If virtual reality is to become the next big thing in gaming, those who hope so have been waiting for the “killer app” to justify its existence. “Astro Bot Rescue Mission,” a PlayStation VR game from Sony, was that game for many people.
PlayStation VR platforming game “Astro Bot” was released in October and features a small robot named Astro who must rescue his crew in a variety of worlds using a variety of tools and gadgets.
PlayStation’s Nicolas Doucet gave a talk at the Game Developers Conference entitled “Re-inventing Platformers for VR” today about the development of “Astrobot.” He explained what went into creating a unique VR experience and why the game represents why the future of VR may be found in industry’s past.
“Astro Bot” was created by Sony’s ASOBI team, which Doucet is a member of, even though the characters were created for a previous game.
The robots from “Astro Bot” first appeared in “The Playroom,” a collection of mini-games designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the PlayStation Camera and its augmented reality technology, which was released alongside the PlayStation 4’s launch.
Doucet said that the community of players had a hand in the creation of one of the mini-games, a small-scale version of “Astro Bot.”
“To be honest, it all started on a Post-It,” he confessed. “Everything about the Astrobots began as a Post-It note.”
Doucet and his team quickly realized that the mini-game was their favorite, even though it stood out from the rest of the game.
Robot Rescue, he admitted, “was a bit of an odd one out.” So why didn’t we include it? It would have seemed like a waste.” There was a response from the public. It was clear that “Robot Rescue” had a profound effect on gamers, and they were eager for a sequel.
Even though Doucet described the development process as a 10-step process, only a few key ideas came through loud and clear.
There’s the fact that “Astro Bot,” the best-reviewed VR game of all time according to Metacritic, was built from the ground up to be played in virtual reality.
“Astro Bot” was originally designed as a multiplayer game for the first nine months of its development. The PSVR was used to control the camera, while three other players appeared on the screen.
As time went on, Doucet said it became clear that this was taking away from the game’s primary purpose.
This was the wrong game for us to be playing,” he concluded. Instead of focusing on virtual reality, “we were focusing on multiplayer.”
“VR-ness,” he said, had become increasingly important as they worked on the game, and they didn’t want anything to detract from that focus. “
After Doucet’s talk, a second major topic arose: the importance of creating “wow moments” and emotional bonding with the player to keep them engaged.
We wanted you to be the centre of attention in the game, he explained. “The levels are perfectly straight, it’s Astro who circles. “The levels are designed to accommodate your every move.”
Testers were expected to apologise to Astro in the event of an accident, which informed how much of an emotional response the character elicited from them. He predicted that players would become alarmed if the character appeared to be too far away from the game’s camera (the player’s head).
“It validates your role as a parent in the world,” he stated. As the protector, you must keep an eye out for Astro, who is both small and vulnerable.
To make the player a star, it was necessary to physically involve them in the VR environment. According to Doucet, they were able to see how players reacted to the experience by observing how much their necks moved. They took it as a sign that a level needed to be stretched, extended, or modified if the camera wasn’t actively exploring the space.
Doucet emphasised the importance of establishing a connection between the player and the Astro character. Improved player-world interaction through the use of eye contact.
When you look back at yourself in virtual reality, it’s “really powerful,” he said. When he sees you, he’ll wave at you like crazy. He’s always looking at you, even as he’s bouncing around. All eyes were on you because that’s what we wanted.”
Last but not least, he emphasised how the game’s adherence to and reverence for gaming history influenced the creation of “Astro Bot.”
It was important to the team, he said, to include a lot of the things that make the best platformers the best. He said the team felt it was important to incorporate these elements from previous, well-known games into their own.
Asked why he thought the game had become so popular, he said, “It’s a mix of nostalgia and cutting-edge technology.” “It’s absorbing the platformer culture of the last 30 years. These games are familiar to us all. As well as taking in all the coolness of virtual reality,” he says.
Astro Bot’s model of learning through classic games could mean a bright future for VR in general, as well as how what had worked in so many previous platformers helped it.
What was fun about these games, he said, “needs to be dismantled and then rebuilt into something new.” The experience boosted my confidence in virtual reality. There are a lot of genres that can be reimagined this way.”
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