Fire up your DKs because it's about to get VR up in here: CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO PLAYING FRONTIERS WITH THE RIFT

Wait, what? VR Support?

Yes you heard right. Now I know what you're thinking. How do I know what you're thinking? Because you've told me, in chats & emails & in person, and you weren't shy about it. Heck even my in-laws have said the same thing: [quote]Why would you implement VR support when there's SO MUCH ELSE that needs attention, and when there are so few people who'll get to actually use it? Do you even prioritize, bro?[/quote] Good question, bro. If I didn't know better I too would think I'd lost my marbles. But it's a pretty simple situation. First off, Oculus support was part of the Controller Support stretch goal in the Kickstarter, so it was going to happen eventually. Other features may come and go, but stretch goal features are written in stone. As for why now and not later - implementing the VR interface goes hand-in-hand with completing controller support, and I knew that if I put off the VR part I'd have to crack open the controller system later, probably long after I'd forgotten how it worked. So I said screw it, I'll just do it all right now and never look back. Now that it's over I can say with confidence that I made the right call. The VR interface would have taken 10x the effort to implement had I procrastinated. Lastly, a side bonus is that VR support gets noticed, even by people who can't necessarily make use of it. So we'll probably see a little publicity bump. Not the main reason I did it, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't on my mind. Anyway, hopefully that answer soothes your irritation at having to wait over a month for a new version after getting used to the daily builds. (Yes, we're going back to daily builds now.)

So tell us, is the game any good in VR?

Absolutely! ...and eeeeh, maybe not. Absolutely because there are moments where it all comes together - usually deep in some forest at twilight with butterflies dancing around my head, or underground mining Luminite from a cave wall while my lantern keeps Darkrot at bay. In those moments it's delicious. Maybe not because text. Text, text, text. Oh, the text. 90% of the work I did in the interface was about making the text easier to focus on & read. But no fancy trick can change the fact that you're dealing with an RPG interface with a lot of tabs and buttons and so, so much text. I can't say what VR games of the future will look like, but I do know they won't have an interface like this. It's just too much damned text. Still, the text doesn't stop it from being playable. I played through the first act using the DK1 (roughly 5 hours) without feeling any discomfort, and while I skipped reading books unless I absolutely had to, I'm proud to say that conversations are nicely readable, especially when using a substitute font. (Which I strongly recommend.)

Other news

• Official OSX Support

  
  That's right - you can now play FRONTIERS on OSX. There are still platform-specific issues to iron out but at this point they're minor enough to handle alongside the PC version. (Official Linux support isn't far behind.)

• Full Controller Support

  
  Prior to this update the store advertised partial controller support, but now that you can navigate the interface 100% without the aid of a mouse or keyboard (or virtual mouse) I'm bumping that up to full controller support.

• When's the next Focus Update?

  
  Right away! The idea was to focus on something new roughly every 2 weeks but VR complications totally derailed that plan. Now that I'm back on track I'll announce the next focus real asap, probably tomorrow.

• 'Real' Bug Reporting

  
  Pretty soon we'll be moving away from forum-based bug reporting and start doing 'real' bug reporting, with priorities and archiving and other fancy things. After looking over our (many, many) options I've decided to go with Trello. It's a good compromise between power & simplicty. I'll post an announcement once the new board is set up & populated.

Alright that's all for this update! I'll be on the road tonight, but I look forward to returning to an avalanche of VR-related bug reports tomorrow afternoon. Until the new bug board is ready VR-specific reports can go here. Cheers, - L

[ 2015-03-31 18:35:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

FRONTIERS blends the feel of first-person RPG classics like Daggerfall with the relaxing tempo and simplicity of a point-and-click adventure. Discover ancient mysteries, live off the land and fight deadly creatures, all in a beautiful, massive open world.

Is FRONTIERS for you?

I can still remember the first time I played Daggerfall. Yes, it was uglier than a monkey's armpit and controlled worse than a bumper car on a frozen lake. But it also created the feeling of a world that lived on even after I'd stopped playing, and that feeling still sticks with me all these years later. A world where you could spend hours searching every pixelated nook and cranny. A world of potential. A world of exploration...

...and then a Dragonling would chomp my face because I hadn't spent ten hours grinding in the easy regions. Arg! So frustrating!

Other games have touched on that elusive feeling, especially Elder Scrolls and early Fallout games, but as fun as they are and as much as I love hardcore RPG mechanics, I've always dreamt of a game that emphasized exploration above all else.

If you feel the same way then yes - FRONTIERS is for you!

Key Features:

• Massive open world - go anywhere, any time
  
• Unique relaxing pace and tone
  
• An exploration-focused main quest that spans an entire continent
  
• Simple gameplay - no stats or skill trees to memorize (It barely qualifies as an RPG, really)
  
• Live off the land - hunt, trap, fish and cook dozens of varieties of plantlife (including hallucinogens!) and a dozen varieties of animal
  
• Minecraft-style item crafting system
  
• Dozens of skills to discover and learn, including magic, survival and stealth skills
  
• Hundreds of shops, taverns, homes, caves, castles and other structures to explore
  
• A haunting soundtrack for every region
  
• Full mod support
  
• NEW: Oculus Rift support

NOTE: I recommend reading reviews & forum posts before purchasing, especially concerning Linux support.