I’m Jesse Passoja from Korpi Games, lead designer on Virtual Hunter. Virtual reality is a lightning rod for all the things that make simulation games like ours click with the genre’s audience: Slower-paced, highly immersive experiences with a great range of freedom. However, the hunting genre was almost completely missing from VR when we started working on Virtual Hunter.
We put all of our passion and knowledge from the past decades into the design to deliver the best game in the genre, and I’m honored to be able to give the PlayStation community some insight into what to expect when Virtual Hunter launches for PlayStation VR2 on May 27.
I’ll also include some insight from Jaakko Asikainen, CTO over at VRKiwi, with whom we have the pleasure of working with as we deliver the game for this community. The PS VR2 version has been requested for years and, with his team, we gathered feedback from players so we could make the best use of things like the adaptive triggers, foveated rendering, and headset haptics while delivering the best port we can.
Building the hunt from the ground up
We focused on delivering a hunting experience in VR that players have wanted and more with Virtual Hunter. From realistic hunting mechanics and true-to-life weapon ballistics all the way to the massive open-world with day/night cycle and dynamic weather filled with animals meticulously designed to mimic their real-life counterparts.
Core to the impact of these different systems intersecting and complementing each other is total player freedom in how they want to approach a hunt. Do you want to climb on a stand early in the morning and scan the tree line as you go? Or do you want to take a relaxing hike to the top of the mountain you spotted on the horizon? It is all up to the player and, since there’s a fresh spawn of animals, each hunt will be different. You’ll never know when the trophy of a lifetime shows up.
That freedom extends to accessibility as well. Players can approach at their own pace with three different difficulty options, which affect animal senses and rewards. They’re easier to approach in Casual mode, and in Realistic, they are highly aware of their surroundings but yield higher monetary rewards.
We also have a feature that gives you space to reflect and admire the progress you make on your many hunts: the trophy lodge. With our best-in-the-genre trophy mount system, players can freely place their favorite trophies around the lodge. There are several mount types available, varying from full body mounts to hanging ceiling mounts for pheasants, and players can add, change, and move them however they want.
Outside the lodge, you can find a shooting range and a 3D archery course where you can master your shooting skills. The trophy lodge brings a narrative layer unique to each player, serving as a blank canvas for players to paint their virtual hunting story, one trophy at a time.
PS VR2 takes it to the next level
Virtual Hunter includes specific settings that are crucial to players shaping their VR experience. There’s a dedicated seated mode, a variety of settings for weapon handling, and more. Further, coming to PS VR2 gives us a selection of options we didn’t have in the original version of Virtual Hunter that we’re excited to take advantage of.
“PS VR2’s specific features are always exciting to work with. They’re fairly easy to implement but with great payoffs for players,” says Asikainen. “For example, we use the headset haptics to simulate branches and leaves going by your head while in the brush.”
”The main show, however, is the adaptive triggers, and we aimed for ultimate realism with them,” he continues. “It helps when there are lots of hunters and other hobbyists in the fan base who can give us feedback on things like the resistances we applied to the triggers for the different guns.”
The bows in the game are draw-and-release, so they are very straightforward when pulling the triggers. The revolver, however, has a realistic double-action where a partial pull cocks the weapon and pulling further fires it.
“All in all, the adaptive trigger feature is a must-have for any developer trying to do some kind of weapon simulation,” Asikainen concludes.
A trophy worth the wait
Virtual Hunter is a technical and design feat that was challenging to accomplish with a small team and limited resources. It took a lot of time, research, and mistakes to succeed and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished.
When the PS VR2 community gets their hands on Virtual Hunter, we want them to feel the thrill when they spot the first animal and successfully harvest it. It’s not always about the trophy, but the experience of the hunt as well. There is a lot to explore, new skills to master, and personal goals to achieve.
Patience is a skill in immersive simulation experiences, and getting your first trophy is a feeling that will make it all worth it. We’re always open to hearing about our players’ experiences, so don’t hesitate to reach out with feedback or questions. Happy hunting!
