UPDATE: The full game has been launched in BETA. You can download and play it at http://bouncervr.com

BouncerVR is a virtual reality arcade game for PC, Mac, Linux* and Oculus Rift. The game is a tribute to games of the past. Simple to play, yet engaging and challenging. In the game, you control a shield with only your vision. With this shield you bounce a ball towards the enemy. You score a point when the enemy is unable to bounce back the ball.

You can collect various power-ups to help you reach your goal. Some power-ups speed up or resize the ball, while others change the gameplay dramatically. Play through various levels and unlock new types of power-ups in the process.

While this game is made from the ground up for the Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses, it can also be played without them by using your mouse. Playing the game in VR gives you the advantage of depth perception thus you can see the ball and power-ups coming towards you and guess their distance and speed. 

I am one of those people who becomes motion sick very quickly while using the Rift. With this project I succeeded in creating a game that doesn't have this effect on me. I think this is mainly because you don't move around in the virtual world.

The game uses only your head movement as input controls. No need to fumble around with gamepads or mouse and keyboard. Just put on the rift and play.

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Because I really believe this game is something a lot of people will enjoy, I have put my own time and money into the development of a playable alpha created with Unity3D. This crowd funding project is as much a test to see if people are interested as it is a way to collect money to turn this alpha into a fun game.

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Downloads disabled*

If we reach our crowd funding goal I will finish the base version of the game by november 2013. If we don't reach our goal we will still build the base game, but it will take longer. Take a look at our risks section for more information.

The base game will have the following features:

- Native Oculus Rift support.

- Playable without Oculus Rift.

- 10 different power-ups.

- 20 different levels.

- Better sound effects and background music.

- Freestyle game mode: Play a random level with a random set of power-ups.

- Improved enemy AI.

- Account server to manage your profile and stats.

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I would love to create a mobile version of the game. Imagine your phone or tablet as a window into the virtual world. When you move your device you can look around in this world. By facing your device towards the enemy goal, you will be able to position your shield and bounce back the ball.

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Everyone loves achievements. In this goal I will create a system where various stats are logged about the way you play the game. Some actions will unlock badges, others secret power-up types. With these stats you will compete in high score ladders with other players.

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While this stretch goal will be the most time consuming to create, this is my personal favorite. A realtime multiplayer feature brings the game to a whole new level. Play against actual humans beings, invent new ways to use the power-ups to your advantage, challenge friends and unlock unique multiplayer power-ups.

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Many people I showed my game alpha to asked me if they would be able to share their result, stats and progress on facebook. They want to play together with their facebook friends and get all the social aspects most popular games have today. If we reach this stretch goal I will make this happen. Also check out the idea box to post suggestions and remarks.

Some people gave me the remark that the 'social integration' stretch goal was rubbish. Because of that I have decided to open up this stretch goal so the community can redefine it.

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In total, creating the alpha has cost me $5,512.00. This number includes the time I took off from my day job to build, test and polish the software. I also bought some third party code and graphics to make the final result more appealing. 

If we reach this stretch goal, it means a lot of people really believe in our project. I think it would be fair if I was able to recovered my initial investment in this game so I can go on to build, extend and update this and future projects.

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My name is Tom Vergult. Due to my passion for software I started programming at a very early age. Aside from my main activity, building high performance Drupal websites as a senior consultant, my big ambition is to become a successful gaming consultant who is able to bring a more meaningful experience to gaming in general.

In 2002 I bought a small online gaming engine called 'First Star Online'. In the years to follow I have rewritten this software and built one of the first free community centered MMORPG's with the engine. Today, 11 years later, TerraWorld is outdated but still online for everyone who wants to play.

I have also been involved in a number of other projects on various platforms such as normal desktop, facebook and mobile android/iPhone/iPad.

Most recently I have built a storytelling game platform for our national broadcasting company "VRT".

You can check out my LinkedIn profile for more information about myself and my curriculum.

ps: Just like my Avatar I'm ginger in real life too ;)

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Because I have a lot of experience in game development the risks of this project are very limited.

If I reach my campaign goal I will be able to take some time off my day job to work on the game and I will have no problem to deliver the base game on time.

If I don't reach my campaign goal however, I will still create the base game for all the people who pledged, but it might take a little longer. I think everyone will agree this is reasonable enough.

As for the stretch goals, it is hard to put an exact date on them. I will however make sure the game receives updates frequently. This means I will release the stretch goals over the months following the release of the base game.

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The stretch goals I have currently added to the project are thought up and defined by me. I strongly believe that YOU as a player would be much better in defining stretch goals.

Because of this I have set up an 'Idea Box' in which all of you can post your suggestions, features and remarks. You can also vote other ideas up or down depending on how well you like them.

The ideas in this idea box will have an impact on the road map and feature list of the game. If an idea is possible to add to the game and you, as a crowd, think it would be better than an existing goal I will change my plans. Ultimately it will be all of you that define the future of the game.

Everyone who brings forth an idea that I eventually use, will be mentioned in the credits of the game.

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* Not all ideas will be accepted. Ideas need to be both viable and achievable in the predefined development time-frame.

** We reserve the right to deny names and nicknames if we consider them to be inappropriate.

*** Oculus Rift model and graphics by William Burke. Thanks many times!