VR Flush (2015 / 2018)
This one started as a university project, right?
Yes. But as with all projects at h_da animation & game, we primarily worked towards the final presentation at the end of our semester.
So even though the game was playable at the time, it wasn't finished. Much less ready for release. Still, we showcased the project at a couple of events and got some very encouraging feedback...
VR Flush
You are sitting on a toilet when you are abducted and beamed up to an alien spaceship, where you have to convince an A.I. that you really are an intelligent life form.
While this tagline might sound a little crazy to some, it's a perfect fit because VR Flush is a comedic and cinematic sitting experience designed for players who are new to VR.
After receiving my bachelor's in 2018, I finished and released the game on steam. If you like, you can play it right now!
Trailer
Screenshots
Story
VR Flush is a short and humorous VR experience designed to introduce new players to the world of Virtual Reality.
You find yourself in the everyday situation of sitting on a toilet.
While trying to locate an essential item in this situation - toilet paper - you are suddenly teleported to a spaceship in low earth orbit. There you have to prove to an alien A.I. that you really are an intelligent life form.
The game focuses on telling an entertaining story featuring a flying robot who hates his job and an evil A.I. looking for an excuse to terminate her test subjects.
It's time to fight for your right to potty... and save humanity, of course.
Gameplay
You interact with your environment through physics gameplay, using the virtual representations of your hands.
Items can be picked up directly by touching and grabbing them or transported to your hands from several meters away (by pointing at objects).
There are many items to interact with. While some of them are in the game mainly to increase immersion and entertain you, others are necessary to progress in the game's story.
The experience features several Easter eggs like the "Loot Toilet[TM]" (an animated and interactive drawing on the toilet wall), which is rumored to contain the truth about all loot boxes.
VR Flush is designed for Virtual Reality and has a desktop mode for players who don't own a VR headset.
Project History
We made the game in our 5th semester at the University Of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt in 2015.
For us, this meant going from concept to finished project in just a few months. Because of this, the game wasn't ready for release back then. It was also designed for the only HMD available to us at the time, the Oculus Rift DK2, which had no motion controllers. So players had to interact with their environment using their heads and a keyboard (object interaction worked via cross hair).
Nevertheless, VR Flush was shown at several German exhibitions, for instance, in Frankfurt Am Main, and the feedback we got back then was very positive.
After I received my bachelor's in 2017, I decided to finish and release it on my own. I added support for modern HMDs, localized the game for an English audience, implemented full motion controller support (virtual hands), added new features, and released VR Flush on Steam on Jun 20th, 2018.
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The game is available for free, and a small DLC called "Magic Toilet Brush" has been released as well.
I have also published an official press release on Gamasutra.com.
​You will also find quite a few references to the Half-Life and Portal games that we love and grew up with if you play the game.
Community Reception
At the time of this writing (Nov 05. 2021), VR Flush has received 628 reviews on Steam, 94% positive. Over 47.000 Steam users have installed and played the game. Over 78.000 Steam users have added VR Flush to their library.
At this time, there are more than 50 community videos about VR Flush on YouTube; one has over 500.000 views. See videos below for play-through videos in English, Russian, German, and Spanish.
English Gameplay
German Gameplay
Russian Gameplay
Spanish Gameplay
Year:
2015 / 2018
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My Roles:
Game Design, Story, Programming, Effects, Recording, Localization, PR, Community Management, Game Release
Build:
Release
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Team:
Lenz Monath, Tobias Fischer,
Jan Philipp Eckert, Philipp Grote
Platforms: ​
Windows, Rift, Vive, Index, WMR uvm.
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Sound Design:
Patrick Keßler, Nicolas Künzer,
​Dominik Zingler
Languages:
English, German
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Voice Actors:
Oliver Preusche , Anna Zhu
Florian Tappeser, Tom Hennessy,
Sevanah Salamanca, Mister Emnudge