Orb Labs, Inc. cover
Orb Labs, Inc. screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Adventure, Indie

Orb Labs, Inc.

Oculus Throwing Fix!
Throwing works again with the Oculus Rift (S)!

As it turns out, due to some update (which probably already happened a while ago), throwing really sucked using the Oculus Rift (S). Not having a Rift to test, I did not notice, and the game probably didn't properly work for many of you with an Oculus headset.

I could finally get my hands on an Oculus headset and the bug should now be fixed! If you notice anything wrong, please comment here and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Update: Snap Turn
A few of you were missing a "snap turn" feature in the game - that is, instantly rotating your view by pressing a button instead of turning your body. Until now, this feature wasn't included, since it needs another button, and I really wanted to keep the interface as simple as possible (and avoid accidental button presses with unintended consequences in hectic situations).

However, since snap turn can be practical in certain situations, it can now be activated in the settings menu, where you can choose between 30°, 45°, or 90° per turn. If active, a snap turn can be performed by pressing the touchpad on the left/right side (HTC Vive), or by moving the thumb stick to the left/right (Oculus Rift) on any controller.

Let me know what you think of the update! :)

Ah, and a few other things have also been changed:

  • fixed a bug that the player was reconstructed at a slightly different position sometimes
  • until now, it was possible in very special circumstances to be reconstructed without teleport orbs if you didn't have any when saving. This cannot happen anymore.
  • during the death animation, a small message points out that you can be reconstructed faster by pressing both triggers
  • menu orbs in the in-game menu can now be sucked towards your hand (just as any other orb)
  • floor 4 was changed a bit, as there was a situation that appeared to be unnecessarily confusing to some players
  • some smaller changes and fixes

Less Text Update v1.2!
I got your feedback that there is too much text in the game - which is why, in this update, I removed large chunks of text throughout the game, so you can play more, and read less! :) The "tutorial" level lost about half of its (unnecessary) text, and whenever new orbs are introduced somewhere in the game, it is now done in a shorter fashion and relying more on images instead of full text.
The "story laptops" remain unchanged, but you never have to read them anyway if you don't care about the backstory.

Also, the difficulty of Floor 5 and 6 on "Easy" was reduced a little, and some smaller issues were fixed.

Please let me know what you think of the changes! :)

Release!
Orb Labs, Inc. has officially been released! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project over the past year and to all the testers and supporters. We have worked hard to make this game the best it could be at this date. However, nobody is perfect, so if you find anything that shouldn't be there, tell us in the forum!

I hope you have fun playing the game! :)

Pre-Release Update v1.1
This update incorporates feedback from beta testers and pre-release reviews, resolves a few bugs, and includes some general improvements. Thanks to everyone who contributed with their ideas and reports! :)
More concretely, the following was changed (if some of it sounds vague, that's to prevent spoilers):

  • dramatically improved loading time between levels
  • adapted some levels regarding their difficulty
  • reduced the amount of text in the "tutorial" and some of the following levels and reworked text messages throughout the game (important sections are now highlighted)
  • fixed a bug regarding savegames
  • fixed some bugs regarding the operating of elevators
  • improved some visual effects to give the player more feedback about the current situation
  • adapted some control panels to more clearly show their purpose
  • in the main menu, each savegame slot now displays information about its time as well as the current level
  • added "Exit" menu item to the main menu
  • fixed some more mostly smaller bugs throughout the game


Looking forward to the release tomorrow (June 11th, 11:00 PDT / 18:00 UTC / 20:00 CEST)! :)

Release Date Set!
We have a release date! Orb Labs, Inc. will launch on June 11th, 2018, 11am PDT / 8pm CEST (that's 6pm UTC or 2pm ET)!

It's been a long journey and a lot of work and we're happy and very excited to finally see it all come to fruition. And the chances are very good that we can indeed stick to that release date ;-)

In the meantime - while we put on some finishing touches - put the game on your wishlist and tell everyone you know!