Interview the Dev's: A Legend of Luca, a room-scale rogue-Like VR

Virtual Reality is quickly becoming a mainstay in our future, something that's inevitable that we can't ignore. This isn't the 3DTV revolution that tried so unsuccessfully hard to make the screen pop-out and touch us. This is an immersive experience that can actually be done, with the right hardware and the right games that actually make use of the novel ways in which we can now interact with the environment.

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The HTC Vive seems to have the leg-up in interactivity at the moment with the ability to define a specific space to play in. Legend Studio is taking that and making a true room-scale first-person game inspired by some of the innate exploration and the hallmark rogue-like aspects of The Legend of Zelda. A Legend of Luca is what the new era of VR is made for.

Seriously. It uses the HTC Vive to its fullest, being almost the perfect example of how to integrate room-scale gaming into your life. Haven't you ever wanted to be somebody else? And not just vicariously through a 1-dimensional screen in front of you, but instead nearly being able to feel what it's like to be Link (or Luca in this guise) and actually take a romp through dangerous dungeons? That's what A Legend of Luca is aiming to do, and it's one of the first of its kind by an indie developer. And we had a chance to sit down and speak with them about their hopes, dreams and where they wish to take this grand idea of theirs in the future.

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The dungeons are great, full of life already, but what do you want to add that makes it a must have for VR?

A few big cosmetic items that I'd love to do but not sure I'm going to get to are rag-doll bodies and a big decal system. Every explosion or blood splatter should leave a mark on the walls and floor. Ideally your sword would get all bloodied as well.

I'm very happy with the debris system and hopefully with the performance improvements coming down the line I'll be able to up those.

I'm designing the game for max replayability. It should be just as fun on it's hundredth run. That's what will make this a must have. Many of the demos and games are not going to hold up for much play time.

What's going to be different about this?

It's the first room-scale rogue-like. Bananas.

Have you thought about trying to incorporate outdoor areas? Even though movement might be weird?

Absolutely. Would love to do an overworld. I'm hoping to follow up with a second Luca game using the same game engine, assets, code, everything but be a pre-designed adventure instead of a randomly generated rogue-like. I'm open to partners to work on the project, but won't be for much longer so contact me if your a great unity dev and would like to work on a possible hit.

How many weapons will be available to wield when it's done?

Seven weapons are fully implemented. Each with their own story and special abilities. Hopefully will add a ton more in the future.

Would you ever want to see actual replica weapons as controllers that work with the Vive?

Not going for serious realism. This is a game and I'll choose fun over real every chance I can, otherwise it'd turn into Desert Bus.

Are there any plans to make this playable with other headsets in the future? And how would you tackle the lack of room-scale movement on the others?

Might try using joystick movement for puny lesser peasant systems, but it's looking like the VR market is shaping up in a way that won't make that necessary. PC Master Race FTW!

What does the future hold for he project? Where do you ultimately want this to go?

To the top! I want this to be the #1 most played VR game.

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