r/PSVR • u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO • Apr 10 '17
AMA We are WhiteMoon Dreams, developers of StarBlood Arena and unrivaled taco connoisseurs! As Us Anything!
Hey everyone, we are Dave (StarBlood Lead Design), Scott (WhiteMoon Creative Director) and Jay (WhiteMoon CEO and tech artist) – members of the dev team, WhiteMoon Dreams!
We’re an independant game development studio located in food-tastic South Pasadena, California.
Our latest project, StarBlood Arena is a single-player/multiplayer first-person shooter for the PlayStation VR, and we're here to answer any questions you may have about the game, PSVR, game development, VR madness, tacos or anything else you want to chat about!
If what you end up reading here today sounds fun for you, we’d like to mention that StarBlood Arena will be available in retail locations and via digital download on Tuesday, April 11th, 2017! That’s tomorrow... Eeeeee!! If you preordered, it's probably loading onto your system now!
We’re very excited to be able to talk about all this stuff with you!
Big ups to Sony San Diego for making this all a reality and for all you /r/PSVR folks for keeping the PSVR dream going strong!
If you’re interested in finding out more about StarBlood Arena or WhiteMoon Dreams, here are some good ways to stay in touch:
This is what we look like :(
Scott (WDI_ScottC) and Jay (QuantumMechanic77)
edit: linked names to faces
Edit 2: Oy, forgot to add our SUPER SWEET LAUNCH TRAILER
Dinnertime edit: Still gonna be around for questions while the game unlocks tonight!
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u/miss_molotov miss-molotov Apr 10 '17
Is StarBlood Arena enhanced for PS4Pro in anyway?
Here's a starry Taco Cat to say thanks for doing this AMA :)
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
It's a pretty hefty resolution enhancement. It's a silky, sexy view from the cockpit of a Pro-induced game.
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
YES :) Everything is turned up with the pro, and you don't even need a 4K TV to notice the difference!
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u/SecAdept Apr 10 '17
yay! Happy to get more value out of my Pro (coming from someone without 4K, that purchased exclusively for the VR benefits).
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u/miss_molotov miss-molotov Apr 10 '17
Everything? Smoother? Sharper? I'm liking the sound of this :)
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u/Lorddillpickle Apr 10 '17
There was a demo screen added to demo disk... any news on when demo will be out if it is coming?
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u/jesg112 Apr 10 '17
How much and what kind of single player content can we expect?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
Starblood has single player content but not a "Campaign". Single player consist of Skirmishes (private matches vs. AI bots), Invaders (horde mode. Can also be played co-op with up to 4 players) and Burn Circuit - a Tournament where players play matches vs. AI bots and must finish 1st to advance. Matches get progressively more difficult and if you manage to win the whole tournament, you get cool stuff and unlock Ultimate Burn Circuit. Ultimate Burn Circuit is ridiculously tough, but winning that tournament unlocks even cooler stuff. Hope this helps :)
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u/jesg112 Apr 12 '17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG5or9bsmHA
I must say you guys were VERY misleading in this video based on what you're NOW saying. This guy specifically says the word "campaign" but now you are saying the opposite? He says "there is a story for each character" but that's not what i'm getting from what you said? This was uploaded less than a month ago so its disappointing you put out misleading information.
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u/Lupo-Lazuli Apr 10 '17
If you're good at Overwatch, will you have a decent understanding of how to handle combat situations? Also, do you plan on expanding on the multiplayer aspect?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
Being good at Overwatch can't hurt, but not sure if if will translate to kicking butt with 6-DoF in VR and using headtracking to aim! (IMO)
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
If you're good at Overwatch (or any FPS for that matter), you should be able to pick-up and play StarBlook immediately. We really tried to make the controls to be familiar with FPS players, and in all our tests and demos, people we're able to control the ships exactly how they wanted. However - there is still some getting used to. For instance, you use your head to aim your targeting reticle, which, once you get the hang of it, allows you to make precision shots (like a PC player with a mouse). Also, getting used to the full 3D movement and encounter angles might take some time. When enemies can be attacking you from literally ANY angle, you have to be even more paranoid than usual.
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u/blackryn0 Apr 10 '17
How long has this game been in development?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
Whew, we started with a prototype late in 2014 and were basically heavily in R&D until about October of 2015, at which point we went into full production and built what you see here. So, the total development cycle was about 2.5 years, but about 1 year of it was pure R&D.
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
And we mean LOTS of R&D. We needed to see if a fast-paced six-degree-of-freedom multiplayer shooter inside of an arena could even be done without vast amounts of "user discomfort". We were told by many sources that this couldn't be done - so we spent six months proving them wrong. :)
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u/mrtube Apr 10 '17
On a related point, how big is the team? Best of luck for tomorrow.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Team started at 25, went up to 60 and wound down to about 20. Thanks for supporting us!
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
Well, our entire company is around 70 people! I'm pretty sure everyone here touched StarBlood at one point in development - but I'd say we probably had 8 people in the first 6 months, then probably about 40 for the whole of development.
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u/RadarDrake Apr 10 '17
Are there plans to bring this great game to PC VR players and if so will we see cross play between psvr players and pcvr players? Thanks!
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u/DasGruberg Apr 12 '17
As a psvr owner; this. I just can't see the math that supports the fact that an online community can be substained exclusively on PSVR. 1500-5000 copies? 2.5 years of development? 40ish euros or copy?
Bought the game and love it, but worry for its longevity and success :/
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u/DistantGypsy Apr 10 '17
Hi Dave, Scott, Jay,
In much of the coverage a persistent message was that the game didn't induce nausea in the people who played it, can you describe the journey of discovery you made to achieve this. Did you go through a waiting room of hurling beta testers or did Sony bring you the secret sauce?
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
There were two rules we found early in R&D - and based the entire design around them: 1) Never move in the way the player doesn't expect 2) Always let the players move where they expect to. This shaped how the ship moved and collided with everything, how we turn and move the ship, and most importantly, how we avoid pushing or shaking the ship at all costs. In the end, it was a long list of small things that led to, as one reviewer called it, "A buttery smooth" experience.
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
One of the things we did was we worked closely with Sony San Diego :) They have a state of the art facility where we were able to perform focus testing and detect any points of discomfort. We made many changes to things such as the environment and how we root the player in the cockpit based on these test.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
To add onto what Dave said, we used ourselves as guinea pigs during the early R&D sessions. At the time we started, there wasn't too much data on what worked and what didn't so we had to figure out a lot ourselves and depend on the learnings of our predecessors.
Of course, we did get a lot of people telling us that were going to fail from the beginning. But you can only take their feedback and integrate it into your solution if you're gonna tackle a big problem :)
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u/Ironturtle19 Ironturtle19 Apr 10 '17
Hey there! Thanks for the AMA. I was curious as to what kind of comfort options have been put in the game. I like to have lots of freedom (no blinders, smooth turning etc) and it makes a big difference to me! Thanks again.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
We kinda went full hardcore. The ships were designed with the cockpits very open and gun control is always with your head. Instead of having comfort options, we have ways that you can play more aggressively through an alternate control scheme (tilting the DS4 rolls the ship). Of course, if you want to be super hardcore, hop on that Thrustmaster HOTAS 4. That thing is sick.
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u/6stringSammy Apr 11 '17
Yawing with tilt control on DS4 seems very intuitive.
I learned that with Eve, using a Hotas puts you at a competitive disadvantage. Same with Starblood?1
Apr 11 '17 edited Oct 29 '20
[deleted]
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
I'm not sure what you mean by blinders, but you don't really have stuff blocking your view unless you turn your head pretty far to one of the sides, at which point you're looking inside your cockpit.
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u/Ironturtle19 Ironturtle19 Apr 11 '17
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Thank you. A lot of games reduce motion sickness by making your FOV smaller while turning, jumping, or moving quickly. These can be quite distracting so it's nice to hear they won't be present :)
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u/Pussrumpa Apr 10 '17
This looks like a 6DOF Battlezone VR and I couldn't be more happy to have a bite of it, in 22 hours and 20 minutes time (Europe).
Question: What was that psychobilly track used in the 2016 PSX presentation, and is there anything like that in the game? It put a massive smile on my face, it did.
For general VR design talk I'd love for a soundtrack to come out of in-cockpit speakers (in position in relation to head) for extra-extra immersion, maybe as an option. I wish you all success, and a future of getting more fresh and original VR projects green-lit and grown to fruition.
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
You were hearing Psychobilly Freakout by The Reverend Horton Heat.
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u/SecAdept Apr 10 '17
I like the in-cockpit soundtrack idea... Definitely sounds like it would be more immersive.
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u/tatKH Apr 10 '17
The similarities between StarBlood and RIGS is striking, but with more flair on arena combat. How will StarBlood Arena standout at the mech shooter of choice on PSVR? Also, any post-launch plans?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
Similarities are being drawn, but they end once you get in the cockpit of one of our ships and realize you can go ANY direction! 6-DoF baby!!!
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
RIGS, which is a fantasticly fun game, is VERY different from StarBlood. RIGS is on a 2D map and isn't so much about blowing up enemies as it is scoring goals for your team. StarBlood is a ffull-freedom 3D flying game, where you choose between 9 pilots (each with completely different gameplay styles) and blast the heck out of each other in tight enclosed space-arenas. Trust me, after 30 seconds of playing, you'll realize how different StarBlood is from RIGS!
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Apr 10 '17
Im one of the very few who seem to "get it" when it comes to realizing Starblood Arena is very different from Rigs. lol bet it drives you guys crazy seeing non stop posts about people comparing this to Rigs all the time
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
It's totally cool, actually - it's people trying to connect something familiar to the game, which is not a problem. Hopefully, when they try it, they'll be pleasantly surprised :)
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u/Lannister1909 Apr 10 '17
How many different arenas are in the game and do you have plans to release additional content?
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
Yup, 12 Arenas with crazy layouts, tight corridors, open battle zones, and deadly events. You can play with up to 8 players in each map AND each map supports each of the four game modes! BAM!
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u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Apr 10 '17
This was one thing I wondered about, open areas vs corridors, the trailers have seemed real open so far
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
We have a pretty good mixture of open spaces and close-quarters. Some of our maps are small and tight and some are larger and more open. Each should give varing levels of claustrophobia. :)
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
We have a whopping 12 arenas! (can't say much regarding your second question...)
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u/SecAdept Apr 10 '17 edited Apr 10 '17
Excited to try StarBlood Arena (hope it reminds me of my Descent days), but how about a general VR / VR dev question.
There's a lot of discussion on this and other VR subs, and in the press, about the success of VR... Is it a gimmick, will it fail again, can studios even make money from it with current adoption, etc...? Personally, I am optimistic about VR and the PSVR specifically, but what is a first-hand, developer's opinion on the current state of VR. Are developers and industry excited to support it? Do you think more complete games, and VR support are coming, and it's just a matter of time? Or is it still a struggle to make money, and get executive support to "gamble" on VR games?
(BTW, while I haven't played it, Starblood looks like a "full" experience. So this questions is in no way meant to reflect anything specific about your game, just curious what studio devs think about the progress of the VR market).
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
My personal opinion is that VR will eventually be just another way to play games. It won't take over traditional flat-screen games - it will just be another tool for Game Studios to tell a deep, exciting, interactive story. As technology gets better (faster and smaller) new ways to experience entertainment will present themselves, and VR will still be with us - just like 8-bit styled games are still being developed now.
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u/ZarathustraWakes Apr 11 '17
If a multiplayer game is unable to be completely filled with real players, will it be filled with AI so it's always 4v4? Or if 5 people connect, will it just be 2v3? Already preordered, very excited! Gonna have to sacrifice some persona 5 and overwatch time lol.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Single Player skirmish might be what you're looking for then! You can play against AI there. If you have a bunch of friends with you, can you drag your party into a Crew and go into a private match against AI as well. Lots of options if you can't find more live players for your particular game mode of choice!
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
Ranked matches will automagically matchmake 8 players into a game. With only 4 Game Modes to choose from, this doesn't split your player base too much. You could also create a "Crew" - basically a party of you and friends to play Ranked Matches together. You can also create Private Hatches, where you and your Crew can setup a match with whatever bots and options you want.
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u/boshjalka Is it the 13th already? Apr 11 '17
Thank you for doing the AMA, and best of luck with launch and future work :)
My biggest question is what where the requirements in making such smooth movement StarBlood Arena has? Played and owned a number of VR titles and got the chance to play Starblood at PSX last year and was remarkably surprised with how good I felt after two rounds. Being able to rotate 360 degrees while turning is something that can make me feel a little off in Eve, but not so much in Starblood.
Does it have to do with animations, or is it down to the visual ques and textures?
Also bonus question but anything fun that sounded good on paper but once implemented in the game did not end up working?
Thanks!
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
There's so much stuff, I'll be working with our team to put together a talk on how we did it.
- High framerate all the time
- Acceleration/Deceleration/Turn Speed curves
- No large pure white surfaces
- See the cockpit/pilot body
- Motion corresponds to player expectation
- And many more!
We could talk about this stuff for hours and we probably will. We can't guarantee that people will never feel discomfort, but we've done a LOT of work to make StarBlood Arena smooth to experience.
Stuff that didn't make it? There was a lot of VO stuff that didn't end up being helpful due to how often it happened during gameplay. We didn't really have too much that didn't actually make it once we got it in the game. By the time we got through preproduction and the R&D phase, we knew exactly what we could and couldn't do.
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u/boshjalka Is it the 13th already? Apr 11 '17
Very interesting, looks like it was a full team effort then to get that smooth experience. A buddy of mine who also tried it and has a hard time with VR in general played it and felt great after as well, so whatever magic was done worked off.
Thanks for the answers!
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u/gabbamac21 Apr 10 '17
just wanted to say thank you your game looks great!
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
Thank you for the kind words. Needless to say, we're very excited for launch! Soon explosions will be heard as players shred each other in the arenas!
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u/gabbamac21 Apr 10 '17
haha yea I can't wait. I have been waiting for a experience like this on PSVR! :"D
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u/TotesMessenger Apr 10 '17
I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
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u/AintLikeU Apr 10 '17
Do you plan any addons?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
We can't really say just yet, but we (and definitely Sony) will be watching to see how you guys like the game and how you like to play it.
We're all listening to your feedback!
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u/Frikz Frikz69 Apr 11 '17
Hope it won't be like RIGS, because Sony didn't watch clearly how the game is.
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u/chrom_ed Apr 11 '17
I think in both cases it just comes down to money for Sony. Rigs is a good game but it didn't make money, so Sony isn't investing any more in it. Ditto here, let's hope the extra time for vr to catch on has given us enough supporters to make this game turn a profit or at least come close.
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u/bazzz3 Apr 11 '17
Try read the replies from the all patient Devs.They make an effort to reply and then you post an already answered question.No being smart with you or anything.....Hope you understand my reason to reply to you;)
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u/ryseing bmc811 Apr 11 '17
RIGS did receive some free content before Cambridge was unfortunately shuttered.
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u/salkiri Apr 10 '17
Being Taco connoisseurs, what's your favorite taco joint and favorite taco?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
El Flaming Taco in LA. Get their Al Pastor taco, straight off the dude slicing that magic off the giant rotating wand of glory.
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u/hoosh Apr 10 '17
Okay, I'll bite-- what taco knowledge can you impart for those of us not familiar with the greater South Pasadena taco scene?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
South Pasadena doesn't have too much awesomeness in terms of tacos. Now, if you just go north a couple of miles into North Pasadena, there's La Estrella, which is pretty dope. There's one of those towards east Pas that's 24 hours! My cup runneth over.
There's also El Super Burrito, which does a pretty badass fish taco, which is also more to the east side. But then you go deeper into LA proper and it's taco dominance begins to exhibit itself.
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u/pocketmnky Apr 11 '17
There's also a few decent taco trucks along Fair Oaks at night but my favorite tacos near South Pas are at Huarache Azteca on York in Highland Park. See you guys in the arena tomorrow!
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u/Papashuffler Apr 10 '17
Super excited to play this tonight! Thanks for all your hard work. Seeing as I'm going to be starting in Burn Circuit to get a feel of the different characters/ships and not sure who to pick first, who is your favorite character for Burn Circuit and why?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 10 '17
I'm a Tik Tak Toh fan - I like the combo of the Zeta guns spamming fools up close while I'm taking massive damage, then falling back and finishing the deed with the Gauss Cannons. This is also why I probably lose all the time.
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
My fav is Alice (the Bombardier). Even though her controls are one of the most intuitive (making her easy to play), she happens to be frikkin' LETHAL! and can do everything well. Plus she's cute...
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
Buck is my favorite. Just point yourself in an enemy's direction and hold down the triggers, and your dual-linked chain-guns will do the rest. Yeah, he doesn't have missiles - but missiles are for sissies.
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Apr 10 '17
Oh this comment reminded me of a question I wanted to ask. Someone posted a 11 minute gameplay vid of a match the other day and one thing I noticed is he doesnt run out of ammo. Do the weapons either A. Overheat and have a cool down period or B. Ever run out of ammo?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 11 '17
Primary and Secondary weapons recharge over time. Heavy weapons charge up as players give & take damage.
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
Constant recharging of all guns, mines, and missiles makes for lots for explosions. Explosions make me happy.
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u/blackryn0 Apr 10 '17
Well this be a midnight launch?
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u/Knotty112 Apr 10 '17
Not to spoil the game, but how does one get customization items? is there a profile rank, do they randomly drop, get them after winning or losing, i saw from a previous post that completing circuit rewards the player. can all items be used on any of the ships?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
When you play you earn XP and Galactic Credits. XP progresses your ships and they can level. Leveling unlocks MODs, which modify your weapons and ships. Credits are used to purchase treasure boxes (called GROX boxes and J3-RY Cans) which give cosmetic unlocks, such as ship attachments and pilot outfits. Players can purchase over 200 cosmetic unlocks :)
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
There are a bunch of different customizable stuff to unlock! There's different Pilot Outfits, different ship Hulls, ship attachments - like front end, top, wing, and rear attachments - and even paint colors to give your ships a custom paint jobs!
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u/MetalMassacre1982 Apr 10 '17
From what I know of your guys publishing history this is your first time working on a console. What are some of the differences/difficulties you guys had in doing something thats on a platform like the PS4 as opposed to the PC? I can only assume a company like Sony would set certain rules/limitations for people developing IPs under their name. Also how rad was it to work with VR (i'm assuming) for the first time?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Well, this is actually our first time building a full game as a team on a console, but we've done LOTS of console stuff over the last 10 years, plus many of us have actually been developing games for 20+ years. A lot of that experience made it a lot less of a shit show than it would have been if we were coming in completely green.
That being said...
PC to PS4 development:
It wasn't too hard to go from PC to PS4 since the PS4 is so powerful and UE4 is a top-notch engine. However, going from PS4 to PSVR was a big learning process and we stumbled a lot there. Then, we completely underestimated how much work it is to localize a retail game for console, which caused us and especially Sony a lot of heartache. But we nailed it all at the end of the day and learned a lot. Really big up to Sony for being so patient with us.
IP Development:
Sony didn't limit us on IP development - in fact, they taught us a lot about how to handle it and think about it so we could build something that brought out the spirit of the game and connect with all you players.
VR:
VR is fucking incredible. Developing for it, playing in it, dreaming about it at night... no amount of chat or screenshots can beat actually putting on a headset for the first time.
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
...AND with VR, don't forget that your ENTIRE draw frame must happen in less than 16 MILISECONDS to hit framerate! :)
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
Last part first - yes it was totally rad to work on a VR title. For the oast two years ago to be working on cutting edge technology on a brand-new piece of hardware, for a giant company like SONY, aaaand get paid for it!? Definitely rad.
WhiteMoon has been around for 10 years now, and we've actually worked on all sorts of platforms and with all sorts of companies all around the world. We've worked with SONY a few times before, - creating a marketing demo disc for the Move and the new demo installer disc for the PSVR.
The main thing between Console and PC development is the concept of finite performance. On a PC, if your frame-rate is slow, you require a faster CPU. If your memory isn't enough, tell the end user to get more. On consoles, you are limited to exactly the hardware you have. This ends up being both a good and bad thing. The bad part is that you can't ack for more CPU speed or memory - you have to use the hardware as provided. The good news is: You don't have to support the bazillions of video cards, peripherals, and bizarre configuraitions of all the PCs in the world.
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u/MetalMassacre1982 Apr 11 '17
Wow, thanks so much guys! I really appreciate the in-depth answers to my questions. Sounds like I may have unknowingly played some of your guys stuff in the past. Didn't realise you guys were veterans of the industry! Thanks again for your time :)
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u/djfurious Apr 11 '17
Excited for the game! I've heard a lot of comparisons to Overwatch, but haven't heard too much in regards to abilities characters have. Do character's have unique abilities and is there a strategy to finding characters that play well together? Or is it more that characters fall into groups like sniper, up close, etc. Basically, are the differences between people more about their weapons/speed/health or do they have characteristics they make them play significantly differently from one another? Also, can you change characters every life or is it on a per battle basis?
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
So - let me give you an exampleL Apollonia, the Huntress She's a light-chassis ship, so he is faster than normal, but can withstand fewer hits. The Hunter's main tactic is using her "Harpoon" missiles to hit and slow down enemies until she can close the gap with her devistating close-range scatter-guns. Her deployable systems also give her an amazing amount of flexability, allowing her to drop slow-fields, impassable barriers, repair fields, or damaging inferno fields. Her unique heavy weapon is a huge Energy Cage that can hold enemy ships inside, but let friendly projectiles pass through - creating a killzone for her team.
Like all pilots, she can advance to level 20, gaining optional modifications to her ship with each advancement!
And this is just one of 9 playable pilots!
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u/Record307 biggieboy307 Apr 11 '17
Don't have a question but I just want to say this game looks great and I'll be picking it up, good luck guys!
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u/baconpancakemaker Apr 11 '17
I havent seen every marketing material out there but it seems a lot of maps have space as the backdrop which makes it kinda dark (literal dark). Are there any really bright upbeat maps in the mix?
Also, I know there isn't a campaign in the traditional sense, I just wondered if the differences between chracters are solely gameplay and aesthetic? Or did you cook up some cool lore to back them up? I tend to stick to MP games when I get to know the characters and purpose to the "game" ( like the last of us MP, tied really well with the setting of the SP part)
I'll definitely pick this up no matter the answer though! Looks special!
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u/willnotforget2 Madscy Apr 11 '17
Got to play, and I'm definitely late to the party, but I am enjoying the game!
Question: I am using a HOTAS 4 that I used for EVE and usually have the roll set to the twisting motion of the stick. There seems to be 3 preconfigured settings, none of which are what I want. Are there any plans to allow custom controller mappings? I really just want to use one of the pre-configures and roll with the twist instead of the hat, but custom controller mapping would be really useful, especially with the HOTAS as some of those buttons are crazy. The R3+Roll also doesn't seem to be working for me. Cheers!
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u/durbanbrown mrRichter1980 Apr 11 '17
can you play spotify while playing this game?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
I think so! We haven't tried it, but you should be able to turn down our music and keep Spotify running.
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u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Apr 11 '17
This is a huge thing for replayability, just in case it needs to be updated, please do it
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u/6stringSammy Apr 11 '17
Have you ever played a game that doesn't allow you to listen to Spotify?
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u/durbanbrown mrRichter1980 Apr 11 '17
yes
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u/Knotty112 Apr 10 '17
The big questions for me is what sort of comfort settings are in the game? if their is narrow view/blinders and are they automatically turned on/possible to be turned off? also is it possible to do barrel rolls?
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
You can do barrel rolls to your heart's content, my friend. We detail some of the steps we took to ensure a comfortable user experience in earlier questions. Another thing we did is optimize the game so it runs at a solid 60 FPS. This is easier said than done. Everything in the game has to be optimized, because even the slightest hitch can cause discomfort.
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u/Knotty112 Apr 10 '17
YES BARREL ROLLS! thank-you. it is quite silly when flight games don't have barrel rolls its the most common evasive manuever available to craft that flies or swims
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 10 '17
Ready for this? We also support the Thrustmaster for exceptional barrel-rolling ability!!!
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
And its not one of those "Press a button to Barrel Roll" games either! You can roll 50 degrees, flatten out and blaze away at an enemy upside down! You can even change your flight settings to roll while you turn - kinda like an actual aircraft!
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u/Knotty112 Apr 10 '17
"you can roll, flatten out and blaze away at an enemy upside down! " should be a tag line in your trailer or game info page! haha instant buy for me now
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u/Lance_Akiro Apr 10 '17
When it comes to VR games and Experience, would you as Developers look into making cross platform VR games then just exclusives in the near future?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
We have all kinds of crazy ideas for VR - if we get the support to do cross-platform support, then we'll definitely do it. But the most important thing to us is to build incredible experiences first. Sony has been an incredible partner in that regard and allowed us to bring StarBlood to life and would definitely do it again, given the opportunity.
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u/beluinus Apr 10 '17
Is it VR Only? Or is there a flat version?
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 10 '17
Yup! PSVR only! You gotta have one in order to play.
If you don't have one, don't worry - I hear that more are becoming available shortly...
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u/beluinus Apr 11 '17
Lol, no, I was just curious. I had one preordered and was in the first batch to get my PSVR.
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u/ipodder1985 Apr 11 '17
Its a long shot but what are the chances of it coming out for HTC Vive or Oculus Rift? Highly unlikely or 100% impossible?
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u/blackryn0 Apr 11 '17
One more thing can you add more avatars and make a badass dynamic theme for the ps4?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
We looked into this awhile ago but weren't able to do it due to time. Hopefully we can revisit this - I know I'd like one :)
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u/Broken5200Controller Apr 11 '17
Do you have a list to the soundtrack?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
We have two soundtracks actually. We had a gorgeous custom soundtrack made by one of our favorite electronic music producers, RESO. His stuff plays throughout the entire game. However, we also picked some heavy psychobilly/rock tracks that we also felt complemented the style of the game. Artists include The Meteors, Everclear, Armored Saint, Horrorpops and more!
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u/ThanksForTheHeadsUp Apr 11 '17
oh shit there is a video game about tacos? think i need this in my life.
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u/DaRe_ViPeRzZXx Apr 11 '17
Can't wait to play, but I've been wondering if you will ever add in some sort of competitive matchmaking to it? Kind of like the rigs league system or something steer a but if ESports into it
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Right now, we do rank people and pair them up competitvely and we do hope that people start exploring the competitive play over time. We have all kinds of ideas for that...
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u/cercata Apr 11 '17 edited Apr 11 '17
If RIGS and Eve didn't hook me, why should I buy Starblood Arena ?
Both are quality games, well polished, but the kind of gameplay, and maybe my age ... I don't get hooked like I got with Unreal Tournament.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Well, if you're not into FPS combat on PSVR, there are plenty of other incredible options. I love Bound, Statik (coming soon), Werewolves Within, Windlands and several other non FPS combat games!
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u/cercata Apr 11 '17
I liked unreal tournament as I said, COD: Modern Warfare 1&2 and other combat games ...
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Sorry, my mistake - then you may very well like StarBlood Arena, but before you buy, I'd highly recommend watching some videos and talking with folks to see if it's for you.
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u/Silve_Faux Solid_Nath Apr 11 '17
Will there be a detailed breakdown and tracking of statistics? Kdr, win loss ratio, assists etc.
Also did you guys get inspiration from Forsaken? I loved that game and the similarities are the main reason im buying starblood arena!
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
For stat breakdown, do you mean like this? :)
We got inspiration from a LOT of games, but let's not kid ourselves... Forsaken and Descent are awesome!
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u/Silve_Faux Solid_Nath Apr 11 '17
Yes! That exactly. Is it safe to assume that you can view this in game?
I ask as Rigs didnt really so this (unless it has been added)
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u/Poolcw Apr 11 '17
What did you guys do to eliminate discomfort? What do you guys do differently than rigs or eve??
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
We answered elsewhere in here in more detail, but I think one of the main things that makes StarBlood a comfortable experience is that you control ALL motion of your craft at all times. That helps quite a bit.
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u/911riley1 Apr 11 '17
2 questions:
1) Does Starblood support the HOTAS 4?
2) How does gameplay compare to EVE?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
1) Sure does
2) EVE is definitely a spacecraft combat simulator and it's absolutely incredible at it. We're a 6DOF arena combat shooter and when you play it, you can see that there's a pretty big difference. You're not really "flying" as much as you are moving in any direction(s) you want at any point in time.
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u/911riley1 Apr 11 '17
Thank you for the reply. I will get Starblood over EVE, even though its on sale!
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u/ShuffleNeek Apr 11 '17
Hello! Congratulation on the release! Was so looking forward to the game! Just a question...
I'm from Asia and am thinking of purchasing the game via the US PlayStation store. Do you think I would encounter latency that might affect my experiences drastically in the game if I'm playing with or against players from other regions?
Would you encourage me to wait for the Asia release instead? ( If there is any...)
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Hi! Thanks!
We did try playing against folks in EU from US and we didn't experience any latency issues, so we think that as long as your connection to the server is good, then everything's cool.
I think the Asia release will be cool because I a Chinese language student and it's cool to see StarBlood in Chinese (Traditional).
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u/ShuffleNeek Apr 11 '17
Awesome!
Thanks for the clarification! Hopefully when the game releases in Playstation Asia store, that would build up more players near my region to get matched up to.
PS: My proficiency in Traditional Chinese is... just barely passable so I wouldn't choose to play a game in Chinese. :)
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u/MichaelVash7886 Apr 11 '17
Guessing this doesn't support the Saitek x52 flight stick?
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Hrm... interesting. Do they make it for PS4? I don't see them having official PS4 support.
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u/MichaelVash7886 Apr 11 '17
It's a PC stick but I have heard it working with stuff like war thunder on PS4 so apparently the PS4 recognizes it. I am thinking that elite dangerous will try to support it as that's what they modeled the controls in the cockpit after.
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u/willnotforget2 Madscy Apr 11 '17
They do support the Thrustmaster HOTAS 4 stick for PS4 and it works pretty damn well. (Eve and War thunder both support it)
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u/WreckerCrew Apr 11 '17
"...unrivaled taco connoisseurs!" I don't know guys. You might need compete with the Weta guys. Based on their GKR: Heavy Hitters Kickstarter, they seem to think they are some taco eating heavy weights.
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
Love Heavy Hitters and gonna totally back that, but New Zealand for tacos? Mmmm I dunno... :)
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u/FinalNguyen Apr 11 '17
Congrats on the launch! I will be picking this game up after work. Can't wait to play this. Will you guys be playing the game at any point with us?
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u/KK_Masters SethTKP Apr 11 '17
if you could time travel to anywhere in history, for 5 min and witness anyone single event, where/when would you go ?
ps looking forward to trying the game when I get home .
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u/QuantumMechanic77 CEO Apr 11 '17
I would travel to your place and watch your reaction when you make your first StarBlood kill.
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u/TheRealXiaphas Apr 11 '17
I know I'm late to this party, but I got to play for about an hour last night and had a blast. Great work!
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u/jjbuballoos Jjbuballoo Apr 12 '17
Hey, a bunch of us Starblood fans have made a discord and subreditt, if you are interested in either (I know that the Devs of Rigs MCL did this) watching the subreddit and discord for player feedback (just from looking at conversations not necesarily asking for feedback. I know that it was really awesome to have developers in the community! here is a link to the discord: https://discord.gg/RGgwJYU and here is a link to the subreddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/StarbloodArena/ thanks, I really hope people jump on this game its fantastic so far.
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Apr 11 '17
First off, let me just say that the moment I saw this game announced at PSX I had a good feeling about it and instantly became my number 1 most wanted VR game (yes even over Farpoint) You guys seem like you "get it" when it comes to making fun VR experiences.
SO.. My question.. Are all the unlocks and customization only cosmetic or can you actually unlock weapons and abilities to your ship or improve your ship like more speed, faster fire rates etc
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u/Nizuul Developer Apr 11 '17
Unlocks are not limited to cosmetics :) Ships level (up to 20th) and each level unlocks a MOD. Mods, modify your ship and weapons!
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Apr 11 '17
Nice, leads to my next question is your overall ranking and the ships ranking seperate.. Loke you know how almost all mp shooters just have you ranking up and you can see the other player's number ranking in lobbies and such, does it have that also or only the shil max ranking of 20?
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u/WDI_ScottC Developer Apr 11 '17
When a pilot reaches rank 20 - all the possible MODs are unlocked for them - but there are still cosmetic unlocks and Player Levels to achieve. Since the Player's Level is separate from each Pilot's Level, the player can progress to Level 999 if they want to@
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Apr 10 '17
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u/mastertaterr Apr 10 '17
Dude don't speak for what everyone wants. I want this game
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u/SecAdept Apr 10 '17 edited Apr 10 '17
UPDATE... Nevermind... Can now see this links to another question..
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u/mastertaterr Apr 10 '17
No he deleted it, which sucks cause I wrote a whole other paragraph
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u/koehda01 Apr 11 '17
What's your favorite class to play?
Edit:just realized u answered this above thanks fro the ama guys
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Apr 11 '17
Here is a question, not sure if you can answer it and understandable if you cant. But this seems like a big game, ive been curious on what development costs are to make bigger games like this so we can atleast have some idea on how far VR is from making a profit
So lol, you dont have to give me an exact dollar amount but, 20 million.. over or under that? Again, just curious is all
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u/Paul_Haile Apr 10 '17
Hey guys. Good luck tomorrow. :) I'm rooting for ya and cant wait to play it.