Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Who is Ben Saxon?

Working on a Deus Ex game and not being able to talk about it before it is announced is tough. But non-disclosure is the norm in industry #gamedev.

That's why I'm extremely happy to announce... the announcement of:

Deus Ex: The Fall





A lot has been made about the fact that DX:TF is being released as a mobile game. And some are concerned the game is being "dumbed down" for a casual audience.



All I can say is that, we created this game with the upmost respect for Deus Ex players. We know you are thoughtful, intelligent people who appreciate a game that tells a good story (ie: conspiracy), challenges your mind, your morals and your skills as a player.

Deus Ex : The Fall will do all of those things. I hope you enjoy the game.

Monday, June 3, 2013

VR_runner_HYDRA!

I got my Razer Hydra game controller in the mail last week. So I was itching to put together a demo using the device.



The Hydra is a 3D motion controller made specifically for PC games. It's kind of like a Wii Remote, but a lot more accurate. I've always been interested in the device but wasn't serious about adopting it until I realized the potential of using the Razer Hydra with the Oculus Rift.



Since I won't be receiving my Rift for quite a while (Aug/Sept 2013), it seemed like a great opportunity to ramp up my knowledge of this new input device.

The first step was integrating the Hydra input into Unity3D, my game engine of choice these days. Luckily, the good people at Sixense (creators of the Hydra) were way ahead of me with their Sixense Unity Plugin.

Get the FREE plugin here:
http://u3d.as/content/sixense-studios/sixense-unity-plug-in/4pA



If you are a Unity Pro user, you will find the process of integrating the Sixense plugin into Unity extremely easy and you will be up and running with your Hydra in minutes. Their 'Hands' demo is particularly eye-opening for developers pursuing the VR track.



And that was it. I got to work on my demo and this is what I came up with. It's not a very good game, but it was the perfect stepping stone to whatever comes next :)



You can download VR_runner_HYDRA v1.3 here.

Please let me know what you think about the game, and I'll keep you posted about what's next.