Once I took a breath and paid attention, it all snapped into place.
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We will provide the option of additional purchase, but the game is not designed to require it."Įve: Valkyrie itself is free with your pre-order of the Oculus Rift, and the "Founder's Pack" will cost $59.99 after the hardware is released. "From XP boosters, premium ship skins, decals, interiors and beyond, we know some players will want to build out their experience. "There will be ways for players to invest further in their Valkyrie careers beyond the Founder's Pack, if they choose," the game's website says. "We don't want to charge people for new game modes or maps we don't want to dilute our community," Willans said. Yes, there will be microtransactions, but don't worry, you'll get the content you care about for free. There will also be survival modes, where the game throws increasingly difficult AI-controlled pilots at you, if you'd like to hone your skills away from other human players.Įve: Valkyrie's alpha is focused much more on the multiplayer portion of the game, however. If someone doesn't want the stress of a dogfight but would love to experience the fun of piloting a ship, scout mode will be there. This will also be a good mode for introducing friends and family to not only Valkyrie, but virtual reality in general. The team is even hiding "loot crates" and audio logs in the scout mode, so you'll be able to learn more about the world and why these battles are taking place by flying around on your own. Valkyrie will feature a "scout" mode where players can enjoy flying around the environments and taking in the sights and sounds. "We're going to have a really diverse cross section of people who are buying the technology." It would be crazy to assume everyone who buys an Oculus is a hardcore gamer I don't think that's the truth," Willans said. It's not just a matter of having many different modes, but different intensities of play. The trick is to offer different ways to play so everyone, no matter their comfort level with action games or VR, will have a place to begin. "We'll also have a range of player-versus-environment elements." These missions will flesh out the game's world and introduce the characters while allowing you to play by yourself, away from the pressure of your teammates or human-controlled enemies. "One of the battles we'll be facing is that since we have such a low pool of players from day one, but it will gradually increase throughout the year, we have to keep players engaged," Willans said. This isn't just a multiplayer game, and there will be many ways to play. There will be a playable prologue that sets things up before you appear in the game's hub, and the training will explain a bit more of the game's story and explore who you are in this world. The final version of the game will do a better job of getting players up to speed, I'm told. You have to allow the wonder of it all to wash over you before you can focus on your skills as a pilot, and the training mode is a great way to fight past that initial "wow" factor. It can be easy to get lost in the somewhat amazing fact that you're piloting a fucking spaceship, much less think about doing it well. It takes a few rounds to get used to tracking the movement of the enemy by moving your head. Your gut lurches as your fighter is shot out of the capital ship's tube, directly into battle. It's good advice, as Valkyrie can be initially overwhelming. "That would be my first tip, to get used to the basic rig." "It's kind of a playground you can spend as long as you want in there and it's up to you when you exit," Willans said.
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The training program explains the game's controls - I played Valkyrie on a standard gamepad, although it also supports flight sticks - and shows you how to use your guns, countermeasures and look-to-lock missiles. "It's something we haven't really advertised, but I want to draw people's attention to it. "I would advise new players to do basic training first," Andrew Willans, lead designer on Valkyrie, told me. When you get serious about the game, you quickly realize how much is going on. I was at home, on my own rig, and could fly as often as I liked. I've been playing the alpha for a few hours now, and it was fascinating to explore Eve: Valkyrie away from the expected trade shows and planned events that make up a game's preview cycle.