Vendetta Online Becomes the First MMO To Launch Support For the Oculus Rift. 48
Incarnate-VO writes "Many-platform space MMORPG Vendetta Online has added another first, with the official launch of support for the Oculus Rift family of head-mounted VR displays. The VR adds another level of immersion to the twitch-combat space title."
A few limitations: Windows only (because the Rift only supports Windows), some effects are disabled, and the developers still want to tweak things like the HUD. But it's a good first step, and supports both the low-res and high definition revisions of the Occulus Rift.
Windows only? (Score:3, Funny)
Fuck that. They should be giving it away for FLOSS Everyting shuld be free. People shouldn't get paid for their work. Except me; I'm in software development.
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BMO
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Nothing?
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Wrong according to saint RMS you can charge for support!
I mean anyone can just use the service and program free of charge and how many of these geeks would love to spend $1999 for an enterprise edition support contract annually so they can have the privilege of chatting with Mike in India who asks if they restarted their computers?
Yep, it's 9 years old, and lots of people still (Score:2)
Yep, it's 9 years old, and lots of people still play it. Just like TF2, World fo Warcraft, and a lot of other titles.
HEHE (Score:2)
I'll be stuck playing SC2 for a while, but probably not 9 yrs... :)
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You might be. SC3 could take another 9 years to make : /
Chicken and egg solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't that the point though? The big problem with any new tech is the "chicken and egg" issue - why would you buy an expensive blueray player when there's not many movies available for it, and why would the publishers make the expensive new discs if nobody has the equipment to watch them? The market stays tiny for a long time until a critical mass builds, and then the market suddenly takes off, or the products fail. Same general thing with VR helmets/games - Who would buy a VR helmet with no games except for hobbyists? And who would make games for a helmet nobody has? There's a very real risk that this could be one of the many failed technologies that fell by the wayside for lack of market penetration (8-tracks anyone?)
In this case they came up with a potentially great solution - there's plenty of hobbyists among those who make games and mods, so they marketed first to them. What better way to play with your new toy than to get VR support working in your game? And once you have VR support working why not polish it up a bit and add it to your public release, so you can hopefully cash in on some of the people with new VR helmets that are looking or supported games? Then with the second, consumer-oriented helmet production run/marketing campaign you have a fair-sized library of supported games right out of the gate. Maybe it's mostly older games that lack some of the "flash" of the newer titles, but they're also largely games that are compelling enough in some fashion that they have withstood the test of time and still have a decent number of players. And most importantly there's a fair chance your potential new VR customers have one of their favorite games supported out of the box, and know that there's at least a year or two backlog of games they've never played before already available with VR support. Makes it a much more compelling buy, don't you think? Especially considering that at least some of those gamers are considering holding off on a system upgrade to buy a VR helmet instead.
I for one am chomping at the bit to try out some VR gaming, but didn't even consider getting in on the first release - I've already got a TrackIR that does head-tracking in several flight and racing sims (not nearly as immersive as VR, but still impressive and improves situational awareness dramatically), but ran into the problem that there really aren't that many games that support it. The AAA titles all do, but most of the zany casual stuff doesn't, and things like FPSs and other non-simulation games that would leverage it wonderfully mostly don't support it. If I can be assured that I can get at least a handful of good games, and dozens more "maybes", I'll be seriously considering getting in on the second run Oculus (or maybe the third run if the second hasn't upgraded the screen) - I'd expect to get at least as much enjoyment and novelty out of it as I would a new video card or anything other upgrade I could get for the same price range.
Hmm, just had another thought - even if it doesn't catch on immediately in the consumer market I bet you there's a pretty good market within the game-making industry itself. Just how much time and aggravation do you suppose you could save your level designers and decorators if they could edit the world in VR? I'd bet productivity, quality, and morale would all benefit greatly.
The rift supports OSX... (Score:2, Informative)
"A few limitations: Windows only (because the Rift only supports Windows)"
Someone should let my Rift know... it's currently working quite happily on my Mac.
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Re:The rift supports OSX... (Score:5, Informative)
Considering the Oculus SDK supports Windows, OS X, and Linux, I think the "only supports Windows" comment is simply wrong. The Rift is definitely officially supported on platforms other than Windows.
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They might cut off support for any platform, but Oculus is publishing versions of the SDK for all three platforms.
I'm not saying it works as if saying "it's not supported but it isn't broken"... Oculus is literally providing an official OS X version of the SDK...
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We're talking about the Rift supporting other platforms (since TFA says it doesn't), not Vendetta. Oculus is a 50 person company, so it shouldn't be surprising that they're maintaining official support for OS X and Linux.
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TFA doesn't say the Rift doesn't support other OSes. It in fact says the opposite:
- For the moment, our Oculus Rift support is limited to the Windows version. The Rift device itself does support Mac and Linux, but we have not as of yet. Again, this is just a first-generation implementation, and as always you can expect us to refine and expand it to other platforms as we move forward.
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Sorry, I should have said TFS, not TFA:
"A few limitations: Windows only (because the Rift only supports Windows)"
That statement is false, as TFA illustrates. It is the game that only supports Windows, not the Rift.
Re:The rift supports OSX... (Score:5, Informative)
Apparently the Slashdot editors don't even read the damned article. From the linked news update:
- For the moment, our Oculus Rift support is limited to the Windows version. The Rift device itself does support Mac and Linux, but we have not as of yet. Again, this is just a first-generation implementation, and as always you can expect us to refine and expand it to other platforms as we move forward.
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I believe they were probably referring to incorrect editorial added by Unknown Lamer stating that the Rift was supported only on Windows.
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In fact, their main target platform is unity, which itself is designed as a cross-platform engine. Support also exists for the semi-cross-platform unreal engine. That's on top of their native libraries, which are only really supported well on windows.
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I was an avid player years ago. Lots of RP being done there but the first-person shooter style got old fast. They are a small company and much of the universe is hard-coded. They do have programmable missions (including user-made ones) but it's essentially a huge arena with many bots and relatively few players.
Twitch-based combat was good and it was hard to become an ace in the game because it was actual skills, not level-based skills, that made you survive. I was a good Valkyrie jockey but not an ACE, yet
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Looks like a pretty low-budget game. Looks *entirely* like an EVE spin-off. Haven't played it, but im sure it is fun in its own unique way...
Just from looking at the website and its contents, the art department is probably one guy who is also the lead developer and VP of marketing....
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Looks like a pretty low-budget game. Looks *entirely* like an EVE spin-off. Haven't played it, but im sure it is fun in its own unique way...
It was in development before EVE came on the scene (by at least a year). But, yeah, it only has a couple of actual developers. It was an indie game before indie games became "a thing." To be honest, I'm surprised they've managed to run the game as long as they have.
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Actually a bit the reverse. The developers where building an engine to be sold much like Unreal when Eve decided to go their own way.
The developers of the engine which had limited resources ended up making a mock universe as a technology demonstration and it evolved into the game it is today.
So yes, low budget, and they suffered years long of having no graphic artists on board, with aging texture maps and ship designs.
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Rift IS cross-platform, VO will get there. (Score:5, Informative)
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The Slashdot editors are incompetent. That really is no excuse, but it's the reality of the situation.