IVRE once again approached Make Real, following on from the work completed on the Apollo 11 VR experience, to take their next PC VR experience “Titanic VR” to the Sony PlayStation VR platform, carrying out the optimisation, integration and submission process as required. Having developed and released “Radial-G : Racing Revolved” for the platform, Make Real was versed in the requirements for release.
Statistically the Sony PlayStation VR (PS VR) headset is the most popular full VR system available to home consumers, therefore it was a natural desire for IVRE to see their latest release available for the largest marketplace. Offering tracked input via the PS Move, the design from PC VR with Oculus Touch and HTC Vive wouldn’t need redesign beyond optimisation for the closed specification system.
As a specific porting project, the target platform was the Sony PlayStation 4 games console, with optional PS VR headset support and optional PS Move tracked dual controller input support, with the base PS4 model with DualShock 4 gamepad controller having to be the default option for full framerate and comfort options requirements. Additional enhancements for the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro model were included.
The original project, much like the Apollo 11 VR experience previously worked on for IVRE, was completed for PC VR systems by a mixed team of internal and outsource freelance developers as a result of a success KickStarter campaign. Make Real’s first build task was to strip out and optimise the code base and assets for required minimum performance targets from the Sony PlayStation VR submission requirements.
Offering fewer buttons and smaller tracking area than Oculus Touch or HTC Vive input controllers, the control system had to be redesigned for the PS Move support to retain freedom of movement and ease of interactions. Due to the nature of Unity and VR SDKs, the whole project had to be upgraded to the relevant version supported / required at the time, resulting in new lighting of scenes and fixing a host of issues introduced as a result.
Make Real also created the 360° video player for the newly added experiential section of the application, allowing the user to experience the sinking of the ship from the viewpoint of a passenger on-board at the time.
The Sony PlayStation VR version of the experience went on to receive an average of 7/10 review scores from the likes of UploadVR, VRFocus and popular VR YouTuber influencers, whilst being highlighted and winning the UploadVR 2018 Award for Best VR Experience on Sony PS VR. On the Sony PlayStation Store, where the digital version is available for purchase, the title has received 200+ ratings of 4-stars
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