Cyan Adds Oculus Touch Support To 'Obduction,' Now Available For HTC Vive

The latest update to Cyan’s Obduction further enhances your immersion in the game, at least in VR. The studio launched a new update that adds Oculus Touch support. In addition, the game is now available for HTC Vive owners. Prior to today’s update, we actually had a chance to try the new interactive experience at PAX East with the Oculus Touch.

When I pushed the left analog stick forward, a small circle appeared in front of me that was connected to my virtual body by a small arc line, (those who played Epic Games’ Robo Recall will have some familiarity with the feature), but I couldn’t dictate my orientation prior to teleporting to the circle. However, Cyan had a work-around: After teleporting to the new spot (complete with fade in and fade out transitions), I turned in small degrees by pushing the right analog stick left or right. Considering the issues with locomotion and nausea in virtual reality, this solution made sense, and it actually worked. I was able to move through the level with ease because of the teleportation tool, and the turning mechanic was comfortable without giving me the sensation that the room was spinning.

The inclusion of hand controllers also means that there are interactions with the game’s many switches, levers, and wheels. During the demo, I had to turn a wheel in order to rotate a moving platform. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as immersive as I imagined. I thought I had to hold onto the wheel as it turned all the way around, but all it took was simple nudge of my hand in the right direction. I tried once again with a lever, and after I gave it a small push it moved the rest of the way on its own. It’s a bit of a disappointment, especially because it breaks the immersion, but at least Cyan’s willing to give the feature a shot in its first VR game.

As Miller said himself in our interview, “VR is hard,” but that isn’t shying Cyan away from other VR projects in the future. Obduction is a solid first attempt at virtual reality for the team that createdMyst, and the inclusion of hand-based controls is another step to making its future titles even more immersive.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
NameObduction
TypeAdventure, Exploration
DeveloperCyan
PublisherCyan
Release DateAugust 24, 2016 (Windows)October 31, 2016 (Oculus Rift)March 22, 2017 (HTC Vive)
PlatformsPC, Mac, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive
TOPICS
Latest in Virtual Reality
Meta Quest 3S
Quest 3S Review: Most of the same thrills as the Quest 3 for $200 less
vision pro wwdc 2023
Apple reportedly slows down Vision Pro production — a more affordable version may be in the works
Kopin NeuralDisplay in Action
Microdisplay tracks your pupils to adjust brightness, avoid HUD fatigue
Apple Vision Pro
Apple announces visionOS 2 supporting Dual 4K resolution with Mac Virtual Display, Vision Pro sales go global June 28
"All but 1 user attributed it to imperfections in the VR platform"
VR 'inception' attacks exploit developer mode loophole and VR's dreamlike unreality to manipulate what you see, steal real personal data
Vision Pro lying on a bed of money
$10,000 for a $3,500 Apple Vision Pro? Scalpers mark up Apple's headset, despite the fact that it's still in stock
Latest in News
Despite external similarities, the RTX 3090 is not at all the same hardware as the RTX 4090 — even if you lap the GPU and apply AD102 branding.
GPU scam resells RTX 3090 as a 4090 — complete with a fake 'AD102' label on a lapped GPU
Inspur
US expands China trade blacklist, closes susidiary loopholes
WireView Pro 90 degrees
Thermal Grizzly's WireView Pro GPU power measuring utility gets a 90-degree adapter revision
Qualcomm
Qualcomm launches global antitrust campaign against Arm — accuses Arm of restricting access to technology
Nvidia Ada Lovelace and GeForce RTX 40-Series
Analyst claims Nvidia's gaming GPUs could use Intel Foundry's 18A node in the future
Core Ultra 200S CPU
An Arrow Lake refresh may still be in the cards with only K and KF models, claims leaker