Mars expedition 1, good for Rift?

[cerulianbaloo]

I was poking around RPS earlier and noticed a blurb on an upcoming add on for Vehicle Simulator called Mars Expedition 1, it's supposedly mapping the topography of the entire Martian surface, and includes a multitude of landers, aircraft, and vehicles with which to explore the surface. It doesn't look half bad either. I think it'd make an excellent addition for the Rift. I also noticed in the footage provided there were scenes with two astronauts exploring the surface together. Despite their awkward animations, the thought of exploring a virtual Mars with someone else sounds too cool. What does everyone else think? I think there's a few issues that would need to be addressed for Rift support, such as the third person view when the Soyuz capsule is entering the atmosphere, other than that I think it would look excellent on the Rift.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crv5kfc4_pw&sns=em

[virror]

Looks like a perfect match : D

[KBK]

that 2ms seconds of lag spec will come in really handy, there.

[Hicks100]

looks promising, is that how you walk when you have an "accident" in a space suit..

[Bretspot]

Too bad all the rocks appear to be flat billboards. Hopefully they have some sort of depth map to them, but look when the camera rotates. You definitely see the rocks billboard towards you.

Still very nice looking for the image quality though.

[drifter]

It looks graphically convincing, the immersion in FPV seems to be good

is that how you walk when you have an "accident" in a space suit..

Or when you forget to bring women in your very long expedition...

[rhinosix]

A similar game called Red Rover is also in development.

Haven't heard anything about Rift support, but it seems like it would be well suited.

[GeraldT]

That would make for a great 30 minute mars edutainment, but after that I am rather sure it will get boring.
Mars has not that much to offer I think ...

[drifter]

That would make for a great 30 minute mars edutainment, but after that I am rather sure it will get boring.

Yeah, making it VR would multiply the lifespan by 10, at least

[GeraldT]

I was talking about the VR lifespan - unless it is your very first experience, you will most likely not be that interested in a world where the best interaction you can hope for is collecting a probe or driving a rather slow vehicle.
I might be wrong and they have more excitement in there, but I won't hold my breath

[cerulianbaloo]

If they can fix the rock billboarding thing I can imagine I'd spend plenty of time there with the Rift. One of my favorite environments is a wide-open landscape, be it desert, grasslands etc. Just being able to see off into the horizon and knowing you can roam about, and with multiple options for how to explore it seems awesome. This could also be due to the fact that I live in the Pacific Northwest and can't see more than several hundred yards without seeing trees everywhere.

One of my favorite games just for the environment was Red Faction Guerilla, they captured the Martian vibe and color tone really well. You felt like you were on an alien world. I like the idea of the modules in Mars Expedition 1, it would be cool to have a building mini game you could coop with a group of people towards creating a vast Martian base.

I think it comes down to personal taste, I could care less about gameplay with certain experiences like this one, the point is exploration and seeing surreal, alien vistas. Also am excited to try Outerra Anteworld, which is pretty much the same thing but using Earth. There's even a built-in google earth widget that can transport you to whatever coordinates you input, and that developer is planning on adding Rift support http://www.outerra.com/forum/index.php?topic=637.0

[s0uL]

Both this and Outerra look extremely cool. I'd definitely spend some time with either.

[GeraldT]

cerulianbaloo I must say that you living in such an area influences it is quite interesting! I grew up near the coast in Germany ... hardly any trees, the land is flat and looking around seeing nothing was everyday. we did not even get the cooler cloud formations. So I guess I am wrong and just not the right person for it.

[Aeroflux]

If they can fix the rock billboarding thing I can imagine I'd spend plenty of time there with the Rift.

I swear the first thing that popped up in my mind was speedtree rock crops. Then Apollo 18.