Zalusithix
Member
Got to thinking about VR and strategy games this morning. It's a genre that could be actually work rather well in VR. Little dioramas of war playing out in front of you. That in and of itself isn't anything of a new idea. Where I went a bit off the wall is thinking about conceptually making it more of an influenced strategy rather than a wholly directed affair.
Basically you'd be a god instead of a general or something. You wouldn't choose what exactly happened at every moment in the world. You're not omnipotent. The humans/creatures would do what they wanted the vast majority of the time in real time. You could, however, influence/override their actions to a certain extent. Select a group on the move and trace out a virtual path they should follow through the world. Possibly influence what targets they choose. No fine grained control - the units have a will of their own. It's more of an ability to set the general stage.
Now, to compensate for that, and playing more to the strengths of VR - you could influence the world itself directly. Using tracked controllers you'd be able to deform and sculpt the land. Erect/flatten mountains. Redirect rivers. Lob lightning bolts, Wave into existence massive gales. Obviously the possible actions would have to be constrained in some way (card mechanics/timers/whatever).
Finally for more fine tuned control you have channelers. There are no hero units in this concept, but these would be the closest thing to them. By themselves these units would be no different from normal. Their strength and uniqueness comes from the ability for you to possess. Upon possession you'd go into first person 1:1 action where the channeler is now temporarily a divine conduit of your will. Issue orders from first person, teleport around the battle field performing offensive or defensive wonders. They're still mortal though, so a blade through them will kill them just as surely as it would anybody else.
All of this could technically be done in a traditional game, but VR would give it a very different feel and finesse. Being able to see the units on the battlefield like little toys come to life. Being able to take your hand and physically pummel a mountain down or cut a crevice into the ground as easily as if you were playing in a real sandbox. Being able to jump into the fray as a battle unfolds around you in 1:1 scale and mix it up as a magical Jedi of sorts. Combined together, they should give a fairly good feel for being a real god overseeing a battle of your followers.
Anyhow, just thinking out loud.
Basically you'd be a god instead of a general or something. You wouldn't choose what exactly happened at every moment in the world. You're not omnipotent. The humans/creatures would do what they wanted the vast majority of the time in real time. You could, however, influence/override their actions to a certain extent. Select a group on the move and trace out a virtual path they should follow through the world. Possibly influence what targets they choose. No fine grained control - the units have a will of their own. It's more of an ability to set the general stage.
Now, to compensate for that, and playing more to the strengths of VR - you could influence the world itself directly. Using tracked controllers you'd be able to deform and sculpt the land. Erect/flatten mountains. Redirect rivers. Lob lightning bolts, Wave into existence massive gales. Obviously the possible actions would have to be constrained in some way (card mechanics/timers/whatever).
Finally for more fine tuned control you have channelers. There are no hero units in this concept, but these would be the closest thing to them. By themselves these units would be no different from normal. Their strength and uniqueness comes from the ability for you to possess. Upon possession you'd go into first person 1:1 action where the channeler is now temporarily a divine conduit of your will. Issue orders from first person, teleport around the battle field performing offensive or defensive wonders. They're still mortal though, so a blade through them will kill them just as surely as it would anybody else.
All of this could technically be done in a traditional game, but VR would give it a very different feel and finesse. Being able to see the units on the battlefield like little toys come to life. Being able to take your hand and physically pummel a mountain down or cut a crevice into the ground as easily as if you were playing in a real sandbox. Being able to jump into the fray as a battle unfolds around you in 1:1 scale and mix it up as a magical Jedi of sorts. Combined together, they should give a fairly good feel for being a real god overseeing a battle of your followers.
Anyhow, just thinking out loud.
