Posted Feb 28th, 2015
When I first released Titans of Space in the middle of 2013 (wow… time flies), one of the top requests I started getting ever since was for a voiceover / narration of some kind. At first I figured this would be no problem, but it’s a pretty big job to get the script written, and then record the voiceover for all of it. Not only that, but setting the right tone and covering fresh topics is a challenge.
Eventually, I connected with Michael McArdle, who is a regular member of the VR community and always has incredibly insightful things to say about everything VR. He works within the education sector and is passionate about getting VR into schools and education in general. It was great to meet him at Oculus Connect #1. Months of work followed, Michael with his scriptwriting and voiceover recordings, and then integrating it into the existing experience in a way that flows naturally and adds to the core experience rather than clashing with it. We also worked on getting subtitles together for the whole thing (English only for now).
So, I’m very proud to announce that the Narration Add-on has finally arrived, although for now it’s only available on one platform, Google Cardboard. As soon as the Gear VR pay store opens up, this add-on will make its way over there, and I will be working on a way to bring it to the full desktop experience in the meantime. To that end, I have launched a Steam Greenlight campaign in order to easily enable multiple add-ons, sequels, and so on on a platform that will be hopefully painless for players to use. Also, who knows what GDC will bring re: Valve’s headset. If that turns out to be significant competition for the Oculus Rift, then I will of course bring Titans of Space and other experiences to that platform when possible.
Thank you Michael! To anyone that happens to try the new Narration add-on, please let him know what you think on Twitter (@MikeMan444).