Fantom Fathom has announced a new software solution called HyperDash that proposes to solve VR gaming’s movement problem, and has built a game called APEX Tournament around it. The movement solution essentially consists of having players use their own body as a joystick. When the player leans, motion in the game is determined by the velocity and degree of leaning, as measured by the VR headset and controllers that the player is using. The technology is made to be used across platforms, even on PlayStation VR and in mobile VR solutions like Cardboard, Daydream, and Gear VR. APEX Tournament, as the name may imply, is an Unreal Tournament-style deathmatch shooter built around HyperDash, allowing players to move fluidly enough to utilize both melee and ranged weaponry to decimate other VR users, though there are a few RPG elements on board that make it somewhat akin to a MOBA in the vein of Vainglory.
In APEX Tournament, players start out with a basic selection of weapons. They control these weapons using their VR controllers, which means that guns are aimed and melee weapons are swung in a manner similar to how they would be in real life. This is the foundation for a 6 vs 6 team-based shooter somewhat akin to Overwatch, but vastly more basic. Unlike Overwatch, however, teams can upgrade their weapons throughout the match, and after each round, ground is gained or lost based on how the match went. This affects the flow of play in various ways, such as spawn points and routes through the map. Teams continue this back and forth dance of taking and losing turf until one team or the other has the entire map under their banner.
APEX Tournament is debuting at PAX West as a PC tech demo, but may end up on other platforms over time. It is also available to developers as a sample of sorts with the HyperDash SDK. This SDK is not open-source, and Fantom Fathom’s press release mentions nothing about easy integration with any particular engine, such as Unity or Unreal Engine 4, most likely meaning that HyperDash stands alone to be used across engines and platforms. The SDK will be licensed out on a discretionary basis by Fantom Fathom, allowing the company to control where HyperDash ends up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnwaPccP5-Q&feature=
