Today, friends, we add another huge notch in our XR development belt, something we have been wanting to do for along time… In partnership with HTC VIVERSE we are most pleased to announce the release of our first ever free-to-play fully WebXR-delivered immersive escape room game: “SHIP HAPPENS” and we cannot wait for you to play it!
Play SHIP HAPPENS! on VIVERSE
Throughout the past six years we have had the incredible pleasure of designing a wide variety of stunning XR experiences. We started by creating entertaining and immersive hangout spaces for VR socializing during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. We then moved into building out official meetup spaces for clients and businesses as well as creating worlds, props, and effects for online festivals. A few are still currently in use today hosting regular events week to week. From there it was a natural transition into creating virtual sets for live volumetric video production during an award show. Since then we have even designed and built an entire Unity VR app experience from scratch that works seamlessly across multiple devices and headsets. And now, topping it all off with a fully interactive game!
A WebXR Escape Room Experience
Game Description: The year is 3025. You are an Earth-born engineer assigned to a corporate-owned Loot Transport Ship. You have awoken from cryo-slumber to find everyone missing and the ship in disarray. Hmm…
It’s less of an “escape the room” and more of a “repair and restart the ship” style of gameplay. You find yourself, the ship’s engineer recently revived from cryo-stasis, running through the recently abandoned corridors and rooms of your transport ship looking for specific items that can help you repair a variety of issues plaguing each section. Doors are offline… Experimental animals have escaped… An alien fungus is taking over… The engines are offline… There’s even a toilet that is overflowing pretty badly! Gross who did that. Where did that maintenance tech go anyway? For that matter where did everyone else go? Will you ever find out? Does it even matter?
“My name is Daniel… my message is…”
The overall vibe holds a comedically dystopian futuristic retro appeal heavily applied to the very real encroaching concept of a billionaire class taking over Earth and scavenging it for loot as humanity jettisons out to the stars to create interstellar colonies. Like you do! It’s mostly fun and whimsical, just don’t stop and think too hard about it or your might accidentally have an existential crisis! Or get sucked into our black hole plasma engine core. That happens sometimes. It’s on a warning poster nearby. Prior notice! You cannot sue!!
The gameplay is simple enough, run around and collect specific items in order to complete certain puzzles. Almost everything you need to pay attention to has a literal red blinking light on it that turns green when the problem is solved. Once all of the various issues in each room are settled, you are able to access the bridge for one final challenge, to find the ship’s flight control program and install it into the console to engage the auto-pilot. Then sit back and prepare for something pretty neat!
The game itself has a lot of replay value as all of the items you need to find spawn at different locations every time making it a new challenge on each playthrough. The environment is detailed and immersive with a lot of narrative story building elements. There is beautifully rendered lighting everywhere and the ambient audio really draws the user deeper into the experience. The animations and interactions are all very satisfying and responsive and the clever use of particles and shaders makes it a visual treat as well. Overall this is something we hope will be a shining example of what WebXR can really accomplish!
Enter a New Platform: HTC VIVERSE
Back in early 2023 we built the Neon Aqua Theater for a contract with DreamlandXR, VIVERSE, and MetaCenter Global Week to be used as a virtual lounge space and DJ booth in conjunction with the live conference happening in Orlando. It was meant as a sort of proof of what the platform was capable of at the time. For us, the project finished up, the event was successful, everyone was happy, and we moved onto the next contract!
Fast forward to late 2024 and we’re contacted out of the blue by Michael Morran, the Developer Community Manager for HTC VIVERSE, who was just gushing about “all the great things we’d been doing on the platform” which was a bit of a surprise to us as we had not been actively engaged in much social VR at the time. Turns out our little Neon Aqua Theater was just sitting there like a total rockstar this whole time being super performant and drawing the largest audience. Whoa! We had NO idea! Neat.
I had briefly met Michael at Andy Fidel’s XR Talent Expo which was a multi day virtual networking event held on the FrameVR platform. We had built the (very trippy) environment for her event and I happened to be in there when he stopped and said hello to chat. I explained about building the world and my love for WebXR… which now that I look back might have had some influence on him reaching back out to us to join the new budding VIVERSE Creator Program!
We’re certainly glad he did though because what we have made here is yet another example proving just how viable not only HTC VIVERSE platform is, but how WebXR can be treated as a serious medium for game developers. Yes there are many limitations but with the right amount of creativity and ingenuity they can be overcome. As you will see for yourself when you go play the game! Stop wasting your time reading and go go go! Time is money. Your corporate overlords demand it 🙂
Play SHIP HAPPENS! on VIVERSE