Blackspace is a rather awesome looking upcoming hybrid-RTS (real time strategy) game which plans to incorporate the Oculus Rift head mounted display. The game, which is notable for being one of the first non-FPS (first person shooter) titles pledging Rift support, is currently raising funds for production through Kickstarter.
Pixel Foundry, a small independent developer, hopes to bring Blackspace to life with support from the Kickstarter community. The company says that they’ve backed the Oculus Rift Kickstarter themselves and plan to incorporate the forthcoming head mounted display in their game as well as support for stereoscopic 3D.
The Oculus Rift is a high field-of-view head mounted display with head tracking which raised $2.4 million during a Kickstarter campaign in August. The first developer kits will be sent out in December while an improved consumer model is expected in 2013. Oculus hopes that the 7,000-some Rift dev kits going out in December will spur plenty of game support for the release of the consumer model. I’m keeping a list of Oculus Rift compatible games here.
Blackspace has players piloting a versatile craft on unique asteroids which can be mined for useful materials. The player will use these minerals to build up their base and defenses to withstand attach from invaders. So far the company has put together most of the major game systems but need more funding to move into the production phase. Lots of game play footage can be seen here in their Kickstarter video.
Blackspace Kickstarter Announces Oculus Rift Support:
I’ve got to say, this game looks pretty awesome. I call it a ‘hybrid-RTS’ because unlike typical RTS games, you don’t simply rule and command from an omnipresent position in the sky. Instead you control one unit, the Lander, from which you perform all functions.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for space games, but I think they’ve nailed the game’s atmosphere. The stark shadows cast against the pale asteroid surface really does a great job of emulating photos I’ve seen of the moon and other barren celestial bodies. I’m definitely excited to give this game a whirl on the Oculus Rift.