Since the beginning of the year, the VR Center the new shooter multiplayer game in Dietlikon. After we had finished the Explorer with Games.ch last year already tested we will stay on the ball and report on the experience in a two-part series.
The game for advanced players
It was already clear from the website that the game was for advanced gamers. I wouldn't describe myself as the anti-gamer par excellence, but admittedly I haven't really been into computer games for the last few years. The fact that I used to be dead as a doornail after a very short time playing all the shooter games on the old consoles probably didn't make things any better. On the other hand, as a person who loves movement, I always enjoyed paintball or laser tag more. A virtual shooter game in a room of around 150 square metres must be a lot of fun. That'll be fine, we thought. No sooner said than done, my mate and I set off for Dietlikon to the VR Centre.
When experts talk, you need quick ears
The friendly operators Fabian Freund and Philip Lacoste greeted us after we had first made our way to the laser tag desk. Before we threw ourselves into the fun, they gave us some initial information about the centre and the game.
You have to be able to listen pretty quickly to understand them. It wasn't just because there were technical terms in almost every sentence, which I couldn't remember anyway, the two of them were simply very fast.
After all, they have to be in order to keep up with current developments in the VR sector. The young duo develops and realises the whole thing practically single-handedly: be it the software or the hardware. When you talk to them, you quickly realise that they have a huge amount of expertise when it comes to VR, new technologies and the film and entertainment industry. The perfect duo to realise so-called live action games.
The equipment for our mission
After a short briefing from the two VR nerds, we were allowed to equip ourselves for our mission. The arcade supports full-body tracking so that body movements are transferred to the avatar and synchronised. Every movement of the players is observed by 24 different cameras, just like motion capturing in Hollywood films. That's why we first had to put on gloves and attach a kind of metal gaiter to our feet before the game. Remember: you don't go to a shoot-out in high heels! We were then equipped with a rucksack containing the computer, the VR headset and headphones. So there were no annoying cables for the so-called Freewalk VR system - one less trip hazard.
From confidence test to horror film
"Reach out your hand and let yourself be guided. Just stay where you are." - the first test of trust, so to speak. As the boys had talked about a gallery and I had no idea what the room looked like in real life, I had an uneasy feeling: what was in store for us? Inevitably, images of horror films like The Hostel flashed through my mind - for whatever reason.
The mission begins - but how does it end?
After initial technical difficulties and an exchange of a pair of glasses, which started unusually quickly for my colleague, we started the second attempt. This time the calibration worked and my mate and I were face to face. Wave-wave! Of course you have to laugh at first when you're facing each other as an avatar in a virtual world. Once we had grabbed the weapons in front of us, we got started.
The mission is simply explained: as a squad team, we were supposed to protect the important cargo below us from evil monsters. There are two types of monsters: one that is trigger-happy and one that simply approaches the target but is twice as big. And we should shoot them all to save our cargo. Ok, got it: Shoot at EVERYTHING - except your partner, because friendly fire is on.
Did we two professionals fulfil our mission? Read in the Part 2 more - how our squad team did.
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