The late-Winter update for Asteroid Blaster VR brings huge improvements to your Vive space-blasting fun:
Zippy Shots
So, it turns out the retro video game feel of slower laser shots with limited range isn't terribly fun outside of 1970s arcade games. Who'da thought?
The speed of weapon shots has been increased considerably, with your blasts now swiftly zipping to their targets. UFO shots maintain their constant speed (they're hard enough to dodge already), but your own weapons are near-instant trigger hits. Blast away!
Close-Range Radar
An in-game radar scope now floats before you in a head's-up display, identifying the location of all asteroids, UFOs and UFO shots within 250 meters of your location in space.
The center of those nearby objects is depicted with a sphere on your scope, with their height and direction shown relative to you. Any asteroids more than 250 meters away will not be appear in your radar scope, but distant UFOs will be indicated with smaller scope blips at the edge of your radar sphere.
Spiffier Effects
In-game shots, shields and other effects have been considerably improved, adding the eye-candy which was missing from earlier Asteroid Blaster VR versions. Get ready to duck when you hear the sizzle of incoming UFO plasma bolts!
Arcade Mode
A new 'Arcade Mode' is now available which starts the player in a slow-paced game environment which grows progressively more difficult as time passes.
Controller help overlays and hint text provide guidance at the start, with asteroids slowly increasing in pace as UFOs, power-ups and player shield/health power-downs make their way into the game.
Arcade Mode can be started either through the selection option in your 'Start On Wave' screen, or you can use your options to set your main menu 'Start' button to open Arcade Mode direct. If you want to let your friends jump right in to virtual reality and start blasting without going through a tutorial first, Arcade Mode is for you!
Less Deadly Asteroids and UFOs
Getting hit by an asteroid still isn't fun, but being smacked with two in a row will no longer kill you on the earlier levels.
Asteroids also start out at a slower pace on earlier waves (and at the start of Arcade Mode), growing faster until they reach their maximum speed on later waves.
UFOs became considerably more deadly on the last version and that has now been corrected. They'll still shoot you, and they're still dangerous, but you'll be less likely to face 'game over' due to an unexpected UFO shot from behind.
More Helpful Help
It turns out that a distressing number of players were not aware that the Vive controller grip buttons would allow them to thrust about the playspace. That resulted in a ton of frustration as players remained stock-still, rather than moving out of harm's way, while asteroids converged on them from all directions.
To help avoid those issues, a guide overlay has been added to the player weapons pointing to the location of the forward/back thrust buttons, weapon fire trigger and hyperspace disc-click buttons. That overlay text remains in place for the first three game waves and in the first few minutes of Arcade Mode.
Game hint text also appears in the player's head's up display during the first game wave, reminding about the available control options and providing a few gameplay suggestions.
More is coming in the future, and we'd love to hear your suggestions. If you have an idea for an in-game bonus or addition you would like to see in Asteroid Blaster VR, just post it up on the forums!
