The game/sim is free on Steam - only lasts a few hours, but you don't have to participate in the adventure, you can just enjoy the sun and sea 🙂
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2318280/Memories_From_Beyond_a_Coral_Sea/
Some impressions:
Like Robinson Crusoe you're stranded on an island
Kayak VR Mirage wins for best water, but this water is free 🙂
Palm trees look great - and cast dynamic shadows on the ground
More dynamic shadows - and trees - I get 90 fps with maxed graphics settings and Index res 300%
You have to really lie down in the real world to sleep - so you need floor space for this game. The game will not progress at some points before you lie down in the real world
Check out the water reflections
Some textures:
Stone looks like stone...
Wood looks like wood - kinda high res for a game below 2GB in installed size
You can go swimming - have not been eaten by any sharks yet - haven't seen any sharks, but there are many fish in the water - and corals:
Found a whale skeleton:
Sea looks great at sunset:
You can do some reading too 🙂
It's a small adventure game, you have to find and combine items to solve problems. As written, this game/sim can be enjoyed just for relaxation - if you just want to be alone on a pacific island to enjoy the sun and the sea. And if you get bored on the beach, take a swim - or go exploring, there are adventures to be had.
For now there's only teleport, would be great with smooth turning and full locomotion.
I don't recall any other game/sim registering when you lie down in the real world to sleep - that does make this game/sim special.
Also thanks for the feedback in here - which convinced me to spread the word on Reddit - Index Reddit did like it too:
- but did even better on Reddit VR:
At least more now know about the game. Devs wrote that it took 7 years to make - done by 3 dudes in their sparetime.
Full locomotion will be added soon, and when that happens the game/experience will no longer be free.
Very touching to read this - a users named Joan just posted in my "Memories From Beyond a Coral Sea" thread on Reddit:
"I just finished playing and all I can say is thank you so much for the recomendation. What an inmersive and beautiful experience! One of the best I've ever experienced in VR actually! And the narrative was brilliant! The narrator reminded me alot to the one on Ron Gilbert's The Cave."
From: https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualreality/comments/132n40z/comment/jidhs4u/?context=3
That post reminds me why we need water to look like water, wood to look like wood, and to have shadows, sunlight, great-looking plants and plenty of wildlife - because then we can truly fool our brains to believe we're in an alternate reality. This is the core of VR - to create believable realities.
Memories From Beyond a Coral Sea succeeds where many VR experiences fail - namely to create a mesmerizing alternate/virtual reality.
Btw - I took a few more shots, but forgot to set graphics to the max, so this is medium graphics - not that it looks very different though:
I stand correctly - there are sharks in the water, but so far only saw this one - I'll find another place to dive, lol:
Also an advice, even if the mushrooms look yummy, go easy on them 😅
Spoiler
Note that I found a nice pirate-ish hat, I'm wearing it here - you can see it in the very top of the image.
The crabs can be big - I still need to solve getting rid of the giant crabs to complete this mini-adventure, they will kill you if you get close (you'll then just re-spawn nearby):
Even using medium graphics, you'll get nice dynamic shadows. - And textures are still great, look like real wood to me:
I stole an egg from a seagull's nest - and then the bird started to attack me - such details do make this world come alive.
I went back to the island, and did complete it all - even if there may still be things I didn't do (like fishing and killing the giant flesh eating crabs). Steam says I have 4 hours in the game, but I think I've got more. This is quite a lot of content for a free game/experience. It's one of the best VR experiences I've ever had - and a great example of what you can achieve by intelligent design, even if you have limited resources.
Here are examples of view distance in the game:
There are plenty of secret stuff - I found my fancy pants/coat:
Btw, this is medium graphics setting (you can choose between low, medium, high and max, but first when you've arrived on the island):
- and the is max graphics setting, note the dynamic shadows:
I didn't feel any change in performance - still solid 90 fps with Index res 300%.
Another example - medium graphics:
- and here is max graphics:
Maybe not easy to see, but max graphics also changes the sand and polygon levels. Not sure if I got more fish in the water too...
More screenshots taken with max graphics enabled:
I also found out some dudes were here before me:
Can you see the shark in the water? - It's quite big when you get close - and I got the crate open too, which was not easy, lol:
I ventured out on open sea and saw the most beautiful lifeforms in the water at night:
No doubt this could be an amazing adventure - and already took many years to make. I hope we get to see more chapters - chapters 1 - 3 are included in the free demo.
Btw - be careful what you eat - I did not try to eat this one - yet 🙂
For now you cannot save the game, it has to be completed in one sitting, and that can take 2-3 hours, so be sure you've got enough time when you enter the VR portal to these islands 🙂
