Watch: Epic’s Robo Recall is Coming, New Developer Diary Charts its Evolution

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This latest video developer diary from Epic gives a very brief, but insightful overview of how Oculus Touch and Rift tech demo Bullet Train became fully fledged release Robo Recall, and what the developers learned along the way.

Epic‘s Robo Recall is heading to Oculus Rift in Q1 of this year for free, but how did the title evolve from tech demo, Bullet Train, designed to show off Oculus’ long awaited Touch motion controllers to the wonderfully frantic arcade shooter we’ll play soon (Q1 2017 in fact)?

This new developer diary walks you through key lessons learned by the team. The evolution of the teleportation mechanic for example, which began life as a restrictive form of locomotion in Bullet Train but in Robo Recall allows a free choice of destination and orientation all with the minimum of input effort on behalf of the player. They also share an interesting tidbit about the rendering choices made for Robo Recall, specifically aiming for the sharpest, cleanest visuals possible by using a “simplified forward renderer” to apply MSAA (Multisample Anti-Aliasing).

Here’s a snippet from what Ben Lang had to say about his time with Robo Recall after he went hands on with it at last year’s Oculus Connect conference:

With Touch, guns are a natural gameplay mechanic, and Robo Recall is full of them. With Epic’s characteristically impressive design, the weapons you’ll wield in the game are satisfying from their look to their sound, right down to the way they blow enemies to pieces. Waves of killer robots will be on the receiving end of your firepower, but this isn’t the gritty serious action of Call of Duty, it’s an arcade slugfest where a high score underlines the action.

SEE ALSO
Watch: 12 Minutes of 'Robo Recall' Gameplay with Oculus Touch

We shouldn’t have long to wait until Robo Recall is finally with us, but to keep you sated until then, you can check out 12 minutes of gameplay from the title recorded Oculus Connect last year.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.