The VR modding and basic gaming communities achieved a significant milestone this week as Staff Beef formally launched Beef Raider XR.
This pioneering mod takes the 1996 basic Tomb Raider and catapults it into the realm of recent VR, in addition to Combined Actuality, with gamers getting into the boots of Lara Croft or commanding her throughout their dwelling rooms in third-person. We lined an early model of the mod and, even in its pre-release state, it already confirmed enormous potential.
One of many masterminds behind this transformation is none apart from Simon Brown, AKA Dr. Beef to the VR group. Along with a devoted workforce at Staff Beef, the group has persistently delivered absolutely immersive VR ports of beloved classics spanning again to the early days of the Gear VR. Beef Raider XR is the most recent achievement, providing Quest and PCVR avid gamers an opportunity to relive Tomb Raider’s iconic adventures, however this time with the choice of a first-person perspective and 6 levels of freedom.
What’s New within the 1.0 Launch?
The complete 1.0 launch of Beef Raider XR brings a couple of enhancements and a few further polish to the sport. The transition from a third-person platformer to a full-fledged first-person VR journey is now full, permitting gamers to expertise the long-lasting world of Lara Croft in an totally new method. This shift delivers a tremendous sense of immersion, as gamers expertise the world by Lara’s eyes… Properly, the world as seen by the lens of 1996 graphics.
Though the sport retains its unique belongings, the first-person VR transformation delivers an distinctive stage of immersion. To make all this work, gamers want to make use of the unique Tomb Raider information from the 1996 launch or from the current remaster, however both method, these nostalgic graphics and blocky triangles stay intact.
Gameplay Enhancements and Challenges
With the transfer to a first-person perspective and 6DoF, plus a touch of Combined Actuality, some gamers would possibly encounter a little bit of a studying curve at first as they get used to taking part in this basic platformer in a completely immersive method.
The unique leaping and climbing components had been by no means designed for a first-person view, which can really feel tough for some initially. Staff Beef acknowledged this and integrated a option to toggle between first and third-person views, serving to clean out these tough sections.
Gameplay instance supplied by Staff Beef
The motion controls, initially a priority as a result of unique sport’s limitations, have additionally seen important enhancements. Staff Beef used a variation of basic pre-analog stick directional pad controls however modified them for higher consolation in VR. Total, the system works extremely nicely taking part in in third particular person full VR in addition to within the sport’s Combined Actuality mode. Correct left-handed assist can be now full within the launch construct and its extra polished really feel ensures extra refined gameplay expertise.
A Main Milestone for VR Modding
The Beef Raider XR mod options various groundbreaking additions. UploadVR reached out to Brown to verify in on what finishing this mission means for Staff Beef:
“The spotlight of this specific port was the truth that it allowed us to mess around with combined actuality…as a result of in third particular person Lara helpfully does the aiming for you, it meant we might strive issues with this port that we’ve not with others….certainly one of our discord members talked about it might be attention-grabbing to see if combined actuality would work, and from there it was one thing of an attention-grabbing journey. Sarcastically, the precise Combined Actuality half was fairly easy to implement, however the management scheme and the ridiculous calculations for place and rotation and the power to govern the world scale and place wrecked my head for a lot of days!”
Beef Raider XR
We have been watching this port for a while and it is a game-changer for followers of the Tomb Raider sequence and VR modding fans alike. Reliving Lara Croft’s unique adventures has by no means felt so vivid.
For gamers desirous to discover the mod, extra info may be discovered on Staff Beef’s Patreon web page or through SideQuestVR.
