At PreviewLabs, we’ve always been very excited about augmented reality, witness thereof our collection of blog posts about the topic, as well as our first one in 2011 where we talk about the possibilities of the medium.
No wonder that when we got our hands on a Microsoft HoloLens in 2016, we were very excited about the new opportunities it opened for multiplayer gameplay in augmented reality. So when our parent company, the Cronos Group, asked us if we’d develop something for them to show what we’re capable of, we didn’t have to think twice.
This week, the resulting prototype called Buggy Blasters, has been made available for everyone to play. While we have created several HoloLens prototypes by now, Buggy Blasters is the one for which we stepped up our game, making it the first multiplayer HoloLens game available to date on the Microsoft Store.
Buggy Blasters – The Making of a Multiplayer HoloLens Game Prototype
In Buggy Blasters, each player is in control of their own set of buggies, while the goal of the game is to damage the other team’s base by capturing their flag and bringing it to your base, while protecting yours. At the same time, you can attack opponents’ buggies. Players can battle each other in real time and control the buggies with ‘air tap’ controls or a wireless Xbox One S controller. In addition, there is a single player mode which gives you a classic radio controlled toy car experience, in which the spatial awareness of the HoloLens is used to allow your buggy to drive off your couch or to disappear around the corner.
For more videos and details on the multiplayer development process of the prototype, please refer to the following post covering Buggy Blasters on the blog of Photon, the multiplayer library we used for the prototype.
For download information and the manual, please refer to previewlabs.com/buggyblasters.