Not long ago, on the Meta Gaming Showcase, Resident Evil 4 VR unveiled the much-anticipated "Mercenary Mode" for players. It is reported that this is a popular gameplay in the previous "Resident Evil" series of PC games, and even launched a derivative game. This landing in the VR version not only meets the expectations of old players, but also brings new challenge levels.
According to to toma Ivey, the game's lead producer, Resident Evil 4 VR's mercenary mode contains all the memories and favorites of fans of the classic version, and adds new and interesting mechanics, which retain the characteristics of the original game, while also having VR features. In a recent interview with foreign media, Ivey further explained behind the development of this model, and why it was launched nearly half a year after the launch of the game itself.
Q: Please talk about the experience of developing VR games.
A: As a game designer, this is the first VR game I've designed. In the development of VR, in addition to the general game development skills, you also need to consider issues such as comfort, ease of use, and immersion. When creating a sense of immersion, you need to consider some abstract expressions and how to transition between abstraction and realism. In addition, it is also necessary to consider the characteristics of VR games and play a sense of presence in VR.
During the development of Resident Evil 4 VR, the team learned from Oculus the principles of teleportation and first-person motion.
Q: How do VR games adapt to users of different sizes? For example, small women may have difficulty placing knives.
A: First of all, we in the QA department and Oculus have tested the game, which includes different heights and different genders. In addition to this, in order to adapt to different heights, players can grab items remotely in the game. In addition, two different experiences of sitting and standing will be considered.
Moreover, the parameters in the game can be modified, and in the face of a large number of player feedback, it can be further optimized.
Player feedback is important, and in order for more people to be suitable for your VR game, then you need to optimize the game based on feedback.
Q: It's not easy to turn a third-person game like Resident Evil 4 into a first-person VR game, right?
A: In first-person mode, the maximum movement speed remains the same, with the aim of restoring the Resident Evil 4 gameplay experience. In addition, there are game AI responses to players, Ashley character following, etc. also need to be adjusted.
Resident Evil 4 VR isn't all first-person, but also mixes multiple perspectives.
Q: What is your favorite part of Resident Evil 4 VR?
A: My favorite part is going into the village, where you'll come across the First World War scene.
Q: Mercenary mode is a classic gameplay in the Resident Evil series, will you update more content in the future? Or introduce other features?
A: Initially, our development goal was to complete the game's story mode, which lasted 8 to 16 hours and was quite large. After the story mode was completed, we started developing the mercenary mode, and while both modes were important, our initial focus was on story mode.
We're still working on a lot of content for Resident Evil 4 VR.
We used everything in Resident Evil 4 as the "classic mode" of the VR version, and adjusted it on this basis, such as adding rocket launchers, harpoon guns, and other weapons that were not available before, and these weapons interacted in a variety of ways, and could combos or hit multiple enemies at once.
In addition, Resident Evil 4 VR has added new enemies, such as Regnerators and Iron Maidens, around which new game challenges and new maps will be brought.
The rules of the game have also been massively changed. The regular mercenary mode has a fixed time, and you need to collect timers at specific locations on the map to increase the time. The location of these timers is fixed in the map, so you can play repeatedly to optimize your route and strategy. In the VR version of Mercenary Mode, there are about 20 challenges, each with different rules and scoring modes, and you can unlock various medals after completing the challenge.
For example, the Time Rush challenge features a timer generated at a random location, and once you enter the game, you can find it in the map and start planning how to get the timer.
Interestingly, every time you pick up a timer, a new timer is generated on the map at two random locations, and the new timer is less available than before. As a result, the entire mercenary game experience will be quite exciting, and players will need to race against the clock and constantly change their strategies.
There's another time-limited mode called Kill Rush, which requires you to kill enemies in a short period of time, and the higher the headshot rate, the faster the level, so you need to aim accurately and race against the clock.
If you want to improve your marksmanship, you can try the Dead Shot Challenge, a rule in which if you don't headshot an enemy, you'll get hurt yourself. In addition, there are horror mode, fast-forward mode, Golden Guns, big head mode and other gameplay.
All in all, I'm looking forward to the next generation of VR applications, which will improve their mobility, haptics, and other feedback. Whatever we do next, we'll just look at more layers of interaction with the environment, bringing more interactivity to the game, and making every interaction immersive enough. Reference: screenrant