Onward is now available on Oculus Quest with full cross-play for the existing PC VR version. But developer Downpour Interactive is changing elements of the PC original to make this possible.
An update going live for PC VR players today will physically change the game’s maps to match the altered versions of them that appear on Quest. We’ve had access to Onward since July 27th, but cross-play support was not enabled during review testing. And there’s a good reason for that: some of the maps are actually pretty different. Not just in terms of visuals, but also geometry. As in, the maps physically differ on Quest.
Look at these two shots from one of the game’s most popular maps, Quarantine, for example. You can clearly see two vehicles in the PC version (pre-Quest release) and one in the Quest. The destroyed plane at the back of the map is also placed differently. Every map retains the same overall look and feel, but similar changes can be spotted across the game.
Downpour confirmed to us, however, that today’s PC update will change the layout of some maps to mirror the Quest tweaks. “Due to the Quest having some rendering limitations compared to PC, we had to slightly change some of the layouts of maps,” studio founder and Onward creator Dante Buckley told us. “These layout changes will be on both PC and Quest, to keep things fair.” Buckley also said that the developer will continue to address graphical inconsistencies post-launch.
Again, the map layouts aren’t dramatically different, though if you’re an Onward veteran any change is likely to have big implications to your playstyle. We’ve asked Downpour if the original versions of the map might be retained for non-crossplay maps.
What do you think about Onward’s map changes? Let us know in the comments below!
