The Armclaw Experiment cover
The Armclaw Experiment screenshot
Steam
Genre: Adventure, Indie

The Armclaw Experiment

The Armclaw Experiment has released!
Hope you are ready to swing around a virtual city, because The Armclaw Experiment is here!

Now featuring full support for both Vive and Rift controllers. Have fun! :)

0.5 - Street details & further performance improvements


This update includes further performance improvements (should run at 90fps on average with the minimum hardware requirements) and also introduces world detail at street level. There's still a lot more street detail to come, but this serves as a first step :)

GPU Performance improvements



  • Lowered shader complexity
  • Changed ocean system
  • Disabled some lights for now


Graphics and World detail



  • Added street elements: street name signs, lamp posts, trees, dumpsters, mailboxes, bus stops, billboards, water hydrants
  • Fixed an issue where the moon didn’t render
  • Disabled spawning of Eletrogun Towers (for now)


Gameplay



  • Added claw: can now grab objects and toss them (no grabbable objects yet, wait for next update :) )
  • Changed elasticity of chain for smoother swinging


Misc



  • Updated to SteamVR Unity Plugin 2.0. New input mapping system, can be modified through SteamVR’s interface to map bindings on any VR controller. Included default bindings for Oculus Touch and Vive Controller.

0.4 - Performance improvements
The goal of this update is to make the game run at the 90fps target for setups with the specified minimum requirements.

GPU Performance improvements



  • Lowered mesh and physics complexity
  • Switched to single pass stereo rendering


World detail



  • Added new Building mesh types
  • Added Electrogun Turrets (WIP)
  • Improved helicopter model


Gameplay



  • Helicopters now spawn dynamically
  • Added controller vibration feedback
  • Disabled vertical camera to reduce disorientation
  • Fixed an issue where hook physics behaved incorrectly after hooking onto a helicopter

0.3 - The Rooftop Update

World detail



  • Populated building rooftops with new objects (ledges, skylights, water tanks, fuel tanks, air vents, construction cranes, flag poles, damage decals).


Gameplay



  • Added wings. Stretch your arms to open your wings and glide over the city.
  • Reworked camera turning controls for non-360 tracking.
  • Tweaks to hook shooting gameplay. Can now use index triggers to shoot hooks.


Graphics/UI



  • Added post-processing effects
  • Dynamic day-night cycle
  • Clean menu interface


Note: In some cases the game may run under 90fps even at low settings on systems with the specified minimum system requirements. To avoid creative constraints as a result of premature optimization, I have decided not to completely optimize the game yet, but will continue to make performance adjustments over time where it makes sense. The specified minimum system requirements are still the current target.

IndieGala Virtual Reality XXVI Bundle and other news
Starting today and for the next 3 weeks, The Armclaw Experiment is included as part of the IndieGala Virtual Reality XXVI Bundle!

Find out more here:
https://www.indiegala.com/indiegala-virtual-reality-steam-games-bundle-xxvi

I'm currently working on the next version which I hope to release by end of June. I'm taking into account suggestions and feedback from you :)

- Martin

Version 0.2 release

Changelog


Ported to SteamVR (now supports HTC Vive)
Changed player physics
Added new claw gameplay (grab onto surfaces)
Tweaked hook physics
Added sound effects