VR Arena Dueler Ironlights Surpasses Kickstarter Funding Goal with 6 Days to Go
Ironlights is a combination of epic virtual reality combat-and-dueling melee fighting and LAN multiplayer support for two players with Oculus headsets.
It is a new combat-and-dueling melee virtual reality game that is set to launch on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR this spring. The developer, E McNeill, launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign early this year with the goal of raising $15,000 that will go towards helping the developer “finish the game strong” before it is launched.
As of time of writing, the Kickstarter fundraising campaign has raised $17, 914 from 433 backers with 6 days to go, surpassing the funding goal.
According to the game creator E. McNeill, the combat-and-dueling melee fighting game is already approved by Oculus for release on Oculus Quest. The game will also support cross-buy between the Quest and Rift platforms.
For the Kickstarter campaign, McNeill had created a new $40 reward tier for two copies of the game, both of which will have beta access. This was in response to requests by some backers who wished to back the Kickstarter campaign for more than a single copy of the game which they could share with a friend. The same two-copy perk was also available for all the higher tiers in the Kickstarter fundraising campaign.
Ironlights supports LAN play between any two Quest headsets that allows you to take on other Quest owners within the same physical space without having to grapple with online latency.
The game sees the player select one of five classes and then battle it out against their opponents in a measured but dynamic combat that occurs in a stadium arena setting. Each fighter class wields a different type of weapon. For example, the Knights wields a two-handed greatsword while the Duelist wields a buckler and a rapier. The Monk wields a staff while the Ninja has duel katars. There is also the Crusader who wields a flail and a shield. The trailer of this combat-and-dueling melee has been embedded below (courtesy UploadVR):
On its Kickstarter fundraising page, McNeill laid out how it has responded to the common problems with the unsatisfactory melee combat mechanics seen in virtual reality. Ironlights now includes even steps such as the prioritizing of a weapon that feels right over it being more realistic.
The combat mechanics of the game will also play out completely in slow motion. As a result, it won’t just be a “reflex challenge”. Every weapon will shatter after a single hit to ensure there won’t be a disconnect between the player’s weapon and the controller that could ruin the realism or quality of immersion. There will also be an “asymmetrical melee” system where only an attacker will be able to inflict damage while the other player simply has to block the attacks before both players, presumably, swap their roles. The additions as well as the gameplay decisions are quite intriguing at the moment and it will be interesting to see how the game will play out.
Ironlights will constitute a single player campaign as well as head-to-head multiplayer matches online. The most interesting aspect of the game is how it allows for LAN connections between two VR devices that enables two players to play in the same space without the latency issues. For Quest owners who wish to play together with their friends (with Oculus Quest headsets), this will be a huge advantage.
The development of the game, for all practical purposes, is complete and it is on track for the promised spring launch.
The Kickstarter campaign is geared at funding some serious improvements to the game such as the addition of armor models to offer players some variety. The Kickstarter campaign simply ensures that the game has been finished to a very high standard.
Stretch Goals
With only six days left and with more than $17,000 having been raised out of an initial fundraising goal of $15,000, McNeill has now turned its focus to the stretch goals for the fundraising campaign: a $25,000 target.
If the developer realizes this target, it says that it will allow its backers to make the decision on which class should be added next. They will listen to some of the ideas from the campaign backers and then assemble a list of some of the potential classes that the developer is confident could make for a solid addition to its roster. McNeill will subsequently send a poll to all its campaign backers and the whatever class they end up picking will become the developer’s top priority.
An Ironlights copy will cost $15. This will be a 25% in savings of the final price of the copy when it will launch in April this year. There is also the $60 tier where the buyer will get the complete E McNeill back catalogue that includes Ironlights + Darknet, Tactera, Skylight as well as Astraeus.
A range of headsets is supported including Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive as well as Valve Index. There is also cross-buy support for Oculus.
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