Now that KIN has been released, there are some things that you might need to know. KIN version 1.1 is pretty much the same as it was on the Oculus store with the following changes:
Extras and new features:
VR can be launched using either the OpenVR SDK or the Oculus SDK (when launching using the Oculus SDK you'll pretty much run the original version, including Touch and gamepad support through Oculus' input handler.)
New 2D mode, this allows you to play the game without a VR headset. You can toggle between 2 camera modes using the camera switch button.
New input system that allows for XInput devices and keyboard and mouse input in 2D mode and XInput for VR mode.
Some extra assets to spruce up the visuals, extra water effects in the water/beach zone, new flora and fauna in the cave zone, post processing effects like depth of field and bloom.
Updated lighting and better baked lighting.
Achievements, some obvious ones and some secret / hidden ones.
A new UI stack and new UI text assets that should result in better legible text.
Tutorial movies in the Help section of the menu, as well as tutorial movie popups in 2D mode, rather than the little droid showing a tutorial projection.
Lots of small tweaks, bug fixes, etc.
Launch options and experimental features:
Tracked Motion Controller support. Experimental / as-is support for using tracked motion controllers for input in OpenVR, this requires you to set the -UseTrackedControllers flag in your launch options. This is not an ideal way to play, but it can be enabled just in case you don't have a gamepad and still want to try it out in VR. Keep in mind that the input system was not written for this and rebinding does not have different icons for left and right controller, and it might be awkward to say the least. Below is an image showing the default mapping for tracked controllers (remapping menu buttons should be avoided as this will interfere with SteamVR, Oculus and MixedReality portal operations.)
Keyboard and Mouse support in VR. The use of keyboard and mouse in VR can be forced by adding the -ForceMouseInput flag in your launch options. You'll have a cursor that is constrained to the UI panel and the game can be played with keyboard and mouse. Keep in mind forced mouse and keyboard are not extensively tested in VR. The VR mouse speed can be altered using the -VRMouseSpeed x flag, where x is the speed you'd like (default being 2).
What has been delayed but will definitely be added in upcoming updates:
SteamInput support. We started the ground work for this on 1.1, but it looks like it is a bit more involving if we want to keep backward support for XInput and keyboard and mouse. Keep in mind that when SteamInput is enabled, all input and action binding goes through the steam input panel.
A 5th boss fight. The cave zone will get its own dedicated boss and will be added to the boss run game mode.
Boss run game mode We've opted to move this game mode to a next release as we want to make sure the 5th boss is up to snuff and make sure the boss run is spoiler free. So you can play it even without finishing the campaign.
Content that might be added in future patches, but no promises made:
We'll take a look at SteamVR Input so we might avoid the awkward implementation we have now.
Extra challenge maps and modes. As we mentioned in previous announcements, we have plenty of enemy designs and working prototype mechanics that never made it into the base game for various reasons, but we'd like to see if we can still do something awesome with it.
2D Mode camera systems
With the upcoming release and update to 1.1 you'll be able to play the game without the need of a VR headset.
This feature required us to create a new camera system, which consist of 2 possible modes:
Overview mode
A mode that allows you to view the game from pretty much the same perspective and position as when playing in VR, this mode is known as overview mode.
Overview mode also moves the camera through an area that has a relation to an area the player can move through, giving you camera movement and parallax so to better judge depth.
3rd person mode
A second mode which is a more traditional over-shoulder / 3rd person view, known simply as 3rd person mode.
In 3rd person mode the camera can be tilted and rotated around the player using various input methods (mouse, thumbstick, etc)
Both modes can be switched in realtime by simply pressing the corresponding button.
Upcoming release
What to expect from the upcoming release.
Finally, after more than a year working on other cool experiences and games we are finally finishing up the Steam release.
This release, known as version 1.1 will contain a lot of changes since the original release on the Oculus store, most changes though are under the hood.
We'll describe a short list of new features and what to expect for the next updates.
What has changed, or is new:
Moved all platform specific code to interfaces / wrappers (this allows us to port to other platforms more easily and accommodate platform specific features.)
Button remapping has gotten an overhaul and the input manager in general has gotten a complete rewrite.
The main character controller code has been made to be more stable as to withstand various framerate differences (jump height for example broke on higher framerates.)
The main character's weapons have been made more reliable. (expect a rewrite of the secondary attacks though for possible upcoming extra content.)
The save system has gotten an overhaul, rather than use C# binary serialization (or our half arsed version of it), we are now relying on an IFFL binary chunk based system, this makes save files very small, but also easier to expand on. At the same time saving and loading is done async now so to work on platforms like PS4 and Switch.
Small graphical fixes and additions have been applied to spruce the game up a bit (but not too much, as the minimalistic style is what gives the game its unique look.)
All lighting has been re-baked on desktop versions using a different baking/lighting engine.
Achievements have been added, for those that like a challenge that allows them to spend a bit more time in the world of KIN.
A whole new game mode has been added, the Boss Run, try to defeat ALL bosses in a row with just 4 lives.*
The cave system has been given a design overhaul, we've added flora and fauna that will grow denser the deeper you go into the caves.
A boss has been added to the cave system, one that relies on the colored puzzle mechanics seen throughout the caves.*
The UI system has been replaced with a new UI stack together with better rendering for all text based assets (legibility improvement).
Added experimental support for Vive wands and WMR controllers when running on Steam/OpenVR. This makes it possible to use the controllers sort of like a gamepad, we would not recommend it though as especially the wands where not designed with this in mind.
A non VR mode (2D mode) has been added.
For 2D mode a new camera system has been implemented, one that is able to switch between the vantage point previously provided by the VR headset (albeit in a constrained box that allows for parallax) and an overshoulder mode.
A system has been implemented to try and keep both the main character and the little robot in view when the little robot points something out (2D overview mode only.)
A new help system for 2D mode has been added (using tutorial movies, these are also accessible from the new help menu.)
2D mode comes with some extra post effects, bloom and depth of field (can be disabled in menu.)
The 2D mode has additional settings like: framerate, vsync, framerate cap, post effects, etc.
Various creepers have been tweaked slightly in difficulty and behaviour.
Lots and lots of small tweaks, fixes, etc.
* Might be delayed to next update in case the 5th boss isn't ready for prime time.
What to expect from updates after the 1.1 release.
If all goes well, we might have the means to add a couple of extra game modes. We have various ideas and a lot of unused game mechanics, designs and creatures that never made it into the main campaign.
On top of that, we'll keep patching the game on all platforms, so keep posting possible bugs, feature requests, etc.
