Making it in Unreal: the VR open-world RPG dream is still alive with The SoulKeeper

While VR is still a new medium, its rules yet to be solidified, there’s an awful lot of received wisdom in developer talks and on design forums that boils down to this: keep it small. Overscoping is a common pitfall even in regular PC game development, and it becomes a far more pertinent issue in VR, where performance is paramount. With that headset on, a low frame rate isn’t just an annoyance - it’s a cause of severe nausea, effectively damning any game under 90fps to the unplayable pile. That’s one of the reasons so many VR games are confined to single rooms or tight arenas. Stuffing your world with enemies and particle effects is asking for trouble, and that’s exactly what HELM Systems, developer of The SoulKeeper VR, has been asking for. The studio has gone against all advice and instead welcomed the challenges that come with making an open-world fantasy RPG in this new medium. It’s a game where you can physically place the coin that bought your sword into the outstretched palm of a waiting shopkeeper, and then drive that sword between the bleached ribs of a skeletal warrior.

from PCGamesN http://bit.ly/2MYdhHl