Explore The Oceans Deep in VR with World of Diving!
It’s time for a swim everyone — with World of Diving! While this week has been very heavily loaded with experiences regarding outer space and aliens, we’re not leaving the realm of VR experiences quite yet, so pack your bags!
Pack your towels, bikinis, flippers and swimshorts cause we’re going diving! Where you ask? How about we start off in the azure depths of the Caribbean Sea, and since this is Virtual Reality, feel free to cancel the first items on our list! All you really need is that capable VR headset of yours, and we’re ready to take the plunge into the long-awaited World of Diving (Early Access).
World of Diving is thought out and built by a Dutch team of developers over at Vertigo Games in Rotterdam. The concept they have pitched is brilliant and fairly simple:
Throw yourself into the water and dive through it’s depths to discover what’s underneath the surface of our blue planet. Swim between orcas, and dive with a school of dolphins or whales. Dodge tiger sharks and chill out with a sea turtle. See if you can find Nemo!
Okay, finding Nemo is difficult, so here’s a Let’s Play video of YouTuber Jonlaw98 taking the game out for a test d(r)ive:
As you progress through the game, you will be able to wander off the beaten path and visit uncharted terroritory. According to the team, this territory includes the likes of underwater caves, sunken remains of history as well as rusty shipwrecks and submarines from World War II.
Community Love
Community is extremely important if you plan on starting a massive online experience. It simply cannot be stated how important it is that your community activity exists, and that they interact, learn and grow from each other’s company. If you want your initiative to really kick off, and you want a shining success — have them interact with each other, and let them bask in the company of a shared interest.
After digging a bit more into the community side of World of Diving, we quickly discovered that there has been a heavy support for the game on their forums throughout these past 2 years as the game has been underway. The overwhelming tone of voice here is a positive one, and we can only summarise this in the form of a quote from a satisfied customer who back in 2014 took the early version out for a spin:
“… I signed up here in March of this year and did a lot of reading on this. All i can say is WOW. I have only been playing for a total of 4 hours, but i am looking forward to enjoying this for a long time. “
- Rich, World of Diving Community member
Considering that in most simulations, extended periods of gameplay can start feeling uncomfortable, it looks like Vertigo Games is on the right track. Especially since some of the community members were actually comparing the effect of World of Diving to meditation.
Device Agnosticism
Another key element to success with an online environment is an open door. One of the key wins of World of Diving is it’s open device support. As of the time of writing this article, the game supports both the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and the OSVR. Huge win!
Making the game open to any and all, who would want to grab pair of flippers and a headset, is a big deal. These HMD’s are still pricey, and not a mainstream consumer product at all.
If you would like to have a look at the different options out there, we do have a list of headsets available here: http://vrtodaymagazine.com/vrgear. If anything is missing, please let us know in our contact form, as we aim to have a complete list :-)
World of Diving v0.17.9
Two days ago, an updated version of the game was released (v.0.17.9), adding several features and upgrades to the games core:
- All areas rendering at 90 FPS on an Oculus minimum spec PC
- New quality setting: VR minimum spec configured for 90FPS on an Oculus minimum spec PC
- Vive control scheme image added
- Interact with objects with right hand while tablet is equipped in left hand (Vive)
- Fixed linking to divegame.net
Minimum Requirements
- Broadband Internet Connection
- OS: Windows 7
- Storage: 9 GB Available Storage
- Processor: Dual Core Processor
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 970 / AMD Radeon™ R9 290
- Pixel Shader 3.0 compatible Video Card / DirectX 11
What’s Next for World of Diving?
If you would like to learn more about World of Diving and Vertigo Games, you can check out their website, their Facebook Page, Twitter Profile or presence on YouTube. Their game can be purchased on the Oculus Store and on Steam.
