If you ended up in a terrible place such as Hell, how do you think you would be judged? What pain would you feel and would you have any memories to remember? If the pain and agony became so bad, do you think you would have the strength to survive? Pain and suffering can take a toll on the soul and too much pain and our minds will begin to wonder to help try and offset some of the pain. So when I heard that d the most terrifying version of Hell ever created was coming to VR, I had to learn more. So I reached out and the developer, Ignibit were happy to talk about their newest game, Agony VR, as well as talking about Virtual Reality.
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Interview with developer Ignibit
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Welcome to THE VR DIMENSION Would you please introduce yourself and what you do at Ignibit?
“Thank you for inviting us to this interview. Ignibit is a VR software development house. We work across the full range of the possible applications of this technology. Gaming is one of them, but we are also active in the education, industry, and military sectors.
As far as the cooperation with Madmind Studio is concerned, we have a contract to develop the VR version of Agony.”
Growing up, what were some of your greatest gaming memories, and what was that one VR moment that made you want to do more with VR?
“The company has been focused on VR tech from its inception, so there was no specific turning point. Instead, it was the vision of its founders.”
Ignibit has worked on projects that are from casual to Horror genres with titles such as Dream Coaster VR, Drone Hunter VR, and Zero Killed. Your newest title that you are working on is receiving the VR treatment with Agony VR. What can you tell us about the game?
“Agony in VR allows you to experience the most terrifying vision of Hell ever created. Our goal was to intensify the already dark atmosphere of Hell, which, thanks to virtual reality, becomes even more brutal and terrifying.
Enriched mechanics such as torches, tattoos, and breath-holding are elements that give the game a chance to become a hit in the survival horror in the VR category.”
What can you tell us about the trapped soul’s past without giving away too much?
“The plot doesn’t really change. The story still follows a lost soul trapped in Hell without memory of his life. We find out that he was the king of an ancient land who made a deal with the Red Goddess. Wandering through Hell, we discover the possibility of escaping with her help. The game leads to her lair, where we have to find out how to free ourselves.”
There is this build-up to the Red Goddess. What can you tell us about her, and what should the player do to prepare for her?
“Red Goddess is still the key for the player’s soul to escape from Hell. First, he will have to find its lair and discover how to way out.”
Are there different ways of attacking in the game?
“There are many ways of attacking. We left the ability to attack by torch throwing, which is really attractive for the VR version. In general, however, it is worth emphasizing here that the essence of the game is not physical combat or attacking but rather survival and escape.”
Were there any scenes you felt would be too brutal for the game?
“It all depends on the player’s sensitivity, but in our opinion, scenes of bricking the wall with fetuses or throwing little demon children seem the most brutal.”
VR and Horror have a special type of relationship. What made Agony such an appeal to experience in VR?
“Agony is not just a pure horror game. Instead, it exposes the player to riddles and several cool features which make the VR experience even more exciting.”
When it comes to VR and horror, sound can play a very vital part in the immersion. Did you find any challenges when coming up with the different sounds for the game and how do you go about the sound process of making sure everything is authentic as possible?
“We are porting the existing PC game to VR. We base the sounds and graphics assets on the PC version.”
Was there anything visually that you wanted to add for the VR edition of the game?
“We had to change some visual elements to adapt them to VR. For example, we placed the indicators on the hands or changed some interactions compared to the PC version.”
What do you feel are the top three most important things when it comes to developing for VR?
“These would focus on the game development: creating a reflection of reality in the immersive environment, handling in-game interactions, and hardware performance optimization.”
Will Agony Unrated also be part of Agony VR?
“Since Agony Unrated met with positive comments and its unique dark atmosphere, we decided to port to VR, mainly the Unrated version.
Agony VR is coming to Steam VR. Do you see the game coming to other platforms such as Oculus, PlayStation VR/2, and/or Viveport in the future?
“Yes, this is the plan.”
What’s next for you and Ignibit?
“At this stage, we have the contract for Agony VR and this is what we are focusing on. We will be happy to continue the cooperation in the future.”
With the scares for VR continuing to grow, what would you say to someone why they should experience Agony VR?
“This is related to one of the previous questions and we would like to emphasize that Agony is not just a typical horror title. Thanks to several specific features and interactions, the immersion effect is much more profound, which the player can feel from the very start.”
I really want to thank Ignibit for taking the time to give us a closer look into Agony VR as well as talking about Virtual Reality.
Agony VR is coming to Steam VR in 2022.
To learn more about Ignibit, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy.
