We can all agree that Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is pretty special. If you’ve spent any amount of time with the game then you likely recognize how expertly crafted it is as not only a great VR experience, but an excellent platformer in its own right. Today, on the PlayStation Blog, Sony peeled back the curtain a bit on its development to show some in-progress photos from the dev process as well as shed some light on animation styles and level design.
However, the most interesting bit that you’ll notice in the image up above is that it looks like multiplayer support may have been in the game at some point. Right in front of the controller you can see two little differently colored robots scurrying around. If you remember the Robot Rescue game from Playroom VR, a free launch bundle of mini games for PSVR, that actually did have some limited multiplayer support. As a result, it looks like the team at Japan Studio Asobi! may have started development with that feature in mind. For more details on the cut multiplayer feature, you can read about that in this interview with Road to VR.
Interestingly that’s never mentioned in the blog post though. Instead, they talk about how they outlined levels in plain blocks first before evolving them with upgraded art assets. And the gorilla boss at the end of the first world was actually originally going to be a dragon.
“To dress up each level, the choice of materials was particularly critical for the Art Director, Sebastian [Brueckner],” writes Nicolas Doucet, Creative Director and Producer at Japan Studio Asobi! Team. “He and the team tried various styles to find the best match for VR. Through continuous research characters, enemies, vegetation (right down to the rocks) created a super-tangible feeling. We injected each object with a digital DNA, such as printed circuits board patterns and LED faceplates. This gave the game a unique playful, digital identity.”
For more on Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, read our feature on how the game reshapes the 3D platformer and don’t miss our review to find out why it’s so highly regarded. Let us know what you think of the game in the comments down below!
Editor’s Note: Added a link to an interview with more details.
