It’s been a very busy two weeks. We are currently pushing to complete a fully functional version for the VRcade so that we can do focus testing for about a month or two while we work on other contract projects.

The latest upgrades include some very interesting and necessary features. The first of which is an ammo system that stores ammo specific to the guns held in the players inventory. It also displays the ammo based on the guns held in the players hands. An ammo pickup replenishes all the ammo held on the player.

The second is a major atmospheric change to the gun range. We realized that it was very quite in the range while the player wasn’t firing and no one was talking. To remedy this we decided to add rain and thunder to the soundscape and visual rain hitting the windows of the skylight. This simple change makes the game feel much more complete and will make the environment much more believable in the end.

The next two are on the more mundane side but still very necessary. You may remember a previous post regarding a working keyboard in the game. We have official incorporated the keyboard into the username system. This allows a player to set a custom user name up to 12 characters in length.

This user name is displayed over the head of the character, on the scoreboard, and on the team select screen. Also, we have incorporated team balancing on joining the game and a simple way to switch sides while in the gun range.

We only have another 3 minor features to add before we can launch the focus test at the VRcade. Once we have an understanding of what players like and don’t like about the game, we’ll start an online beta test. Of course, this will come after another series of updates based on player reviews and feedback.