Not really sure what you mean by on rails platformer. I mean you go from point A to point B and try to free all of the bots. It’s not open world at all if that is what you mean. It’s like a 2D platformer in that sense that you go from A to B.
I read ‘on-rails’ and took that as most of it was guided and moved for you. If it’s more ‘on-rails’ in the sense that’s closer to a 2d platformer that’s actually pretty cool. I was thinking more open-world when I heard about the game, so when I heard on-rails it made think of a more guided playstyle.
Probably gonna look up videos now.
EDIT: Just watched a Sony sponsored video (lol) and it reminded me of the Mario 3D world in how I interacted with the Game Pad for parts of the game. Consider me sold. Now I’m wishing I grabbed it the bundle, haha. Trying to be responsible, though.
Here’s the video
Persona 5 update might be coming
Prob switch port…way too many coincidences right now.
Guilty Gear release for switch delayed into 2019
Serious sam collection for ps4 and xbone might have been leaked
Heeey Crush 40 is back! Also new date. May 21st
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Astro Bot is not “on rails” at all in the traditional sense. It’s just a linear platformer where you go from the start to finish and it’s pretty obvious which direction you go (straight in front of you). There are a couple parts of levels where you are on rails like in a car and you have to jump from platform to platform, etc, kind of like when you grind on Ratchet and Clank, but that’s it.
Man No one wants Accent Core on Switch, they want the latest version of Revelator. Come on now.
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The only problem with that analogy is that Mario 64 had innovated on the layout of levels to use the 3D space in interesting ways whereas the VR games just streamline the layout and structure.
Astro Bot does stuff gameplay wise and mechanics wise that simply is not possible without VR. Just like Mario 64 did stuff with 3D that is not possible in 2D.
What does Astro Bot do that is not possible without VR?
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I am also interested. What does Astrobot do that can’t be done without VR?
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Read some reviews and/or play it. As mentioned there are multiple mechanics that simply won’t work without VR including turning your controller into a multi-tool piece of equipment that maps 1:1 with the controller in the real world.
It’s similar to what Moss does. Everyone thinks Moss can be a non-VR game but it simply cant and won’t work in pancake mode.
In reality it’s just hard to explain a lot about what VR does in words. You have to play it to “get” it for the most part. I used to hate on it very hard because I thought videos looked so dumb.
I don’t care enough about VR to look into it, that’s why I am asking you, you’re the guy who talks up VR so you must know right? If I cared enough to look it up I would have by now.
I’m sure as shit not spending 300+ to find out if I MIGHT like it. I dont have that kind of money to throw around.
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You are not being very specific. I could naively say it is no different than using touch screens or Motion Plus Wiimote or Playstation Move Motion controller based on your description.
The only conceivable innovation VR could provide in my mind is changing the field of view based on the position of your head.
That is a big part of it too. You find some of the bots due to the 3D sound of where you hear them saying “HELP ME” based on your head position an the way you are looking. And then peaking around corners or looking down below a platform you are walking across will reveal secret spots and/or bots. And as mentioned the controller turns into a tool. You see the controller in game the whole time you are playing the game, and it maps 1:1 with your real controller and in space. It turns into a gun, a water canon, a grappling hook, ninja stars, and a couple other things. You will also have parts of the levels where you have to navigate from left to right by climbing over obstacles where you have to climb above you.
None of that can be done in a non-VR environment. And again, it is hard to explain and is way easier to “show” when someone plays the game. It doesn’t sound nearly as cool just hearing someone type about it or even seeing a video. Videos in general in VR suck. The FOV is nowhere near what it is in game and the resolution isn’t the same too. It also doesn’t have the 3D sound which makes it extremely immersive.
I do agree that it’s hard to just pick up and buy it. I would never have bought VR had I not tried it out 2 Thanksgivings ago at the MS store while randomly in the mall. Then I tried PSVR since I don’t own a capable PC for VR and the Moss demo and the Ocean World on VR Worlds sold me. My one friend had played my PSVR a few times but then like a week before Black Friday sales he tried out Astro Bot and decided before finishing the first level that he was buying PSVR strictly because of Astro Bot. Now he has like 8 games and he bought it a month ago.
EDIT:
And you can’t even compare wiimote+ to the controllers and tracking in VR. It’s not even remotely close to the same thing. wiimote+ is nowhere close to being 1:1 movement or in space the same way.
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Accent core better than rev2 doe
Some of the concepts I saw in the Astrobot video I posted were done in Mario 3D World, and I feel could’ve been pulled off on a smaller scale with the Wii U, such as getting hit in the face on one screen and having to use the second screen to get a clear view of your surroundings to continue the mission while the slime wears off.
Before the SRK redesign I used to talk about how much more streamlined the Wii U made gaming with the second screen than previous consoles and the current consoles. I remember the same things being said about the Gamepad when the other systems (“you can do that on x system” when you actually couldn’t), including the Switch, that ‘you have to play it to get it’. No surprise that none of the systems won’t be as streamlined as the Wii U.
The immersion VR brings takes those ideas used with the Wii U on another level and adds to them. Might be grabbing one after tax season instead of waiting longer.
Still a nagging bummer that the Gamepad features were axed in the U version of BotW.
Oh yah I forgot about those mechanics too where you have to dodge stuff sometimes. Also you have to headbutt stuff as well.
EDIT:
I guess that kind of goes into the overall summarization of a bit part why Astro Bot (and Moss) can’t be done in pancake mode. It’s because you control a character, but you yourself are also a character in the games in “real world space” where you have to “physically” do stuff.
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Thanks for the explanation. The 3D audio is not new as there were shooters around the early 2000s that had similar features. There are games for Wii that turn the digital equivalent of your physical hand into various tools with physical mapping good enough to be immersive. Nevertheless VR is not for me and the features you describe would be more of a burden to me rather than a part of a positive experience. My natural kinesthetic awareness and athletic ability would just make me more aware of the technology’s limits. Also, I cannot help but think of VR games as extended tech demos which I avoid as they lack substance or ports that I would rather play the old fashioned way.
P.S. The problem with the 2 screen design of Wii U is that you are only looking at one screen at a time. Also, one could argue Dreamcast did it first.
I can think of a bunch of games that do those things you just described, maybe not all at once, but all of those things have been done before.
3D audio in a shooter versus 3D audio in a game in VR is completely different. In a shooter you are turning a joystick to rotate your viewpoint X degrees on your TV screen. In VR you are physically turning your head and your entire FOV changes with your head movement at the same speed and the same distance. They simply aren’t comparable. 3D sound in VR is on a whole different level.
I also have no clue wtf you are talking about in regards to your athletic ability having anything to do with anything. Moss and Astro Bot are games you play sitting down stationary.
And @Radiantsilvergun3 I’d love to hear the games that did everything I just mentioned because I’m willing to bet they haven’t been done (at least not in VR and/or with the polish and precision).
I mean there is a reason that both Moss and Astro Bot are basically critically acclaimed by basically everyone who has played them and the only people who have issues with them or call them “tech demos” are basically people who have never even played them. As I’ve mentioned, you simply can’t play these games in traditional (pancake) mode either - they are built from the ground up with mechanics that simply don’t work in pancake mode. Saying a game like Moss or Astro Bot lacks substance or is a tech demo is simply ignorance and nothing more.
I’m not trying to convince anyone about anything but making claims about something you haven’t experienced is just kind of ignorant. It would be like me talking about these anime RPG’s or other games that I’ve never played or cared for being good or not based on a video. Sure I know if games are something that would interest me or not based on trailers, but that doesn’t mean I dismiss them as bad games (not saying you all are either, for the most part).
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Dreamcast did it do it first and I was on board with second screen gaming off the bat, even with it being as rudimentary as it was at the time. I actually had to really know the plays in NFL2K to call plays off the VMU. RE:CV was my favorite in that it showed your health (so did character animations, but still…). Same thing about it being ‘not that useful’ was said back then despite the VMU adding a streamlined experience. In NFL2K, my friends got wise to it after realizing the plays I were calling weren’t the same as what was being shown on the screen, and then procedeed to say it was “cheap”.
Wii U’s problem is people thought you had to focus on one screen at a time, when a quick glance was all that you needed. The Kirby Wii U game has you drawing a path much like the DS game but if you know the screen, you don’t need to look down at it while playing. Same with W101 and drawing shapes. ZombiU benefitted over the later ports because of how it added to the gameplay.
VR’s deal is that you are in the game, and that’s hard to get across in videos unless you do it yourself. Even then it be for everybody as of right now, due to it still being worked and improved upon. I’m hoping in 10 years time I’ll be able to play my entire library on a VR/AR setup without having to worry about current display technologies (PS2 on a HDTV for example) on sleek setup like the glasses in prototype at the tech trade shows.