Meant to be Seen

Strange Allies for Oculus Rift and Cyberith Virtualizer mashes together the genre-defining standards set by games like Half-Life, Elite and FTL: Faster Than Light to create a First-Person/Virtual Reality Role Playing Game (FP/VR RPG) that we like to think of as our "Han Solo/Firefly Simulator".

(We say "FP/VR" because you can still play the game traditionally if you don't own a VR rig.)

You play as a small-time criminal. At the start of the game, you are betrayed by your employer while doing a job and almost caught by the Law. Faced with the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence, you escape and make your way through the spacestation to the nearest docking bay and break into the only available ship. You steal it and make your getaway. From that point, the galaxy will be yours to explore.

We are currently developing the prototype to prove the gameplay, but even for the prototype we have ambitious goals for the visuals. It's very early days right now, but we think the MTBS community will be interested in following what we're trying to achieve in terms of gameplay and immersion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHYRzy_8sY

For more information, including in-development model shots and the current VR video, see our website: bigdumbfungames.com

If you have any comments or questions for us, please post below and we'll answer to the best of our ability.

Thanks for reading. We hope you'll join us and follow the development of Strange Allies for Oculus Rift and Cyberith Virtualizer.

Nice job.

Thanks! It's very early days, of course, but we're super-chuffed to be getting started on what is pretty much our dream project.

We're pretty much stupidly excited about getting our hands on the Virtualizer, too. Between the Oculus, the Virtualizer and maybe PrioVR (jury's still out on whether or not we need to go that far), we think we can create something that's both a great fun game and an amazing VR experience.

UPDATE: The jury didn't stay out for long. We're now going to be implementing support for PrioVR as well for the most immersive experience we can create.

Here’s a quick roadmap update for you all:

We’re hoping to have the full ship complete (no more place holder lameness) from Airlock to Bridge by the middle of May, by which time we should also have the initial “shooter” gameplay element in there.

The gameplay will be your typical FPS mechanics only at that stage, with some simple tasks to complete in order to win, but in VR of course. It’ll be for Oculus Rift only at that point, so nowhere near the immersive end-point we’re targeting (we’ll still be waiting on our Virtualizer and PrioVR kits to arrive).

With that initial VR/FPS implementation, then—and if we’re happy that it’s actually FUN—we plan on making the prototype available for download by a few peeps who are interested in being VR guinea pigs so we can gauge their feedback.

If anyone here would like to join us for that, just keep an eye open on our website at bigdumbfungames.com (or maybe subscribe to our newsletter if that’s easier). We’d love to have your input as the game comes together.