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At Meta Quest Gaming Showcase 2022 on April 21, 2022, The long-dormant Among Us VR finally released the latest intelligence. As a VR adaptation of the phenomenal hit game Among Us, players will be able to feel as if they are really in a spaceship in this game. Combined with the latest information released at the event, the editors of "Fami Tong" interviewed the development team of the game in particular, and talked to them about the difference between this game and the original "Among Us" and the new way of communication in the game.
Jesse Schell (hereinafter referred to as Jesse)
CEO of Schell Games, focusing on the development of VR games, has produced a number of VR works for the Meta platform such as "I Expect You To Die". Three new titles are currently expected to be released in 2 years, one of which is Among Us.
Victoria Tran (victoria for short)
Community manager for InnerSloth, developer of Among Us.
Create immersiveness that's unique to VR
| Q: "Among Us VR" is a collaborative work between two studios, what is the division of labor between you?
Jesse: We at Schell Games are a company that specializes in VR games, so we're mostly responsible for the main development of games. Robot Teddy, the original development consultant, was mainly responsible for the docking work between InnerSloth and Schell Games during the development of this game.
| Q: "Among Us VR" should have been made almost from scratch, so Schell Games would take care of the main development work, right?
Jesse: Yes, although we do the actual development work, InnerSloth does a meticulous confirmation check at every step of the way. In order to make this game inherit the pure flavor of the original game, InnerSloth monitors the game content all the time.
| Q: Then again, what was the initial motivation for you to make Among Us VR?
Jesse: I've been working on VR since 30 years ago, and I'm currently leading 10 to 15 VR titles at Schell Games, so it's becoming a daily habit for me to constantly search for and discover new ideas and fun. At this time, I happened to hear rumors that "Among Us" was going to be VR, so I tried to contact and negotiate with Robot Teddy, and then officially participated in the development.
| Q: Why did InnerSloth want to VR -- Among Us?
Victoria: Among Us's large player base, many community users and fans have asked "Do you want to make a VR version?" request. Like Schell Games, we're always looking for something new and worth challenging, so we want to bring this interesting piece to every platform that we can land on, not just on mobile and PC. It was with this in mind that we decided to make a VR version.
| Q: What did you pay the most attention to during the development of the VR version?
Jesse: How to bring the charm of Among Us to VR is a big issue for us. There are 3 solutions to this, the first is to create a sense of immersion as if you are in the game, the second is to let the player experience the feeling of completing each task personally, and finally to further enhance the social attributes of the game, that is, so that players can directly hear each other's communication voices in the VR version, so as to create the feeling of "I am in the same space as everyone".
| Q: The original "Among Us" was basically only allowed to speak during discussion, but wasn't that the case with "Among Us VR"?
Jesse: That's right. To create the atmosphere of the original Among Us, we also added a design where the dialogue sounds, like the real world, vary depending on distance and location. As you get closer to the sound source, the sound becomes clearer, and as you move away from the sound source, the sound gradually blurs. Therefore, compared with "Among Us", there will be some differences in the system rules and communication methods.
| Q: In Among Us, third-party tools such as Discord must be used to communicate by voice, will Among Us VR have voice chat built-in?
Jesse: Yes, built-in voice is added. In addition, although the voice chat function has been added, I think there should also be some players who do not want to interact with the voice, so the game will also add some interactive features that can make simple communication anytime, anywhere.
| Q: Judging from the trailer video, gestures seem to be a major feature of this game, and it feels like these social content that originally belonged to the game have been greatly enhanced.
Jesse: Similar situations are not uncommon in multiplayer games, and how players will make custom rules to fully enjoy the game is also a very exciting point to look forward to.
▲On the basis of not losing the characteristics of "Among Us", maximize the advantages of VR as a carrier
FPS-like listening and arguing experience
| Q: When did development of Among Us VR begin? What is the current development progress?
Jesse: Development work started in the fall of 2021 and we're still working non-stop, and it's still a short time away from completion.
| Q: After the development of this game began, the original "Among Us" has been updated several times, will these updates be added to "Among Us VR" at the same time?
Jesse: Exactly how much of the original Among Us would be installed at the time of the game's release is still being discussed, but even if it doesn't include all of it at the beginning, we'll keep updating it up later.
| Q: Although the basic design is the same, in a sense, this game seems to be more like a VR-exclusive version?
Jesse: Yes, this game is not exactly the same as other versions of Among Us, after all, different adaptations need to be made for different platforms. Although some of the content will overlap, it is certainly not a ported reproduction intact.
| Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest difficulty in VRting this game?
Jesse: The hardest part is how to design the space in the game. It is convenient to make a flat map so that the player can see the whole picture at a glance, but then the character's perspective will become very strange, and if you want to do a certain degree of spatial design, it is absolutely impossible to copy the original "Among Us" idea... Therefore, how to retain the characteristics of "Among Us" after VR, and take into account the high-quality 3D performance, it can be said that it took us a considerable amount of effort.
| Q: It's true that the first-person perception of intelligence and the current situation will decline, and how to improve this is a unique annoyance of the VR version.
Jesse: Yes. For this reason, we designed a number of elements such as speeding up the perspective steering, adding various sound effects outside the dialogue, being able to tell if someone is approaching through the sound of footsteps, and adding a large number of doors that allow players to get information through the sound of opening and closing doors. Although they are all changes to some details, it is precisely because of these details that the game has become more realistic.
| Q: The unique sense of horror after becoming first-person is also one of the fun of this game.
Jesse: Yes, that's right, the early versions of this game were pretty scary, and even the horror I felt was a little beyond the thrill of the thrill. Like Among Us, this game needs to retain the excitement and tension of the game without being treated as a horror game, and how to grasp the delicate balance between the two requires a lot of trial and error.
| Q: If it's too scary, I'm worried about whether I'll have a cardiac arrest (laughs).
Jesse: (laughs) Sometimes it can happen that you can get scared.
| Q: How much do you want to do?
Jesse: It's hard to estimate exactly. Our development policy is to spend half of the production cycle to complete the development, and the remaining half of the time to polish and optimize the details. At present, the development progress is almost halfway, so the functions you want to achieve have basically been made, and the future work will be based on adjusting the details and polishing and optimizing.
| Q: Will you test the game yourself to polish the details of the game?
Jesse: Yes, we'll take care of everything that can be improved and optimized. When it comes to test play, development teams often do something that's only possible in online social games, and that's meetings in the game, so we actually spend a lot of our time in the game.
| Q: This is also a kind of metacosm in a sense.
Jesse: These elements are really only a FEATURE of VR, and whether you want to socialize in a room or use it as a vr space, this game has something for you.
| Q: What does InnerSloth think is the most important point to pay attention to in the process of VR?
Victoria: One of the big features of Among Us is that it creates a space for friends to meet and mingle. Especially in the current era of the new crown epidemic, it is difficult for everyone to meet each other, so many people will choose to "get together in "Among Us", and this social need is very important to us. Of course, this game must be interesting enough as a game, but at the same time, we also hope that it can be a space for players to call friends and spend some good time together.
| Q: What exactly does InnerSloth ask for for the development of this game?
Jesse: They emphasized the importance of character customizations like body size, body proportions, and we also did an in-depth look at how the position of the character's hand in the VR world should be designed. This element, as part of the spatial design, plays an important role in restoring the flavor of Among Us.
| Q: How do the members of InnerSloth feel after actually experiencing the latest version of the game?
Victoria: Although the development members of InnerSloth have tested it countless times, each play is still very interesting. We are very happy with what the current game presents and are very excited. Schell Games is very meticulous in every detail, and the pursuit of quality is not compromised, which makes people look forward to the arrival of the release date of this game.
| Q: Thank you both for interviewing us. Finally, please say something to the fans who are looking forward to the release of this game.
Jesse: Thank you for looking forward to this game, although it will take a little longer, but the content of this game is definitely interesting enough. We will continue to polish every detail of the game to present a work that will satisfy everyone.
Victoria: First of all, I want to thank all the players, and it was because of everyone that Among Us VR was born. I look forward to this game to further expand the player base of "Among Us" and let more players enjoy it. Stay tuned for the official release of this game.
Compile: Bluestoon