‘Carrier Command 2’ to Get Full VR Support, Cross-play With up to 9-player Co-op

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Carrier Command 2, a modern sequel to the 1988 game, puts players in control of a futuristic aircraft carrier, allowing up to nine players to manage the ship’s many systems from the bridge. Developer Geometa today announced the game will get full VR support, including cross-play with the non-VR version. Both versions will be bundled together and are expected to launch in early access later this year.

Carrier Command 2 is a PC-based reboot of the now 33 year-old Carrier Command which crosses elements of vehicle simulation with real-time strategy. Instead of just interacting through a simple UI, Carrier Command 2 is played in first-person with the player taking position on the bridge of the carrier itself, with access to the ship’s many functions laid out spatially between various control panels and computer terminals.

In announcing today that the game will see full VR support, developer Geometa said it hadn’t originally planned to support VR headsets, but opted to do so after hearing from “many, many players who have been in touch to ask for the VR version.”

“While VR was not originally in our roadmap, the literalism of the diegetic interfaces within the game has made it very easy to introduce VR to Carrier Command—this is the same game, with the same balance and same mechanics!”

While the game can be played solo, there’s nine distinct role on the bridge, each of which can be filled by a real player. And although Carrier Command 2 VR and the non-VR Carrier Command 2 will technically be separate games, the studio says it’s bundling both versions together indefinitely for the same price. Both versions of the game will also support cross-play, meaning you can have any combination of VR and non-VR players controlling the various roles on the bridge. Player-vs-player multiplayer is also supported.

“In the VR edition, you can control all the same systems, vehicles, and controls, from the bridge of the ACC Epsilon Carrier. Use your VR controllers to move and interact with controls, and remote pilot vehicles. Use the holomap with 3D vision. Move around the bridge, use screens, staff the stations, take first person remote control. Play singleplayer, cooperative campaign and PvP multiplayer!” the studio writes.

While the game was originally expected to launch in early access in the Spring, the studio has pushed the a release into late Summer, with a specific release date expected to be announced next week.

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Carrier Command 2 is being published by MicroProse, a game developer and publisher behind dozens of classic strategy and simulator titles from the ’80s and ’90s. While the studio was shuttered in the early 2000s, was recently rebooted. In addition to Carrier Command 2 the publisher is also in development of The Mighty Eighth, which it has described as a “VR-first” flight combat simulator where multiple players will work together to pilot a WWII bomber.


Thanks to @z15design on Twitter for the tip!

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • 3872Orcs

    Very happy about this getting VR support! Hopefully the performance will be okay. Bad performance is always what kills a game for me. The system requirements has me a bit worried with a 1070Ti for minimum and 3080Ti for recommended.

    I’m afraid even my fairly high-end system with a 2080Ti and i9 9900k would struggle to reach a stable 90fps. More often than not performance is an issue in VR for me.

    We really need eye tracking in next gen of VR headsets! Both for more accurate input which I suspect would be a must for strategy games in VR but also the foveated rendering to lower system requirements.

    Though for now I hope the developers can add DLSS support.

    • jbob4mall

      Weird. The graphics don’t seem all that spectacular that it needs something powerful to run.

  • Raphael

    CC was one of the first games I purchased for the Amiga 500 in 1987. Will be amazing to experience this new version in VR. Nice the developer listened to feedback.

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  • nedo

    beside it will get VR support (me a VR addict since 2012) i played the original CC on my AMIGA in the late 80’s, il loved it, i think i can easy say it was in the top 10 of my best AMIGA games, nice 3D, one of the other 3D games i still remember was “Midwinter” this was also spectacular, it was released by Microprose too :)

    • david vincent

      IKR, who would have thought we would still play the same game 30 years later, but in glorious VR ? At the time my young self could only dream of trying one of those fancy VR arcade machines (also powered by a good old Amiga).

  • david vincent

    A “coss-play” of Carrier Command, can’t wait to see that ;-)

  • GunnyNinja

    Yay! And they kept the 1988 graphics so we would feel at home…

    • JustNiz

      IMHO That’s the only bad part.

  • Seeing the MicroProse logo on screen makes me feel like I‘m 12 again.

  • Jonathan Winters III

    It gets better:

    “MicroProse has developers building various virtual reality titles at the
    moment. B-17 Flying Fortress simulators were among the old publisher’s
    biggest hits, so a co-operative VR title about flying one of these
    iconic aircraft is in the works.”

    from https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-06-the-resurrection-of-microprose-and-return-of-wild-bill-stealey

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  • JustNiz

    I used to absolutely love this game on my Amiga back in the 80’s. I’m so glad it’s coming back. I don’t like the retro/minecraft-style graphics though. Imagine how good this would be if they would have just made it with more modern/photorealistic graphics.