GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Future Realities Summit: Creating a Martial Art in VR: The 'Broken Edge' Case
Guillaume Perreault Roy (Creative Director / Game Designer, TREBUCHET)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: VR/AR
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Going head-to-head armed with a sword in VR, what could go wrong? While being an attractive genre, most attempts of PvP melee combat in VR have been mitigated by the medium's limitations.
This lecture is a postmortem of Broken Edge, a sword fighting VR game with a niche but healthy player base. It will present a singular approach to VR issues such as the lack of physical feedback and the coherency to virtual and real space. It's a study case of identifying and using VR potentials to work around its limitations.
This talk will focus on biomechanics, skill-based mechanics and positive reinforcement. We will illustrate how those elements lead to the growth of a competitive community and the emergence of a vast array of techniques and we will reflect on a significant milestone: the realization that gameplay characteristics unique to Broken Edge are, in fact, common to all martial arts.
Takeaway
Examining the problem-solving design process approaching the issues of a PvP melee-combat game in Virtual Reality, attendees will have access to significant insights on a unique case with a particular focus on the core limitations of the medium of Virtual Reality and its potentials.
Intended Audience
Game Designers working on Virtual Reality titles - especially those interested in PvP combat, melee combat or core VR issues - will benefit from this talk. Other developers (or producers) interested in VR will get a unique perspective on the issues and approach angles specific to the medium.
