Sigurður G. Gunnarsson is a member of the VR’s new-wave ‘old guard’. As one of the original initiators of what was originally known as EVE-VR, the 20% project started by CCP VR enthusiasts, he’s watched EVE: Valkyrie and VR’s resurgence flourish. Ben Lang caught up with him at this year’s Fanfest in Reykjavik to find out more about how EVE: Valkyrie began.
EVE: Valkyrie started, somewhat serendipitously, as an introduction based on an overheard conversation in CCP’s cantina back in 2012. Gunnarsson, whose interest in virtual reality had been piqued by John Carmack’s impromptu appearance at E3 2012 with a gaffer-taped prototype really took hold soon after, when Oculus’ Kickstarter promised the DK1 to prospective backers.
Subsequently, the programmer who had started life at CCP in 2009 as a web developer, started scouting for people sharing his passion for VR. “…I started to look around for people to join me, [to do] just anything, like a hobby project.” The person in the cantina was Rob Clarke, Programmer at CCP and fellow virtual reality enthusiast. Together, and with other interested CCP employees, they came up with the idea of a dog-fighting game set in the EVE universe. EVE-VR, as it was then known, was born.
See Also: Hands-on: Eve Valkyrie’s Latest Build from Fanfest 2015, Played on Crescent Bay
Gunnarsson shares his recollections of EVE: Valkyrie’s origins, his tips for other enthusiasts wanting to kickstart a project and VR titles that have impressed him in this interview, conducted at this year’s EVE Fanfest event in Iceland.
Disclosure: CCP Games covered travel and lodging expenses for one Road to VR writer to attend Fanfest 2015.