ILMxLAB, an offshoot of Lucasfilm that explores the possibilities of storytelling with new technologies, released its first VR game, and it's sure to tickle the fancy of many Star Wars fans. If you’ve ever dreamed of wielding a lightsaber in battle, you’re going to want to try Trials On Tatooine.
We had the chance to try an early demo build of the game at GDC in March, and now you can try it out for yourself -- that is if you own a Vive. ILMxLAB released Trials On Tatooine today on Steam for the low, low price of free.
Trials On Tatooine is compatible with standing and roomscale configurations, but you’re going to want a sizeable amount of space so you can swing your controller around safely. The game puts you in control of a lightsaber that you’ll use to defend yourself and R2-D2 against incoming Stormtroopers.
ILMxLAB designed Trials On Tatooine to work on a minimum spec VR system so that anyone with a VR setup can experience being a Jedi, but it will also take advantage of high-end hardware if you have it. The company said that an i5 with a GTX 970 is enough power for the lowest graphics quality settings, but you’ll need considerably more power for the highest settings. ILMxLAB recommends an i7-4790k (or better) processor with a GTX Titan X if you want to experience the near-photo-realistic visuals. Trials On Tatooine is also designed to take advantage of VR SLI. The game will automatically assign a dedicated GPU to each eye if you happen to have two GPUs in SLI.
What’s On The Horizon?
Now that Trials On Tatooine is out of the way, ILMxLAB is starting work on its next project. The company made an announcement over the weekend at the Star Wars Celebration in Europe. During the ILMxLAB panel discussion, the company revealed that it was working with Hollywood screenwriter, David Goyer (famous for penning the scripts for Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies). ILMxLAB and Goyer are creating a virtual reality experience revolving around the iconic villain, Darth Vader.
Trials On Tatooine is available now through Steam. The download is 2.4GB, but it expands to 5GB once installed. ILMxLAB gave no indication as to when we’ll see Darth Vader in VR. We get the impression work has just begun on the next experience.
