Tron, a franchise whose style influenced the look and feel of many early VR depictions, is also the birthplace of the famous Light Cycle. Now an Oculus Rift developer has created a demo to put users on the awesome futuristic bikes.
In the world of Tron, the Light Cycle is part of a game where players use the bikes to leave trails of light behind them. If an opponent crashes into the trail, they’re defeated, kind of like a multiplayer version of Snake, the classic arcade game (which became a classic mobile phone game).
Tron: Legacy (2010) might not have been the sequel fans were hoping for, but it did do an excellent job of updating the computerized/futuristic look that defined the original film, including making the Light Cycle more badass than ever (the 1982 version is also still pretty awesome):
And now owners of the Oculus Rift DK2 can hop on a virtual Light Cycle of their own, thanks to the work of VR developer James Clement, who goes by the alias DarthDisembowel. Clement posted his Tron Light Cycles demo to the Oculus Rift Developer Forums and explains:
Based on the TRON: Legacy film, this game pays tribute to the light cycle arena sequence. There are two levels with connecting ramps. One AI opponent at a time will continuously respawn on death.
The Tron Light Cycles demo is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, though Clement notes that the latter two are untested.
The demo currently only supports a gamepad (“so far,” says Clement), with the developer listing a few things that he intends to add including a scoreboard, multiplayer functionality, multiple AI, a disc jousting/slashing function, and maybe even a “Classic” mode, that uses the bikes from the original film, including the instant 90 degree turns! I can’t decide if that would be tolerable or lead to instant sim sickness—sometimes you never know until you try!
Clement is also the developer behind the Millennium Falcon Experience and Star Wars: The Battle Of Endor, both with support for the Oculus Rift.
Back in April, Luis “The Arcade Man” Sobral created a similar RiftCycles experience which included an actual Light Cycle prop for players to ride! Unfortunately the demo was never made public as it requires the bike to play.