Virtual Reality – Kevin Gulling

Top Vive Games for Under $10 on Steam – 2018 Guide

keving — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 04:58:54 +0000

Top Paid Vive Games for Under $10

Happy New Year Everyone! A lot of you probably just got your new VR device over the holidays! To help guide you in your game selection for the new year I’ve compiled a list of the top paid games and apps available on Steam for under $10. For around the price of one game, you can fill your VR library with these affordable little gems! After you have tried out some of the free content on Steam (there are over 500 free VR titles in the Steam store now!), I recommend this list to everyone!

10. Deadlock: 5/10

Description: Deadlock is a wave shooter with a cool “neon alien” atmosphere. Unfortunately the game has been in early access for nearly 2 years now, and there is still not much to the game. Worth purchasing if you can find it on sale!
Smoothness: Somewhat smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $5.99 – Buy on sale

9. A Fear of Heights and Other Things: 5/10

Description: This is a fun little app to demo VR. It made the list for the rope swing mini game which was a blast!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $0.99 – Acceptable Price

8. Far Space: 6/10

Description:Far space is a space adventure story that lasts about 30 minutes.
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: No
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $1.99 – Acceptable Price

7. Mind Unleashed: 6/10

Description: Mind Unleashed is a wave based shooter.
Smoothness: Somewhat smooth
Vive Controllers: No
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $2.99 – Buy on sale

6. Drone Hunter VR: 6/10

Description: Drone Hunter VR is a wave based shooter similar to Deadlock, only the graphics and gameplay has a bit more going for it! On occasion you can find this for $0.99 in the Steam store!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $9.99 – Buy on sale

5. Deep Blue: 6/10

Description: Deep Blue is reminiscent of Marble Madness.
Smoothness: Somewhat smooth
Vive Controllers: No
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $2.99 – Great price

4. Neon Arena: 6/10

Description: Neon Arena is a top down shooter with two levels and many powerups!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: No
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $4.99 – Buy on sale

3. CYCOM: Cybernet Combat: 6/10

Description: Fun first person shooter game played on a grid with multiple powerups. Currently in “early access”.
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $4.99 – Great price

2. Emily Wants to Play: 7/10

Description: First person horror game.
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $4.99 – Acceptable price

2. Sort ‘Em: 7/10

Description: Job simulator style game. In early access, so hopefully some improvements to come!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $2.99 – Acceptable price

1. Blastercell: 8/10

Description: Blastercell is a 2D style game in VR. Blastercell makes the top of the list because it is cheap, runs smoothly, utilizes Vive controllers, you can get hours of entertainment out of it, bonus Steam trading cards, and it occasionally goes on sale for as low as $0.49! You can literally sell the trading cards and recoup most of the purchase price! It’s a win/win/win situation!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: Yes
Price: $0.99 – Great Price

I’m currently 7th on the leaderboard for all time high scores!

Honorable Mentions

Going Up: 5/10

Description: Going up is another wave based game, but rather than shooting, you use a set of futuristic swords to fend off the waves. Great game if you have been aching to wield some light sabers!
Smoothness: Somewhat smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $4.99 – Buy on sale

Zero-G VR: 5/10

Description: A unique space game where the object is to jettison yourself into space in wearing a space suit from one space module to another.
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $4.99 – Buy on sale

Endless Labyrinth: 5/10

Description: Endless Labyrinth is all that it claims to be. Walk around an endless stone labyrinth and collect gems. It had potential, it’s too bad the developer didn’t continue development. A great one for the kids or VR beginners though if you can catch it on sale!
Smoothness: Very smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: No
Price: $0.99 – Buy on sale

Coaster of Carnage VR

And I will shamelessly plug my own game in this article, although I’ll refrain from putting on the top 10 list XD

http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/737260/
Description: Horror themed rollercoaster ride, great for Halloween, great for scaring friends and family!
Smoothness: Somewhat smooth
Vive Controllers: Yes
Steam Trading Cards: Not yet!
Price: $0.99

Pro Tip: Wait for these titles to go on sale and you’ll likely pick any one of them up for less than $5! (some of them under a buck!)

Developers: Would you like me to try out your VR game? Contact me!

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360 Music Video for “710 Dabs” Set on the Moon of 1000 AE’s Sol II

keving — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 11:17:48 +0000

360 Music Video

In this 3 minute music video you can take a 360 degree look at the moon of Sol II: Lua from the title currently in development, 1000 AE for the Vive.

How to watch

This can be viewed from PC or mobile phone, or with the proper hardware/software it can also be viewed from a VR device.

PC – simply play the video as you would a normal YouTube video. To look around, using your mouse you can click and drag anywhere on the video to rotate the current view.

Mobile Device – Make sure you have an updated YouTube app. Using a mobile device, you can look around just by aligning your phone/tablet in the direction you want to look.

I’ll be making more of these in the future, make sure to like and subscribe to help support development!

Click here to watch more 360 videos on YouTube

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Coaster of Carnage VR – New Trailers, Official Release Date

keving — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 16:45:11 +0000

Happy Halloween!

With the Steam release pending, I’ve decided to share the new trailer for Coaster of Carnage VR that will appear on the Steam store here as a Halloween surprise. Many of you may have been following the development since the announcement last year (2016), and may know that just recently the title was Greenlit on Steam by our fans! So first of all, a big thanks to all who visited the greenlight page and chose to upvote Coaster of Carnage VR! We have been working hard at ARVRCADE to bring you an “Early Access” version of the game for Halloween, unfortunately, it will likely premiere on Steam on or around the first week of Nov. But as a bonus for all those that purchase during early access, we are planning on giving it a Christmas twist that will be accessible in December! I’ll leave a link here to it when the store page is finally online! [http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/737260/?beta=0]

If you aren’t familiar in Coaster of Carnage VR, players ride an abandoned roller coaster in the middle of a spooky, horror-filled carnival. Here’s the newest trailer that highlights Vive use, where rather than a headlamp, the Vive controller is utilized as a flashlight!

The upcoming release will be an “Early Access” version which is a status available in the Steam store used to release an incomplete, but fully functional game version. So not only will it be great for some scares throughout the year, but coming October of 2018 when the game is scheduled for official release, there will be many new scares, features, and improvements! Those with early access will be able to offer ideas for the next scares, and those with ideas that we use will be given a spot in the credits, also the Christmas version that will be available in December, so make sure you check it out!

PS thanks to everyone who came out Friday night for the premiere party! Here’s some shots of your reactions:

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How to embed 360 pictures on your website – 1000 AE Sneak Peak

keving — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 10:44:44 +0000

With the emergence of VR, 360 degree video and images have become a popular form of media across the web. Facebook allows users to embed these images directly simply by uploading them. But how do you post a 360 image on your website or blog? 360player.io is a great resource for developers that accomplishes just that. Simply sign up for a free account, upload your 360 image/video in the proper format ( equirectangular 2:1, also for many players metadata for the associated image may be required). On Facebook you simply upload the image as you would any other image and as long as the metadata and format are correct, it is automatically converted to 360.

A 360 degree shot looking at Sol II from the satellite Lua: ARVRCADES 1000 AE for Vive/Oculus

360 image before processing

If you are wondering how you can capture these 360 degree images, there are different ways to accomplish this. You can capture real 360 pictures with the Android app Google Cardboard and Cardboard Camera available in the Play store. If you are interested in capturing a 360 shot of your project, 3d model(s) or game, there is a bit more to it. (Contact me for more info).

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Carnival Coaster of Carnage VR on Steam Greenlight

keving — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 10:08:06 +0000

Coaster of Carnage now on Steam Greenlight

This Halloween take a true thrill ride on a deserted roller coaster through a spooky carnival! Coaster of Carnage is a short virtual reality roller coaster ride with a Halloween horror theme. Guts and gore, clowns and cadavers, blood and bones, and a cohort of Satans rejects! What could be more fun? Not intended for the faint of heart.

If you want to help Coaster of Carnage get the Greenlight from Steam, please check it out here and give it a like, a share, or a comment!

Coaster of Carnage will be available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and a mobile version for GearVR, and Google Cardboard.

Special thanks to the following for donating assets to the project:
Timbre, TheSubber13, tweedledee3, sironboy, ivolipa, Jaylew1987, dheming, thefaceless and djol! Without you guys donating to the community, indie games like this wouldn’t be possible! Thanks again!

Edit: Release has been pushed back to 2017 so that we can launch the Cardboard, GearVR, Rift and Vive version all at the same time! Make sure you give us a thumbs up on the Greenlight submission so that Valve picks it up in time this time around

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Altspace Now a Platform for Live Entertainment

keving — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 10:00:01 +0000

Live Events in Virtual Reality!

We all knew it was coming, but how well do these events fare?

Screen capture of Reggie Watts, live on Altspace

Last night Reggie Watts performed a 1 hour standup live on Altspace for hundreds of viewers utilizing a new addition to Altspace that they are calling “Front Row”. Now a lot of you know that I was creating a live social platform in VR at the same time as Altspace (Multiplayer VR) but Altspace has taken my idea to a new level and I commend them for the work they’ve done, they are doing a fantastic job!

Altspace, for everyone!

Altspace can be ran on the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and even GearVR and Cardboard! For this reason Altspace is currently the best option for a social experience in VR, because of the broad spectrum of hmd’s supported, which includes over 90% of VR users. One of the reasons I am discontinuing support for Multiplayer VR (besides the fact that it only runs with legacy pre 0.6 sdk) is that there were not enough Oculus Rift users alone to populate the rooms enough to be entertaining.

Some of you who haven’t been to a live event in VR, or have yet to use Altspace may be wondering how such an thing works? in my opinion it is much like going to an event in reality. At the Reggie Watts event there were people in the back of the room, away from the stage, having conversations. People up front nearest the monitors (the audio source for the live audio feed) bobbing their heads and dancing to the music, and of course just people watching the entertainment!

Connect with me on Altspace: KevinGulling.com

Also big thanks @reggiewatts for being one of the first celebs with some vision of the future! It was great meeting you, funny as hell! Come back to VR soon!

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Top 10 Free SteamVR Apps

keving — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 20:35:57 +0000

10 Free SteamVR Apps

After shelling out close to a thousand dollars on the Vive, you might find yourself a little light on funds for new games. Fortunately there are quite a few titles available for free. As of July 2016, here are some of my favorite free Steam VR apps:

1. The Lab

Valve’s “the Lab” is a compilation of mini-games.

Download the Lab

2. NightCafe

Originally released for Oculus Rift in 2015, NightCafe is now available on SteamVR!

Download NightCafe

3. The Cubicle

I almost didn’t download this. That would have been a mistake!

Download the Cubicle

4. Waltz of the Wizard

Tons of magic to play with!
Download Waltz of the Wizard

5. VR Funhouse

Want to play carnival games without paying two bucks a throw? Nvidia shows off their debut VR experience.

Download VR Funhouse

6. Abe VR

Another Oculus Rift adaptation for the Vive.

Download Abe VR

7. The Foo Show

If you are a fan of Will Smith, you have to check out the Foo show featuring Will Smith.

Download The Foo Show

8. The Rose and I

This is a VR short film.

Download The Rose and I

9. Broomball

Download Broomball

10. Ikea VR Experience

Download Ikea VR Experience

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Install a Cardboard or Gear VR apk on your Samsung s6, s7 or note5

keving — Thu, 05 May 2016 07:49:28 +0000

How to Install a GearVR or Cardboard App

Recently I have been developing an abundance of Cardboard and Gear VR apps for clients. I am commonly asked “How do I install a Gear VR apk?” or “How to install a Cardboard apk?”. Installing a GearVR .apk or Cardboard .apk (an apk is the file type for an Android application) on your Samsung s6, s7 or note 5 without downloading it from the Samsung Store or Play Store using a PC takes just a few easy steps.

You will need:

Compatible Samsung Phone
PC
Micro USB cable (like the one pictured below)
a Gear VR or Cardboard to use App
If you are installing an apk for Gear VR, you will need to make sure that your developer adds your osig to the app.

Step 1 – Enable Developer Mode

Enable developer mode on your phone by opening the settings and tapping “About”. Then locate the section called “Build Number” and tap it 7 times. (See image below)

Step 2 – Samsung USB Drivers

Go to Samsung’s website and download the USB drivers for your specific phone (See image below). Install these drivers.

This is a screenshot of Samsung’s website as of May 2016

Step 3 – Connect Phone to PC

Plug your phone into your PC with your micro USB cable. If the Samsung USB drivers were successfully downloaded and installed, your computer will recognize that your device has been plugged in and your phone will ask to give permission for access. Tap allow Your phone will now show up as a removable storage drive on your computer..

Step 4 – Transfer Cardboard or Gear VR .apk

Open windows explorer and navigate to your phones drive. Create a folder inside your phone called “My Apps” or anything you want. Drag your .apk file from your computer into the folder you just created on your phones drive.

Step 5 – Install Cardboard or Gear VR apk

Open the file explorer app (default file explorer is called “My Files”) on your phone and navigate to Device Storage > My Apps. You should see your apk listed. Tap this and then select “Install”. After installation you can open this app any time just like any app you downloaded from the store!

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Augmented Reality, What is AR and what the Future Holds

keving — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 17:12:46 +0000

Augmented Reality. What is AR?

Many of us have heard or read the phrase Augmented Reality paired with it’s sister Virtual Reality. Unsurprisingly a lot of people are under the false impression that AR stands for Alternate Reality which could easily be misconstrued as a being synonymous with Virtual Reality. The truth is that the two are different, AR – augmenting actual reality, and VR, creating an entire reality virtually. It can be argued that it takes a bit of VR to accomplish AR, but arguments aside the capabilities and the future of the two could be night and day. Analysts predict that in spite of Googles failed to launch “Google Glasses” that AR is going to be the next big thing. After you watch this TED talk by Alex Kipman if you have a creative imagination, it’s easy to see why:

Microsoft’s Alex Kipman talks about the new Hololens

I have recently been experimenting with a form of Augmented Reality accomplished by using a Leap Motion in conjunction with the Oculus Rift and the possibilities of AR are exciting to say the least. There are definite limitations to this specific combination (Leap Motion + Rift) which the Microsoft Hololens has addressed, and I hope to begin development on a Hololens project in the near future. For those of you who would like to try out a demo of the Leap Motion Orion Augmented Reality setup here is the basic demo (Newer Post Orion Leap Motion Visualizer) with a little pizazz added. It’s pretty amazing, see for yourself!

Download Oculus Rift + Leap Motion Orion “Visualizer +” Demo

Controls

Tab – Remove Arm bones
Caps – Flame on
Up Arrow – Toggle Flames to Smokescreen
Esc – Exit Program

I’ve been talking with the developers at Leap Motion about making a more portable unit and adding mobile support for Cardboard and GearVR. Lowering the weight or distributing it differently and offering additional normal light cameras will significantly improve the AR capabilities of the combination. Combining an improved Leap Motion with a mobile device like GearVR would in essence result in something similar to the Hololens for a fraction of the price. If anyone is interested in funding development of something like this, or developing for the Hololens, feel free to contact me.

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Noah’s Ark VR Experience – Oculus Rift Arrival Date!

keving — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 11:17:40 +0000

Today is a momentous occasion for many of us. The first round of Oculus Rift CV1’s should be arriving in the mail today! It is also a momentous occasion here at my studio for today we release

Noah’s Ark VR

Noah’s Ark VR – Developed by Kevin Gulling

Developed by Kevin Gulling in cooperation with Immersive Faith, Noah’s Ark VR is based on the Biblical passages Genesis 6:1-20.

One of the first of its kind, Noah’s Ark VR sets you the middle of a stormy sea on a creaky wooden ark. In this demo you can simply walk around the main deck and witness God’s might from the safety of your Ark.

You can download Noah’s Ark VR for Oculus Rift today from ImmersiveFaith.com for FREE!

Recommended Specs:
GTX 970 or equivalent
8GB of Ram
Intel Quad Core or equivalent
Windows 7+

Special thanks to “Dheming” for the SFX.

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