Oculus Rift Support

[Acies]

So it seems SOMA won't be out until 2015, right? By then the Rift consumer version will have been released and I am 99% sure that it will become very popular and be considered 100% essential for decent immersion before long. Therefore I expect SOMA will have rift support. Anything else would be setting the game up for a big failure and disappointment.

It would be cool, but not a a big failure and disappointment.

I think it would be. It's just my opinion of course, but I can't really imagine being able to fully enjoy non-rift games after it's released. It's like the step from 2D to 3D. Do you know many 2D games that are as immersive as 3D games?

Diablo 2 is my favourite game of all time (recently replayed it as well) and that game is in 2D - if the comparison actually holds any relevance to the case of 'rift or not rift'.

I do agree that playing the game with the oculus rift would definately be more immersive. Frictional games, however it may seem, is actually a small company and it might not be economically viable for them to 'implement full rift support' versus 'the manpower' it would take. They have to prioritize, if they add 'something' (in this case the rift) something else has to be 'taken away' from the game. Ultimately they might consider what they 'take away' to be more important than implementing the rift (and if they make that call I'm sure they are correct given the experience they have as game designers).

I believe that it (the oculus rift) caters to the users with a higher computer budget, a smaller slice of the market. Therefore it will probably not be financially viable for frictional games (given the size of their company and the small amount of people who would buy/not buy their next game depending on oculus rift support) if the implementation procedure is complicated.

I might be wrong, the above is only guesswork. I'm trying to be realistic, but contrary to what the above might point at I do believe the rift is something positive for the user experience.

[GrixM]

Does anyone know whether frictional have ordered a DK2?

[Ashtoreth]

Does anyone know whether frictional have ordered a DK2?

If your underlying question is "Will SOMA include native Oculus Rift support?", then I'm afraid the answer is most likely negative.

Frictional aren't currently targeting Oculus Rift support for SOMA, since the game uses "a lot of effects that would not work very well on a Rift." But they haven't completely ruled out VR support, with Grip telling us that it would "still be interesting to do something. Perhaps some VR specific extra. We'll see."

[GrixM]

I see. But I think they would benefit a lot from owning a dev kit, just for experimenting, even if they don't plan on supporting it in the game.

Anyways, bump. I just received my dev kit 2! The SDK is still shabby though, haven't been able to add proper support (positional tracking etc) in a program I'm making yet, but it's still a blast. CV1 will be amazing, especially if we get a frictional game to go with it

[GrixM]

Bumping this. Oculus Rift has got a release date and Valve/HTC has also announced their headset.

[Romulator]

Bumping this. Oculus Rift has got a release date and Valve/HTC has also announced their headset.

And?
The context you're suggesting doesn't fit the topic.

Amnesia doesn't have or need Occulus Rift support.

And I still have doubts SOMA will have OR support. Some clever little fella might come along and make a third party application to allow such a possibility; however I think that the necessity for it is uncalled for. Developing Occulus Rift games are expensive, difficult and time consuming, and while I don't have the statistics, I still believe OR users are a minority in the gaming industry.

[J.R.S.S.]

...I still believe OR users are a minority in the gaming industry.

At the moment, yes, the consumer version isn't released yet. So that's yet to be determined.

And if you research some about VR in general, dozens and dozens of massive multimillionaire companies (including non technology/gaming companies) are investing and are hoping on the VR route. Once that has happened, it's inevitable that VR will be taking over the market. With power houses such as Valve, Sony, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on, there isn't much of a question.

VR isn't in the same spot it was when this thread was created, back when it was only Oculus (pre Facebook buyout). VR has gained so much speed and ground over the past year that once Valve launches in November and soon following Sony and Oculus, it'll most likely sweep over more then just the gaming industry.

[Romulator]

...I still believe OR users are a minority in the gaming industry.

At the moment, yes, the consumer version isn't released yet. So that's yet to be determined.

And if you research some about VR in general, dozens and dozens of massive multimillionaire companies (including non technology/gaming companies) are investing and are hoping on the VR route. Once that has happened, it's inevitable that VR will be taking over the market. With power houses such as Valve, Sony, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on, there isn't much of a question.

VR isn't in the same spot it was when this thread was created, back when it was only Oculus (pre Facebook buyout). VR has gained so much speed and ground over the past year that once Valve launches in November and soon following Sony and Oculus, it'll most likely sweep over more then just the gaming industry.

Oh definitely! I mean, right now, Virtual Reality is becoming more and more noticeable in various industries and has massive potential for attracting and targeting specific audiences. Yet, the fact that it is still on a developing stage in terms of audience ownership, right now, VR and OR support is more a risk and/or production constraint especially for lower end companies.

On (November's or Q1 2016's) release, audience numbers, reaction and reception will be the primary motif for investment in the long term and it is likely that VR/OR is more or less the future of gaming, simulation and architectural/design processes (to name a few). To create compatible, relatively bug free and assistance based solutions will rely purely on purchases for income, just the same how most companies make money. Relying on audience numbers and purchased units is main basis for income.

But for now, the principal of you gotta have money to spend money to earn money applies - and while not relatively expensive (at least, for Occulus Rift users), there's still potential money loss during development if you find you're unable to reach a criteria set out.

Forgive if my arguments make no sense. Procrastinating on an assessment.

[GrixM]

Bumping this. Oculus Rift has got a release date and Valve/HTC has also announced their headset.

And?
The context you're suggesting doesn't fit the topic.

Amnesia doesn't have or need Occulus Rift support.

And I still have doubts SOMA will have OR support. Some clever little fella might come along and make a third party application to allow such a possibility; however I think that the necessity for it is uncalled for. Developing Occulus Rift games are expensive, difficult and time consuming, and while I don't have the statistics, I still believe OR users are a minority in the gaming industry.

I know, I have given up hope on SOMA, the reason I am bumping at this point is in hope of the next game after that having VR support. I'm letting FG know that people are still interested in VR, the more they see this the more likely it is that they will take it seriously sooner.

It's true that it is expensive to develop, but I think this is a cost that can easily be recouperated if FG times the release of a VR game well, that is, along with the release of the first major VR headsets like the rift and Vive. When the first wave of consumer products hit, there won't be as many games available for them as the users would like, and so the people that buy VR headsets will be much more likely to buy whatever is available. We saw this with the kickstarter of the game "The Gallery: Six Elements". They were an unknown company with nothing but a concept VR game idea, but raised over $80,000, pretty much because they were one of the very few proper VR games announced. And this was at a time where Oculus was relatively unknown, only a few thousand dev kits had been ordered. Now if they could earn $80,000 from VR enthusiasts at that stage, imagine how much a company like FG with a solid track record of immersion-based games, can make if they are one of the first to announce a proper VR game, at the infliction point of VR products?