May 2017 Virtual Reality Games Preview

Microcosm

If you like Tilt Brush and are a fan of voxel art, Microcosm should be right up your alley. It's essentially an art program that lets you "build tiny voxel worlds in virtual reality." Developer Paul Straw said Microcosm is the game he’s wanted to play ever since first seeing the Oculus Rift Kickstarter. The indie developer recently purchased an HTC Vive, and when he realized that no one made the game he'd hoped for, he decided to make it himself.

Microcosm worlds feature 512x256x512 0.7-inch voxels, which roughly translates to 30x15x30 feet of virtual space to work with.

Microcosm currently supports HTC Vive, because that’s the platform the developer owns. Straw said he “would love to add Oculus Rift + Touch controller support,” and he’ll consider it if there’s enough interest.

  • Platforms: HTC Vive
  • Input: Motion Controllers
  • Release Date: May 30, 2017
  • Publisher: paulstraw
  • Developer: paulstraw


MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights


MORE: Best Virtual Reality HMDs

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

  • Sakkura
    Now I won't have any excuse to whine about all the regular game release articles that don't mention VR games. :D

    I would have thought Star Trek Bridge Crew would be near the beginning of the slideshow, really looking forward to that. But saving the best for last is cool too.

    Surprisingly big list actually. Of course there's a lot of indie stuff, but several of these titles actually sound very interesting. Radioactive sounds like a VR version of DayZ, I'll be interested to see how that works out. There are a few of the others I'll have to keep an eye on too, thanks for the article.
    Reply
  • Kenneth Barker
    I am excited for more top down strategy games to hit VR. I imagine it could get really interesting with the fog of war and unit grouping and movements. I imagine it would be a ton of fun to control and move units around in a game like AoE or StarCraft in a VR setting.

    I really hope there are devs out there with this in mind. I could likely spend days in a game like that. Even a team based tower defense game that you could invite others to help you build things up and defend. I am very excited for what VR will do for the gaming industry. I have been rather bored of traditional games for some time now.
    Reply
  • blackbit75
    Just 1 game from a known producer? Ubisoft? When EA will make exclusive games for rift/Vive/PSVR?
    It seems that VR is going down the road, instead going up.
    When a second version of rift/Vive/PSVR?
    Reply
  • Kenneth Barker
    19696248 said:
    Just 1 game from a known producer? Ubisoft? When EA will make exclusive games for rift/Vive/PSVR?
    It seems that VR is going down the road, instead going up.
    When a second version of rift/Vive/PSVR?

    There are plenty of big AAA developers making VR exclusives. Just because you do not pay close enough attention to know that is nobody's fault but your own. It takes time to develope large AAA games. Considering VR is a new platform, and development for new platforms takes more time. I would say it will take 4 years or so for AAA VR games to hit the market.
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    19696012 said:
    I am excited for more top down strategy games to hit VR. I imagine it could get really interesting with the fog of war and unit grouping and movements. I imagine it would be a ton of fun to control and move units around in a game like AoE or StarCraft in a VR setting.

    I really hope there are devs out there with this in mind. I could likely spend days in a game like that. Even a team based tower defense game that you could invite others to help you build things up and defend. I am very excited for what VR will do for the gaming industry. I have been rather bored of traditional games for some time now.

    Brass Tactics is on the way there, it looks really interesting. I think the tentative launch date is October.

    I would also be interested in seeing a 3D RTS like Homeworld designed for VR. Drawing up movement orders in 3 dimensions was always awkward with keyboard and mouse, I think it might be a lot simpler with motion controllers. Just sweep your hand around in that arc you want for a flanking maneuver etc.
    Reply
  • AndrewJacksonZA
    Surprisingly, out of all of those title, what really caught my interest was Domain Defense VR.
    Reply