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[emorling]

Hi, My name is Elia and this is a new devlog for the upcoming games Wands.

Set in late 19th-century Europe, Wands presents a world where a group of people, mainly from the old aristocracy and the new wealthy, in secrecy has become competitors in a quest to unravel ancient wisdom and to reconcile it with modern science.

Hungry for power, these new wielders of magic travel a shadow realm called the Beyond in hunt for ancient artefacts and forbidden knowledge. It is in this shadow world their ambitions clash, and it is where, under the rules of the Beyond, they duel…

This is - as far as we know of - the world's first mobile positional tracking game.

What this means is that you will be able to move around physically to move virtually, without expensive hardware. Movement includes walking, crouching, dodging and swinging your arm. All you will need is a mobile VR headset (eg. Samsung Gear VR, or Google Cardboard) and a smartphone in your hand. More about this new technology later.

We are launching on Kickstarter in October, and we hope you will support us.

You can sign-up for news and surveys from the game here: http://wandsgame.com
We are also on twitter https://twitter.com/wandsgame

[emorling]

How the game works




ENTER VR AND BECOME A WAND WIELDER

When you put your phone in a mobile VR headset and enter the game, you embody a wand wielder in late 19th century Europe. You are able to see yourself as you move, in The Mirus - a mirror that enables you to travel into The Beyond.



CUSTOMIZE YOUR WAND

Among the magical relics you have found and achieved on your journey, select the ones to bring to your next battle. Each relic can produce one type of magical spell so choose wisely to align with your Wands strategy.



ATTACK AND DEFEND USING YOUR SPELLS

The relics in your wand can be used to cast magical spells. They consume mana and may inflict damage upon your dueling opponent or give you leverage in some other way.



DUEL OTHER PLAYERS ONLINE

Matchmake against other players online or invite a friend to a duel - a magic duel in one of the realms of The Beyond - where you are the wand wielders.

[emorling]

How the tech works




1. SCAN YOUR SURROUNDINGS

UNIVRSES’ groundbreaking mobile positional tracking technology lets you use your phone to scan the area where you want to play Wands. Any game or app that uses Univrses’ positional tracking technology can access your scanning.



2. WEAR A MOBILE VR HEADSET

Put your phone inside a mobile VR headset. There are simple headsets for $15 at Kmart to advanced headsets like Samsung Gear VR for $199 and a plethora in between. If you have never tried virtual reality, you will be amazed by the quality that can be achieved with so little.



3. USE AN OLD PHONE AS A 3D CONTROLLER

Pick up an old phone and connect it to the game and it will be used as your magical wand. Look down at your hand and you will see that you can actually move your wand around and cast magical spells with it.



4. MOVE PHYSICALLY TO MOVE VIRTUALLY

Walk around in reality and move your wand to realize that you can actually walk around in virtual reality this way. Whenever you get close to a wall or some obstacle, you will be warned. Crouch or dodge incoming spells or evade an incoming spell by hiding behind a pillar. You will be amazed!

[emorling]

Please take our survey and give us feedback on the first concept designs of wands:

https://wandgame.typeform.com/to/GRbOUi

Thanks!

[emorling]

Thanks for all the great feedback on the wands so far! Please keep them coming:

https://wandgame.typeform.com/to/GRbOUi

[marcgfx]

looks like some nice concept art. will you be providing a tech-demo for the kickstarter?

[emorling]

@marcgfx Thanks for the feedback! Regarding the screens above under "How The Game Works"; they are all in-game renders from Unity.

Yes, we are looking at providing a tech-demo for the Kickstarter, and at the least a YouTube VR Video. We have already starting holding live tech demos at meetups, and conferences. This has given us loads of feedback that we are iterating on.

We are really intrigued by the idea of letting people across the world demo Wands at their meetups and gatherings. Perhaps even at schools. What do you think ahout that?

Do you have VR glasses yourself? Have you tried any VR games?

[emorling]

This week our level designer Petter Bergman has been hard at work on a new arena that wielders will be able to duel in. The map consists of two adjacent rooms: one white marble gallery, and one machine room.



The gallery has two gigantic pillars that wielders can tactically hide behind to regain mana. However, they will not be entirely untouchable, as spells can be cast in an arch to round pillars.



The machine room is multi-story, with four levels that wielders can teleport between. The center contains a huge machine with four exhaust pipes leading to a faintly discernible basement below.

We are currently testing this arena, and have plans to tweak it next week based on feedback from external testers.

[emorling]

This week we attended 3 different events to demo Wands, amongst Stockholm Tech Fest. This was the first time people were given the opportunity to try out a 2-player demo of the game. This demo allows people to teleport around and cast offensive spells at each other - until only one wielder remains.

[heartbeast]

Really cool looking concept!

[emorling]

@ heartbeast thanks!

[emorling]

Check out the first draft of the female Wands character. What do you think?

[emorling]

This is an early draft of the clothing for male and female characters. Do you have any input?

[emorling]

Over a hundred gamers have now had the chance to try our dual-player demo of Wands live. We have gathered lots of feedback that we are channeling into a new arena design. What became obvious is that we need smaller arenas, as well as more variation. Stefan Hansson, our concept artist, has started sketching on this new level. What do you think?

[emorling]

Help us nail a logo for Wands! https://wandgame.typeform.com/to/ajKb6Q

[emorling]

We have some fresh in-game renders to share. This is where you will configure your wand and gear, before entering the Beyond to duel opponents.

[emorling]

We earlier asked our community for feedback on early wand designs. The input we received was very helpful, and we went back to the drawing board. One thing we learned is that most people want more classic wand styles.

Please take our new survey and rate our new concept designs for wands.

https://wandgame.typeform.com/to/q0Waif

[emorling]

We at Univrses have some exciting news to share. We recently learned that Samsung Gear VR will ship it’s consumer edition in November without mobile (inside-out) positional tracking. This is our core technology, and that’s why we have decided to rearrange our priorities.

We have decided to not launch Wands on Kickstarter, but rather directly on Samsung Gear VR Store. Wands will make it possible for you to experience Playgrounds - our mobile positional tracking technology without expensive hardware. You will be able to move physically within your room to move virtually within the game. With your legs as controller, and a smartphone in hand, you will be able to move around, crouch and dodge incoming spells from your opponent in Wands.

We are really excited to bring you Wands soon. It will give you a first hand experience of Playgrounds - our mobile positional tracking technology. Stay tuned!

Are you a developer? Sign-up for our beta sdk http://univrses.com/

[emorling]

We have continued to iterate on our wands design based on our community feedback. One of things we’ve taken to heart is a more down-to-earth and simplistic design. The parts you see are relics that can be added to the wands before each duel. Each relic represents an offensive or magical spell, and are an important tactical element to the game.



This is a closeup of the latest wands design.



The shield is a new prop in our latest level.

[Slothmachine]

Sweet. So detailed. There is not too many Gear VR projects here.