Virtual reality company Superscape VR Plc is targeting the personal computer games market with its VRT virtual reality engine. The company reckons that the system is lean enough and fast enough to produce Doom-type action games and says it already has a handful of un-named companies signed up to develop games using the system. Over the next three months the Hook, Hampshire- based firm will also decided whether to set up its own games division to write its own VRT-based titles. Founder and vice- president of operations Ian Andrew attributes the move to the fact that that consumer personal computers have now caught up with the requirements needed to run a hitherto professionals-only virtual reality system. Our initial systems in 1991 needed hardware costing around #25,000, but subsequently the standard personal computer with 8Mb of memory now fits in very well with our requirements. But can a general-purpose virtual reality package compete with an environment optimised specifically for games? Andrew claims that it can and will give comparable performance to something like ID Software Inc’s Doom engine. Moreover, he says that the company isn’t having to make changes to the product to adapt it for games use. VRT right from the outset was always designed to be all things for all men he says. Others however, point at problems the package has in supporting the number of textures which games players have bacome used to. Certainly, compared with titles like Doom, Darkforces, Hexen or Marathon, VRT-constructed worlds look rather blocky and schematic. First proof of the pudding will come at the year end when German personal computer manufacturer Escom AG is due to start shipping its machines with InCyberia, a VRT-built adventure game (CI No 2,819). Escom is paying $2m for the game, which is being developed by Superscape’s German distributor VR Technologies GmbH of Gross Umstadt. A move into computer games marks a return to the company’s roots: 12 years ago, it was founded as Incentive Software, a dedicated games house.
