Crystal Rift the “experiential horror challenge game” designed from the ground-up for VR headsets will launch on Valve’s Steam Platform via the Early Access program on April 20th where dungeon crawler aficionados will be able to get their hands on the first act of the game and a promising ‘in VR’ level editor.
Game design is hard. A fatuous truism perhaps, but a truism nonetheless. But right now, designing games for VR is even harder as developers fight to create a fitting design language, along with rules which apply to VRs very special requirements and qualities. What’s more, when the commercial playing field for VR is still not yet fully formed, it’s a wily developer who can choose a game design that’s as hardware agnostic as possible whilst still appealing to as many players as possible.
Pre-Order Crystal Rift Here
Crystal Rift‘s gameplay promises to be a mash-up of vintage, grid-based dungeon crawling – originally made famous by classics such as Dungeon Master (1987) and Eye of the Beholder (1991) – and recently successfully revived by the likes of Legend of Grimrock. Tropes of the genre are present and correct, including traps triggered by pressure plates, secret rooms and that uneasy sense that death lurks but one jerky motion around the next corner. Crystal Rift takes these gameplay staples, shakes them up with traditional puzzling and plops the whole lot into a cutting-edge virtual reality container that’s about as modern it gets.
The game passed its Kickstarter campaign goal back in December, pledging to support both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR (and latterly HTC’s Vive / Steam VR) platforms on arrival and as of April 20th, will celebrate their debut on Valve’s Steam content delivery network via their Early Access program.
Crystal Rift‘s core development team comprises Jon Hibbins (a veteran developer) and Nick Pittom (aka RedofPaw – he of VR Ghibli Diorama fame). The pair are clearly over the moon at this important step on the road to getting their game ‘out there’:
WE ARE VERY EXCITED AND PROUD WITH WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED WITH CRYSTAL RIFT AND WE THINK THAT IT IS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. WE WANT EVERYONE WE CAN TO PLAY THE GAME WE HAVE MADE SO FAR, WHICH REPRESENTS THE 1ST ACT OF THE GAME AND AROUND 2 HOURS OF GAMEPLAY, BUT WE ALSO WANT YOU TO HEAR THE AWESOME THEME TUNE, AND PLAY WITH THE LEVEL EDITOR – SOMETHING WE ARE PARTICULARLY HAPPY WITH. BUT WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR YOU (YES YOU!) TO HELP US MAKE THIS THE GAME YOU WANT! ARE YOU READY? CAN YOU SURVIVE THE DUNGEON, AND NOT TURN BACK FROM THE MONSTERS YOU’LL MEET ALONG THE WAY? WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE!
Other than the clever juxtaposition of vintage gameplay played out inside virtual reality, the titles other key selling point is its in-game editor, which players can use to build their own worlds without ever leaving virtual reality – a cool concept that sounds almost as immersive as the main game. Players will be able to build their levels using the provided in-game tools and then share them. Initially players will be able to export and import via the in-game menu, but the plan is to implement Valve’s integrated Steamworks system to help players manage and share their mods.
Any developer investing time and money into a VR focussed game development right now have my admiration. There’s more than a whiff of the Wild West about the virtual reality scene right now, with gold prospecting in ‘them thar hills’ seeming a particularly apt parallel era of history. And with VR specific content delivery platforms still in their infancy, Steam Early access is proving a vital lifeline to small and independent developers in VR. Crystal Rift’s Steam Early Access launch on April 20th is therefore great news.
Crystal Rift hits Steam Early Access on April 20th but on release will also be available at GOG, Oculus Share and Humble Bundle stores. Any pre-orders (currently discounted) on www.crystalrift.com, Humble Store or remaining Kickstarter pledges will be sent a Stream Key prior to the Early Access release.
