Lasted three years! CCP how to evolve "Sparc" into a VR sports game

Game developer CCP Games has cultivated a loyal fan base through the massively multiplayer online game "Eve Online." But some of the early VR ubiquitous people may be familiar with the company through "Eve: Valkyrie", but even for gamers, this Icelandic game developer is only making relatively niche games for specific groups.

At the 2017 GDC Conference, CCP Games demonstrated a game that was completely different from the past. The next project for this game developer, "Sparc" is a virtual reality sports game. The game looks like a one-on-one handball or VR table tennis. The player needs to shoot high-speed virtual balls back to the opponent's court.

A few days ago, the supervisor of "Sparc" Morgan Godat explained how the studio turned from a space strategy game to a virtual reality sports game.

CCP Games Atlanta Studio conceived the "Sparc" game in 2014. At the time, their team had only 7 members and the consumer VR headset was not yet available. The VR demo at that time was largely limited to the seating experience, and the player played the game with two hands.

The team produced prototypes for several different games based on this gameplay, but the results were too similar to "Eve: Valkyrie." Naturally, developers continue to use Kinect for development as recommended by the team's engineers.

Goddart said: "The reason he inserted Kinect into VR development is that he doesn't want to kick his cat during work. It is important for him to know what's going on in the surroundings."

Soon, "Sparc" (now known as "Project Arena") evolved into a Kinect game from a game sitting on a chair and playing with an Xbox 360 controller, and the surrounding environment became clearly visible.

Of course, with the launch of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, motion controllers became popular in 2016, and Goddart and CCP Games proposed new ideas at the annual event Eve Fanfest.

The team inquired about the fans and said that if this is a game that is fun for the whole body to play, can they turn it into just the following input: motion controller and head. Goddart said that the fan’s answer was a warm “Yes”.

The movement mechanism of "Sparc" is simple and intuitive, and it is obviously different from other VR games. This action breaks down the movement mechanism into simple movements and gestures. Goddart said that CCP Games started with a simple core concept: "Protect yourself." The Sparc player is like playing a full-body version of table tennis. One player needs to throw a ball at the opponent, and the other player needs to stay evasive or “defend” with the shield on the hand.

Goddart said: "This is your hand. You have a shield on your hand to protect yourself from attack."

If you successfully avoid the opponent's ball, then it's your turn to throw. You can choose to throw directly or use the wall to bounce. But be careful, if the opponent blocks the ball, the ball will rebound and you will return to the defensive posture.

Goddart pointed out that "defense" and "throwing" are very simple for most players. Even for beginners, "evading" requires more skills. This will make the game more difficult for novices.

He said: "We found in our internal play tests that people didn't want to dodge. They didn't like the feeling of zero defense. They didn't like the feeling of someone throwing something on them, and the only thing they could do was just to get out of the way. One side."

To this end, the CCP has produced two versions of the game, "Rookie Mode" and "Professional Mode." In professional mode, the shield will disappear and the player will need to avoid the ball in each round of throws.

When developing a VR sports game, you may subconsciously engrave real-world sports with headshots, 3D rendering avatars, and motion controllers. However, Goddart pointed out that the current technical restrictions make it difficult for developers to make this kind of effortless conversion.

He explained: "We look at these devices. We know we can't directly implant real-world sports into VR. We can't say that this device is your exercise equipment."

He went on to talk about tennis. Godaddy's candidness has had a great influence on the mechanics of Sparc. The difference is that VR traps players in 6-foot game space and is also limited by cable.

He said: "This is not easy. Most sports are based on large areas. Even tennis has a huge space. We know we can't develop a game that allows players to run around freely, but Once the cables are cut, once we start to find different tracking methods, we will definitely consider 360-degree gameplay to track the projectiles around you in space."

As a sports game, or what the CCP calls "VSports," Goddart hopes to develop a game that appeals to the audience is justified, like the e-sport games "Dota 2" and "League of Legends." Goddart said that the cultivation of audience groups depends on whether the game is easy to understand.

He said: "If you look at American football, you will easily know how many yards the player is, advance to what happened to that yard. Please, what effect does this have on an offense? What does it mean for a match? What is the significance of the half game and what it means for the whole game. At any moment, whenever you look at the court, you will basically know where they are in the game."

Goddart added that they were not only considering the audience when developing "Sparc", but also designed for them and for the players. Of course, CCP Games said that they are the first to focus on gameplay, but in the end they hope that "Sparc" will not only make the players happy, but also make the audience enjoyable.

In order to achieve this, the CCP studied various kinds of ornamental sports in the world and analyzed the reasons that made them so attractive. In comparison with real-world sports, such as American football, Goddart referred to the former NFL running guard Radhanian Tomlinson. When there was a game when he touched the field, the audience was all there. cheer. It is this "wow" that brings inspiration to Sparc.

He explained: "Just like you admired Jordan's picture of a slam dunk at the free-throw line, when I was a kid, people hung this picture on the wall. I think when people see this, In the picture, they say, 'Is this P?' No, it is not like this. Jordan did indeed jump from the free-throw line.

Asked whether CCP Games planned to use "Sparc" as an e-sports game to increase its presence in the field of ornamental sports, Goddard replied: "No, it is not like this. E-sports by the community Build. We hope to create a game that is good enough to show high enough operating skills and let everyone start specializing in research."

“For this kind of connection, when people watch the game and see these movements, they will say 'I think of exactly how that person would do this operation'. This is exactly what we want to see, and we want to see More.Because this will attract people, watching the game will make them begin to understand more, and then they will start to master, without special instruction."

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