assist) and quick reactions. There’s also a duel mode against a single opponent, though it’s only against AI – there’s no multiplayer to speak of. Check it out in the trailer below.

Bow Man Oculus Quest Trailer

Bow Man originally launched on SteamVR back in 2019, where it curiously did feature multiplayer support for its duel mode. There isn’t any visible explanation for why the Quest version of the game doesn’t include the multiplayer support.

The game rounds out a week of multiple releases for Quest. Yesterday also saw the launch of the long-anticipated Quest version of Gorn as well as VR swinging game Yupitergrad and a brain training platform called Reakt. Quite a lot of variety for a single week, then.

Will you be checking out Bow Man on Oculus Quest? Or does one of the platform’s other releases have your attention this week? Let us know in the comments below!

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Total Quest Games Reviews Have Exceed Oculus PC Reviews in Less Than Two Years

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Adding to a growing number of data points showing why Facebook has shifted its attention away from Oculus PC is the difference in momentum between the two platforms as revealed by game review counts over time. This month, the number of reviews across all Quest games has exceeded the number of reviews across all Oculus PC games.

The number of times a game has been reviewed generally correlates with how many units that game has sold. Thus, looking at the count of all reviews in a given game marketplace over time can give us some indication of the trend of unit sales in that marketplace.

Worth noting: when it comes to Quest, users are required to install the Oculus smartphone app, which has a variety of mechanisms to pull users back into the app—like scoreboard and challenge prompts—where they can also write a review for games in their library. On the other hand, the Oculus PC app doesn’t have much of that functionality, nor is it always in your pocket.

So, all things equal, we’d expect from the outset that a larger proportion of Quest users would write reviews compared to Oculus PC users. Exactly how many more, however, is hard to figure. So while it’s interesting to see that this month the total number of Quest game reviews surpassed the total number of Oculus PC game reviews, as we can see below, it isn’t the count that’s particularly interesting, but the trend.

The Rift and the Oculus PC store launched in March 2016, nearly five years ago. The first Quest and its store launched in May of 2019. It took a little less than two years (from May 2019 to January 2021) for Quest game reviews to surpass the number of Oculus PC game reviews.

Another way to look at this is to look at the average number of reviews per day. Here we can see that not only the count, but more importantly the trend is moving healthily upward on Quest, whereas the Oculus PC store has largely flatlined in comparison.

Another interesting point to note is that the number of Quest game reviews is spread across a much smaller number of games. The Quest store has just 253 games, while the Oculus PC store has some 1,800. This is no doubt due to Facebook’s decision to “curate” the Quest store.

Despite the large quantity of games on the Oculus PC store, only 339 (19%) have reached the seemingly low bar of 100 or more reviews. The median number of reviews for each game on the store is 240.

Quest games are much more consistently surpassing 100 reviews, with 201 (79%) crossing the threshold. The median number of reviews for each game on the Quest store is 621.

Value—as revealed through user reviews—is another interesting point of comparison between the two stores. Below we can see that the rating distribution leans significantly higher on the Quest store vs. Oculus PC.

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And a final note worth pointing out: while this data suggests that the Oculus PC store is stagnating, we can’t necessarily extend this conclusion to the overall PC VR category, where Steam is one of PC VR’s largest marketplaces (and is not represented in this data). On that front, Valve shared some positive figures about VR usage on Steam in 2020, and other data suggests the platforms continues to grow.

The post Total Quest Games Reviews Have Exceed Oculus PC Reviews in Less Than Two Years appeared first on Road to VR.

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Reakt Is A Fiendish Brain Training Quest Game Out Today

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Dr Kawashima has some competition; Reakt is a new Oculus Quest game that offers VR brain training.

But Reakt, which is out today via the official Oculus Store, isn’t your usual collection of brain-teasers. Instead, the platform is focused on brain training for athletes. It asks you what your favorite sports are and then attempts to mentally tune you into them using different activities. Check out some tutorial gameplay footage below.

Reakt Oculus Quest Gameplay

The first game is a little like pong or a brick-breaking game, with some added twists. You use both hand controllers to block incoming orbs fired from floating launchers. But other launchers will fire missiles you have to dodge. At the start of the round, the game shows you which launchers fire orbs and which fire missiles but, when you’re playing, they’re indistinguishable from each other. You need to memorize which is which and keep an eye on the missile launchers – act fast and you’ll be able to slow their attacks down with the pull of a trigger before they fire.

It sounds simple on paper but in practice, it quickly turns into a frantic and alarmingly difficult task. The second game is a more simplified version of it that removes the orbs and missiles and simply asks you to pull the trigger when certain launchers glow.

You can feel your concentration being stretched as you play – launchers float around the arena and keeping both in your peripheral view, memorizing the right ones and keeping that focus as the others distract you is incredibly tough. After a session, the game shows you stats and tells you how these exercises can help you to process information faster, which could then transfer into real sports. I couldn’t tell you if the science is sound, but I definitely had my brain in a wrap after 15 minutes.

It’s fair to say, though, that Reakt definitely goes after a niche. It might be launching on the Quest store but the platform seems best-suited to being implemented into actual training plans. As someone that exercises regularly but often with only casual goals, I can’t say I’d personally benefit much from continued use of the service. But if you’re a regular sports player that actively wants to push to do their best, you may well benefit from taking a few minutes out of your day to jump into Reakt. If you’re looking for more traditional VR brain training, Enhance might be up your street.

Will you be checking out Reakt on Oculus Quest today? Let us know in the comments below.

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How To Connect PSVR To PS5 And PS4 Consoles

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Got a new PSVR headset and trying to figure out how to connect it to your PS5 or PS4 console? Here’s our guide.

PSVR launched in 2016 for the PlayStation 4 console. Despite the PlayStation 5 taking over as the current generation, the PSVR headset is still available for purchase and is compatible with the new generation through backwards compatible PS4 titles.

The PSVR system consists of a couple of devices — the PSVR headset, the processor unit, the PlayStation camera, an HDMI cord, a power supply cord and a micro USB cord. You need all of these in order to connect PSVR to your PlayStation console.

Also, try to use all the cords that come with the system — while it might seem you could use any micro USB cord, for example, we’ve found that the swapping it out for another generic micro USB cord can cause problems. So the safest bet is to stick to the cords included in the box.

Connecting The System To Your Console

For both PS4 and PS5, the process of connecting PSVR to your console is largely the same — the instructions below will apply to both consoles, with one small exception for PS5, noted below.

The guide below presumes that you have your PlayStation console already set up and connected to your TV. It’s best to fully power down your PlayStation console before your start.

Connecting the Camera

First of all, set the PlayStation Camera up so that it is sitting in the center of your TV, either sitting directly below it or balancing on the TV’s top lip. You can try out additional placements for your camera later that might maximize your play area, but for now stick to this straightforward setup.

If you’re using a PS4, plug the camera’s cord into the matching port on the back of your console.

If you’re using a PS5, you will need an adapter for the plug. Read more about that below. Once you have the adapter plug in, connect the USB into any of the ports on the back on the PS5.

Setting up the processor unit

It’s best to position the processor unit close to your console.

First of all, take your PSVR headset and locate the attached cord, which splits into two plugs at the end. Plug both of them into the front of the processor unit.

Then, locate the existing HDMI cord that runs from your console to your TV. Unplug the end that is connected to your console and plug it into the HDMI port on the back of the processor unit that reads ‘HDMI TV’. You should now have a HDMI cord running from the TV to the HDMI port marked ‘TV’ on your processor unit, with no HDMI cord plugged into your console.

Take the new HDMI cord included with the PSVR bundle. Connect it to the second HDMI port on the processor unit that reads ‘HMDI PS4’ (even if you’re using a PS5). Then, plug the other end of the cord into the HDMI port on the back of your console.

Locate the micro USB cable included in the bundle. Plug the micro plug into the processor unit and the standard USB plug into one of the console’s USB ports — in our experience, we’ve found that connecting this cord to the front USB port, not the rear one, results in fewer errors.

Lastly, plug in the power adapter into a power point and the other end into the processor unit.

PS5 Camera Adapters

For PS5 owners specifically, you will need a PlayStation Camera Adapter. The PS5 is missing the specific camera port from the PS4 consoles, so an adapter, pictured above, converts the PlayStation Camera plug into a normal USB plug.

As of late 2020, Sony started to include the adapter with many new PSVR bundles. If you bought a PSVR bundle recently, check to see if it included a PlayStation Camera Adapter.

For existing PSVR owners or those whose bundles did not include an adapter, you can apply for a free adapter from Sony online. You’ll need the serial number on the back of your processor unit, pictured above, and it’s limited to one adapter per unit. Secondhand buyers beware — secondhand or used processor units’ serial numbers may have already been used to claim a free adapter.

You can apply for the adapter here.

Once you have the adapter, simply plug the camera plug into it and connect it to one of the PS5’s USB ports on the back of the console. The instructions for the rest of the process will remain exactly the same, as outlined above.

Finishing Up

Once you’ve completed all of above, turn you console back on and you should be good to go. To get started with PSVR, press the power button on the headset’s underside (or along the cord on the older version of the headset) and put it on.

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Any questions? Let us know in the comments and we’ll see if we can help.

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Yupitergrad Review: Innovative VR Platforming That’s As Much Hard Work As It Is Fun

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Does this Spider-Man-style VR swinging game take off? Find out in our Yupitergrad review.

Sometimes something can be a clear labor of love but, also, very much still a labor. Take Yupitergrad; it’s an innovative and deeply considered VR platformer with an absolutely brilliant central mechanic but, my god, is it hard work sometimes.

Yupitergrad’s elevator pitch is clean and simple: become Spider-Man in VR. Just, for the sake of not being sued, swap out New York City with a derelict Russian space station orbiting Jupiter and trade in your web shooters for a pair of, uh, arm-mounted projectile plungers that stick to surfaces and reel you in. The station is in dire need of repairs and you’re the only cosmonaut for the job, which means navigating spinning fans, searing furnaces and questionably-placed meat grinders as you master the art of swinging in VR.

Developer Gamedust — responsible for early VR treats like Neverout and Overflight — has put a lot of work into the traversal. Plungers stick to blue surfaces and pulling down hard will catapult you in their direction. Get enough momentum going and you can fly down corridors, effortlessly alternating between arms for a breezy thrill.

Yupitergrad is at its best when it lets all of these concepts breathe. Gaining speed to zip through levels, tackling corners at break-neck pace or simply propelling yourself over fire pits and gas clouds is a genuine rush, and the game largely obeys the laws of physics. Your actions often result in the intended movements and there aren’t any unfortunate and sudden bugs that could have a well-placed shot sending you tumbling to your demise. It also helps that it looks great, with cold, brutalist architecture contrasted by a vibrant cel-shaded color scheme.

Yupitergrad Review – The Facts

What is it?: A VR platforming game in which you swing through a space station using two arm-mounted grappling hooks
Platforms: PC VR, Oculus Quest (PSVR version coming soon)
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $14.99

But you can’t sustain a 2-ish hour campaign on empty corridors alone, as Yupitergrad knows well. Each area you’ll traverse is filled with unique obstacles, be it moving platforms that taxi you across gaps or even underwater assault courses navigated with compressed air to move you.

Maintaining momentum whilst providing an agile challenge is something the game can struggle with. Some of its levels are a real joy to tackle, like keeping up your pace as you scan the ceiling for grapple points on opening and closing doors. But, for all its refinement, Yupitergrad’s stringy movement is often unwieldy, as trying to zip through a series of corridors using two plungers tied to bits of string would be. But there’s a thin margin for error that doesn’t forgive as much as it should.

Trying to squeeze in between small gaps before you’re crushed by rolling spikes, or picking the right time to launch yourself past spinning fans is a finicky business that will have you replaying levels over and over. Even trying to edge closer to a challenge can result in wobbles that land you back at the most recent checkpoint. Load times are mercifully quick but I found myself increasingly infuriated with some of the game’s more precision-based trials. It never verges on completely unforgivable but is also consistently annoying enough to muddy the experience.

Yupitergrad Review – Comfort

Gamedust says Yupitergrad doesn’t give players nausea, but I highly doubt that will be the case for everyone. The game’s swinging mechanics really make you feel the forces work – I nearly fell over a fair few times when standing up to play. If you get sick quick in VR, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

With repetition also comes a fog of dizziness that stays with you long after you take the headset off. Sitting here after a 30-minute play session I can still feel the lurch of swinging back and forth as I dangle on a line and it’s not exactly a pleasant sensation, even if it is remarkable the game can give it to you. Yupitergrad is a game to play in short bursts – a series of sprints rather than something to marathon. That makes the brief run time something of a relief, though there are 20 new time trial levels added along with the release of the Quest version should you want more.

Yupitergrad Review Final Impressions

At its heart, Yupitergrad’s brand of VR vaulting offers a clean and thrilling sensation, but its obstacle courses can frustrate as much as they do entertain. It’s not a game to master so much as it is to survive as you subject yourself to the mercy of its gauntlet and the finicky arsenal that helps you navigate it. Take it short strides, keep your patience and there’s fun to be had with Yupitergrad. It just gets strung up by its own plungers from time-to-time.

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For more on how we arrived at this score, see our review guidelines. What did you make of our Yupitergrad review? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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‘Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife’ to Release in Spring 2021, More Gameplay Revealed

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Fast Travel Games, the studio behind Apex Construct (2018) and Budget Cuts 2 (2019), are bringing their ‘World of Darkness’ horror game Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife to all major VR platforms this spring. Now the studio has served up a fresh gameplay video featuring the mysterious ‘Shadow’ who guides you.

Update (January 28th, 2021):  Fast Travel Games released a new video (linked above and below the article) that shoes off the game’s mysterious ‘Shadow’ character. Here’s how the studio describes it.

“As a Wraith in Afterlife, you will have a companion of sorts by your side called ‘the Shadow’. The Shadow is a manifestation of your dark subconscious – call it the devil on the shoulder, or the little voice in the back of your head telling you to do the things you really shouldn’t. So, while he functions as a guide through the game… should you really trust him?”

Now the studio says it is targeting spring 2021, which may still fit within its ‘Early 2021’ launch window.

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Update (December 17th, 2020): Fast Travel Games published some new gameplay footage today, showing off the level of polish coming to Quest 2 and further detailing some of the game’s mechanics.

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife is set launch sometime in early 2021 on all the major VR headsets, which includes SteamVR, the Oculus Store for Quest and Rift (supporting cross-buy), and PlayStation VR.

We’ve time-linked the video below where Quest 2 footage is highlighted. Developer Andreas Juliusson also speaks a bit about what to expect, including special powers, the game’s World of Darkness setting, and the mystery of why and how you’ve become a ghostly apparition.

Original Article (June 9th, 2020): Fans of the World of Darkness universe and its many tabletop role-playing games are no doubt familiar with Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife is said to follow in the footsteps of its 1994-era tabletop RPG namesake by placing you in the modern Barclay Mansion and putting you in the ghostly shoes of a Wraith who unravels the mysteries “that await beyond the Shroud.”

Erik Odeldahl, Creative Director at Fast Travel Games, says that horror games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Alien: Isolation have influenced the studio to create a similar “narrative-driven, exploration-focused” horror title in the World of Darkness universe.

The game, which doesn’t have a release date yet, is slated to arrive on “all major VR platforms,” Fast Travel says.

A gameplay reveal and details are said to arrive during Gamescom Now, which starts August 27th. Hopefully we’ll be getting a release date then too.

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The post ‘Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife’ to Release in Spring 2021, More Gameplay Revealed appeared first on Road to VR.

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Magic Leap Founder Rony Abovitz Unveils New Startup to Build Virtual Humans

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Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap, is starting on a new path after his departure as CEO of the well-funded augmented reality company last year. Abovitz just unveiled his next project, a startup called Sun and Thunder, which aims to build what he calls “synthetic beings.”

Founded late last year, Abovitz says the company’s first project will feature a character named Jako Vega, also known as ‘Yellow Dove’, which will be the center of a number of short film experiments set to release sometime in 2021.

On the face of it, Sun and Thunder feels patently Abovitzian in its near-science fiction ambitions to create digital life. Much like Magic Leap’s AI-driven virtual companion Mica, which was billed as an “educator, agitator, companion, artist and guide,” Abovitz imbues Yellow Dove with a degree of sentience that’s fairly questionable—at least for now.

Image courtesy Sun and Thunder

The startup says on its website that Yellow Dove is “a member of the Sun and Thunder team, a co-creator, and traveler through a number of interconnected Sun and Thunder storyworlds. He is a musician and the first artist on Sun and Thunder Records.”

Abovitz tells Venture Beat in an exclusive interview that the upcoming short film will act as an introduction to the Yellow Dove character.

“He goes outside and teaches us about the world, and we’re building out the underlying technology that makes these things happen. It’s a small enough container that we are developing. And he ultimately will be writing all of his lyrics and adventures.”

Continuing, Abovitz says the startup isn’t trying to “take on like the largest tech companies in the world,” à la Magic Leap. “It’s not the best metaphor, but this is like a craft beer. Or something Studio Ghibli would do.”

Abovitz tells Venture Beat that Sun and Thunder is being funded out of pocket for now, although he’s currently in talks with potential investors. Abovitz still sits on Magic Leap’s board of directors, however Sun and Thunder is a separate venture that isn’t tied to a specific platform.

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