by Anime VR adventure Dyschronia Chronos Alternate is out now for PSVR 2, the new next-gen PS5 VR headset, and this puzzle-based game needed some thought to ensure it would work in VR.
Designing unique UI and UX for VR is something that is constantly evolving, and the launch of PlayStation VR2 means that developers will have to think more about how to immerse players in more complex and interactive worlds. PSVR 2 offers haptic feedback, for example, which can make VR worlds feel more natural. read my PSVR 2 review for more on the hardware.
The goal of developer MyDearest Inc. (opens in new tab) was to create a VR world that would draw the player and the avatar, the character you played, together so you wouldn’t lose immersion.
Dyschronia Chronos Alternate: PSVR 2 hit
Graphic designer Junya Yamamoto tells me: “To eliminate as much as possible the discrepancy between the player and the character in the game, we had to work on UX to control the interactive user interface, eliminating friction and making it easier for the protagonist.”
Yamamoto-san says this wasn’t easy, explaining, “There was a large amount of information in areas deeply related to the game’s worldview and research progress, so we had to be careful not only to not lose the sense of immersion. but also how to structure the user interface to make it easier for players to understand and operate the game comfortably.”
The team used PSVR 2’s Adaptive Trigger technology in the Sense Controllers and haptic feedback to ensure players feel connected to the world, director Ao Matsuoka says when you hold a gun the trigger “has force to feel like the trigger” while when they die in the game the headset will rumble.
These features help with immersion, but the team had to overcome creative hurdles unique to Dyschronia Chronos Alternate. This PSVR 2 game is a three-part puzzle-filled mystery tied together by a unique narrative structure. Making the VR experience work required some creative solutions.
“Sometimes we wanted to temporarily mislead the player through visual effects, but achieving such effects was more difficult than in a flat screen game,” says Matsuoka-san, explaining that it is difficult to mislead players in a virtual space , because players are free to move. “In VR games the player has complete freedom of movement, so even if you want to hide something, the player will find it.”
The team also had to think about how to incorporate elements that are staples of adventure games, such as flowcharts and log files that contain story items and details. “When considering these points,” Matsuoka-san explains, “we sometimes looked at movies rather than flat-screen games for reference, and we also removed and repeated common features and restructured them to fit the worldview. of these things was hard, but fun.”
Dyschronia Chronos Alternate: puzzle design in VR
Puzzle design in PSVR 2 also poses challenges. Dyschronia Chronos Alternate features many brainteasers designed to work in VR, which means creating gameplay that works when players are surrounded by an immersive world. If you’re ready to build a VR experience or game, you might learn something from the Dyschronia team’s approach.
“We had to be very careful that what we were creating wasn’t just a puzzle to solve a puzzle, because VR is a world that completely surrounds you, and a sudden puzzle element that doesn’t fit into that space will cause a loss of immersion, even affecting the story as a whole,” Matsuoka-san explains.
The developer continues: “This is of course something to consider in flat screen games, but in VR you need to be more aware of it, and since Dyschronia Chronos Alternate is a story-driven adventure, the loss of world reality and immersion it is a particularly deadly problem.
They add: “Therefore, we spent a lot of time on the overall structure of the game, first making puzzles and stealth appear naturally in the story, and then as a reward for solving those puzzles and the secret, the mystery that the player wanted. The know was resolved and evolved into a new story. We also incorporated this structure into the game design, sharing the worldview with the artists and engineers and adjusting the visuals and interactions so that every puzzle trick feels like a natural part of that world.”
Dyschronia Chronos Alternate: designing PSVR 2 worlds
Sharing how the team approached puzzle design in VR raises some interesting questions about how developers now create virtual worlds and the future of VR.
“Artists and game designers who create VR experiences must be highly imaginative and have a high ability to think abstractly related to ‘space’ and ‘human physical limitations,'” says Matsuoka-san. “Therefore, by designing levels and avatars that take advantage of and extend these capabilities, we can create experiences that are unique to virtual reality.”
The developer offers an example of this thinking in Dyschronia. the game incorporates looking up and leaning out of the shadows into the game. What is simple in flat screen gaming becomes an immersive act in PSVR 2.
“This is basic, but it makes the player feel more immersed in the narrative experience by increasing the reality of their presence in the world and the sense of realism and danger,” shares Matsuoka-san. “I think being able to imagine players moving through the space you’re creating is a skill that VR artists and game designers are especially looking for.”
Dyschronia Chronos Alternate: the future of VR?
So what about the future of VR? With the launch of PSVR 2, Meta’s commitment to Quest 2 and the metaverse, and the teasing of not only a new Samsung VR headset but a first Apple VR device, it looks like VR is back in vogue.
“Meta’s Quest 2 dramatically increased the number of VR users. And with the arrival of PSVR 2, we believe that a new type of player, different from those present in Meta Quest 2, will enter the VR market,” says producer Kento. Kishigami.
He adds: “People who are not 100 percent interested in VR but in new gaming experiences, and that’s why they’re buying PSVR 2. We believe the VR market will expand further as more people interested in VR join the community with Quest 2 and more passionate gamers will enter the world of virtual reality with PSVR 2.”
Kishigami-san further explains, “The VR market will expand further and users will demand more demanding VR games with new experiences. It’s been seven years since PSVR 1 and Oculus Rift were introduced in 2016, and many good VR games have been created, but we hope to create a new style of VR gaming without being bound by them, a new style of VR gaming.”
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate is now available on PSVR 2 (with enhanced features) and the original three-part game is available on Meta Quest 2. For more details visit the official Dyschronia: Alternate Chronos website (opens in new tab).
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