We're excited to finally share our (mostly free!) update to 2MD: VR Football with all of our fans on Steam.
We felt this might serve as the right time, pre-launch, to highlight some important additions to the experience which will help you get the most out of Evolution.
First and foremost, probably the most important thing to do before diving into the game proper is to explore the available quality modes, and choose the one that best fits your system. The quality settings configuration can be accessed by launching 2MD: VR Football Evolution from the Steam desktop client or a desktop shortcut (or, if you are in VR, launch the desktop viewer and access the steam client there.)
You may get a warning about launching a VR game in desktop mode, but you can safely bypass this. Once loaded, you will be greeted by the config screen.
2MD: VR Football features 8 quality settings:
- Entry-Level
- Low End
- Optimized
- Optimized [Broadcast]
- Pentultimate
- Pentultimate [Broadcast]
- Overlord
- Overlord [Broadcast]
The first 4 quality levels are designed for mid-range to lower-end systems (those utilizing a GTX 1050 -equivalent to about a GTX 1070 -equivalent video card). the "Broadcast" modifier means the second spectator camera is enabled, which provides a bird's eye view of the action. This is set at the highest of the mid-range quality modes because enabling said camera essentially doubles the GPU overhead:
It cannot be stressed enough that if you notice frame-drops or inaccurate throw behavior (throws falling short, for example) this is likely due to the additional load on the GPU if you've selected a [Broadcast] mode, or the config setting you've chosen is too high. For maximum accuracy, our throw tracking is done over multiple reference points over the arc of your throw at the native refresh rate of the headset you are using (70 - 90 Hz, depending on the HMD) so it is highly performance dependent. Dropped frames means those reference points might be lossed or mis-reported, resulting in inaccurate throws. (This was the most common 'bug' listed in 2MD: VR Football's original release, and it was actually several weeks before we determined people were not utilizing the available quality modes at the time.) Adjusting the quality setting should mitigate this issue.
Lastly, ALL of these modes all have AA turned off, sacrificing visual quality for performance.
Currently, the DEFAULT quality mode for all platforms is set to "Optimized [Broadcast], as this represents the most likely average system capability of most SteamVR players. If you have a more capable system, however, read on ...
The next 4 quality levels target "Higher-End" VR players--those with GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 equivalents and above, using headsets such as Vive Pro, Valve Index, HP Reverb and the like. These modes feature additional pixel lights, 2x-4x MSAA, higher-quality shadows and less-aggressive LOD tolerances. Modes with [Broadcast] enabled are intended for systems with GTX 1080 TI / RTX 2080 -equivalent high-end cards.
Next, we'd like to talk about controllers.
2MD supports ALL SteamVR compatible controllers. This includes standard Vive, Vive Pro, Knuckles / Index, Oculus Touch, and WMR devices. All of these devices feature radically different grip positioning. Now, while this matters for precision implements like the marker (you have to orient the in-game hand to ensure the marker tip is touching the board) it does NOT matter on the field.
IE, you can hold your hand / controller in whatever position is most natural for you when you throw the ball, how the in-game hand is oriented prior to release will have no bearing on the throw, it will be released correctly every time. You can orient your controller upright, sideways, upside-down, backwards, etc--it won't matter, so long as your throw vector and release timing are true, the ball will go where you want it every time.
Lastly, and this is the most important takeaway for us - if you experience problems and are looking for help, please notify us on twitter @truantpixel or via email at contact(at)truantpixel.com . It feels strange to say this, but we ask that folks do this before leaving us an angry or negative review, as we want you first and foremost to have fun with this game. We've tested 2MD: Evolution rigorously for the last 3 months, and even brought it to PAX East 2020 where we were able to get feedback from hundreds of players on the feel, performance, and stability of the game. If your throws are falling short, your controllers aren't working, or your game is crashing, or some other experience-ruining bug, reach out to us first because until now we've not found any such issues (and we've put more than 200 hours into the game at this point) :) . As a developer, it is essential for us to determine if the bug is in the A) reproducible and B) a function of the game itself, versus being a bad configuration. We want to be sure before digging around in the code to patch something and potentially break something else for hundreds of other players.
We have always been open to feedback and are ready to respond in a timely fashion (current pandemic and quarantine issues permitting) and we will be watching the discussions on launch week. If you're streaming on YouTube or Twitch, cross-posting screenshots on twitter, or any other type of broadcast, please feel free to share your experience with us as we love watching people play our game.
Thanks for your time, and we look forward to seeing you on the field next week!
