The Control Theatre "Blinders" comfort mode CAN be disabled
We've noticed a few negative reviews for Espire based on our "Control Theatre" comfort mode. The Control Theatre is the grid-like box that appears in your peripheral. Players are also referring to it as the 'blinders' or 'vignette'.
This is an optional feature and you can definitely disable it!
Pause the game, Pause the game, go to Settings->Comfort and disable "Espire Control Theatre." This will be saved permanently.
We clearly have some UX and UI issues to address as this is not obvious to users. We've read some great suggestions from users, things like: show a message box when first starting the game that gives players the option to disable it straight up.
We're working on a patch that we will be setting live ASAP that will include these suggestions. We'll also be giving players the option to disable the blue "Helmet frames". We're sorry about that, we should have realised players might want to disable them.
We will still have our control theatre comfort mode enabled by default. If you're a first time VR player, it does a lot to mitigate the effects of VR sickness. We hope with your feedback and suggestions, we'll make it easy for experienced players with VR legs to quickly disable it.
A huge thankyou from the team at Digital Lode and our publisher, Tripwire Interactive for supporting us and the game! This is just the start for Espire. We're working hard on bug fixes, new features, free updates and some paid DLC.
We're also trying to get to all the comments in Community Hub. We are most active on our Discord, we use it every day while working on Espire. Feel free to hit us up on Discord if you like! http://discord.gg/espire1
Espire 1: VR Operative Deploys Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ReBGdNiic
Espire 1: VR Operative aims to set the new gold standard for the stealth genre in virtual reality, delivering gameplay mechanics for the stealth and action genres that have yet to be explored in the space. Players are charged with the role of an “Espire Agent” and use cutting-edge Virtual Reality hardware to remote-operate the Espire model 1 drone.
Espire 1: VR Operative Key Features Include: [list <*>The definitive VR stealth experience: bringing the stealth genre to the exciting medium of Virtual Reality, delivering gameplay mechanics for the stealth and action genres that have yet to be explored. <*>Control Theatre: Espire 1: VR Operative offers a unique solution for motion sickness, a common problem with many first-time VR players. Any time a player performs any artificial locomotion, the game world shrinks down to the size of a floating tablet, with the Control Theatre visible in the player’s peripheral vision. This “VR within VR” system allows for precise, full freedom movement, while maintaining immersion, and eliminating “VR motion sickness” for almost everyone. The Control Theatre is fully customizable to suit the player’s level of comfort, and can be fully disabled for those already comfortable moving in VR. <*>Full freedom of movement: allowing players the freedom to move anywhere within their virtual environment, moving, climbing, and falling with full comfort and no motion sickness for almost all players. <*>Complete single-player story, rich in detail: developed as a dedicated single player VR experience with individual story missions and scenario missions that use the story mission environments for short challenges. <*>Voice control: Using the VR headset’s onboard microphone, players can make commands and perform actions simply by speaking. The noises players make can draw the enemy to their location – adding a new way to gain the advantage. <*>Arsenal of weapons and gadgets: As an Espire model 1 Operative, players will have access to dozens of unique gadgets and weapons such as a tranquilizer pistol and deployable spy cameras in order to complete the mission objectives. <*>Global Leaderboard: A worldwide tally awards players a competitive score based on mission time, movement, stealth, ammo conservation, takedowns and other factors. *Coming Soon to PSVR version <*>Intuitive controls that mimic real life: Interaction in this game aims to be natural and intuitive. Instead of memorizing dozens of button combinations for every action, players perform them as they would in real life. Operatives can crouch and enter cover by physically using their body. <*>Smart AI: Enemy combatants in this game actively hunt the player. The AI responds to sight, sound, and other stimuli and will react to with varying levels of suspicion based on the player’s physical stance, movement speed, cover and relative location.
Target Aquired - Espire 1: VR Operative is releasing this Friday November 22nd!
The game will be going live for the Oculus Rift, Quest, PSVR, Index and VIVE this Friday, November 22nd!
We here at Digital Lode and Tripwire Interactive have been excited to see the anticipation for Espire 1: VR Operative growing over the last few months. With that said, we have some important news to share about the release date. While originally planned for tomorrow, September 24th, we unfortunately need to push the launch day back a bit further. We know this is not ideal and apologize for any plans we may have interrupted.
So what has happened to cause this change?
A few things:
Throughout the year, we’ve been taking Espire 1 out to shows and meeting excited fans at events such as E3, Gamescom, PAX and others. During that time we’ve gotten invaluable feedback from those players and realized we would not be able to incorporate as much of it as we would like into the launch build.
And, while working with our partners doing Quality Assurance checks around the release candidate builds, it became clear that there were a few lingering issues that were not so readily apparent in previous testing. Currently we have found some stability and performance issues, that while not always impacting the player, will be frequent enough with sustained play that we feel it would hinder your enjoyment.
So what is happening now?
Work continues to incorporate player feedback, and the team is full on investigating the root causes of the issues and working to apply targeted fixes. Effective immediately, we are pushing the release date back by several weeks while the team works on these issues. As the investigation continues we’ll be able to provide some more details on where the ship date has moved to. We hope to provide more on that front in the very near future, but are still targeting a Fall 2019 release.
So you are still excited for more information and want to stay on top of the latest updates?
Glad to hear it. To stay up to date on the latest news and even talk with the teams at Digital Lode and Tripwire you should keep an eye on the following locations:
Brand New Official Espire Forums - https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?categories/espire.2329464/ Brand New Official Discord - COMING SOON Official Twitter - https://twitter.com/EspireVR Official Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EspireVR/
Pre order now and get Killing Floor: Incursion for FREE!
We're excited to announce that Espire 1: VR Operative will be releasing on all VR platforms on September 24, 2019.
We're also excited to announce a special pre-order offer... If you pre-purchase Espire 1 before the launch date you'll receive a free Steam copy of Killing Floor: Incursion!
Espire 1 will be at E3 2019
Our publisher, Tripwire Interactive, is bringing Espire 1: VR Operative to E3 2019 in just over 2 weeks time. We can't wait to share some huge announcements about Espire. Some of Espire's Dev team - Digital Lode - will also be at the event. We'll be sharing updates here on Steam and our social media channels during the E3 week. Thanks for following Espire!
Follow us on Social Media - links found on our website:
Espire1.com
We're back from the shadows and heading to GDC 2019
Who’s going to GDC 2019 in San Francisco next week?
We’ll be showcasing our game at GDC. Make sure you check out Intel’s booth, where Espire will be playable in the public for the first time (We'll be featured all week) Our publisher Tripwire Interactive will be showcasing Espire the entire time.
We haven’t promoted our game enough, only because our team of developers are working insanely hard on making the best VR stealth game experience. We will try our very best to have more updates for you guys from now on and we really mean it!
We’ve put in enormous amount of hard work into the game! We’re beyond excited!!
GDC 2019
March 18-22, 2019 | San Francisco, CA
Intel Booth (South Hall)
Merry Christmas and Espire Update
Merry Christmas from the Espire team! We hope you’re enjoying a fantastic Christmas break. We are excited to announce we’ve just been awarded a production grant from Film Victoria / Australian Government. This allows us to rapidly speed up development.
We also sincerely apologize for the complete lack of updates here and throughout social media. We have read your comments, have taken them all onboard and will work diligently to improve. Development of the game has not stopped, but we did have a few setbacks over the past 3 months. Our planned demo release has been postponed as we negotiate a potential publishing deal.
We really do apologize for the delays and the lack of updates. We are very excited for Espire and are working our utmost to deliver our dream VR stealth experience.
Espire 1 Demo coming soon!
Our Steam page is now live & we're very close to releasing our Espire 1 demo. We'll be adding the demo release date in the coming days.
