ThreeOneZero’s ADR1FT was meant to launch support for the HTC Vive last month, but plans have changed just a little.
Writing in an official update, the developer’s Adam Orth has explained that the team wants to take a little longer to make sure the game is a “special VR experience” on Vive, but reassured that the support is “coming along very nicely” and its launch “won’t be long”. An official date was not given. The narrative-driven first-person adventure first launched on the Oculus Rift alongside the device itself at the end of March, with Vive support confirmed shortly thereafter.
The other big question surrounding the Vive version is if it will take advantage of the HMD’s unique features, such as the position tracked controllers. The answer is yes and no; Orth confirmed that the controllers can be used as a replacement for a positional gamepad, but the team couldn’t retrofit motion controls into the main experience. That’s due to the game itself starting development long before motion controlled VR came along. That said, the studio is looking at “some unique ways to incorporate motion controls” into the experience, so expect to hear something along these lines soon.
We’re also waiting on news of the console versions of ADR1FT. Hopefully the PlayStation 4 edition will be supporting PlayStation VR, though that’s not 100% confirmed right now. In his post, Orth highlighted that fact that ThreeOneZero is a “tiny dev team”, so we’re not sure what to expect.
ADR1FT is undeniably one of VR’s most beautiful games, though UploadVR’s Joe Durbin couldn’t help feel a touch disappointed with the Rift version thanks to poor VR implementation. “ADR1FT is most likely the game that its developer’s wanted to make: a realistic, beautifully rendered space story,” he said. “Unfortunately, it contains too many gameplay missteps as a VR title to earn a place amongst the stars.”
Perhaps the refinements made to the Vive version could help sway our minds? We’ll hopefully find out in the near future. In the meantime, why not take a look at another promising space-set VR title, Detached?
