Temple of Merk

Temple of Merk is a VR melee combat game that I wrote in the summer of 2014. Sadly I am not aware of any builds of the game existing. Originally the game was distributed through the "Oculus Share" website which no longer exists.

The game was developed for the Oculus Rift DK1 and Razer Hydra. I ended up releasing it for the DK2. It epitomizes many of the issues VR games at the time. Getting the game started was tedious because you had to calibrate the controllers every time, and the game could be exploited by "wigglemashing" (rapidly wiggling the controller while attacking enemies) since the weapons would tunnel into geometry including enemies.

At the time that I built this game I had been using Unity for a few years, but had never shipped anything built with that engine. So this was the first Unity game that I released.

 Temple of Merk did get a bit of attention since there were hardly any VR games at the time, but I never developed it any further. I regret that I abandoned the project. It was incredibly fun to build and there was not much else out there at the time. The primary issue was that there were no standard hand controllers at the time. I used the Razer Hydra which had already been discontinued but was owned by many VR enthusiasts at the time. I added support for Xbox 360 controllers so more people could play it.

In 2014 Temple of Merk was nominated for a "Proto Award" in the category "Best Interaction Design." 

I've created this itch.io page for the game as a record of its existence in my portfolio. I probably have the project files somewhere but I do not have plans to bring this one back.

Here is the content from the original website for the time:

Temple of Merk is a melee combat game for the Oculus Rift DK2. The game features dual wielding and several types of weapons. Other features include:

• Full Body Awareness - You can see your body, and your character responds to your head movement. For example, if you lean to the right then your character's avatar will lean to the right. If you bend your knees then your character will bend their knees.
• If you have a Razer Hydra, then you can attack by physically moving your arms.
• The Oculus Rift DK2 and Razer Hydra are recommended to play the game but not required. The game adjusts to whatever hardware you have automatically. For example, if you do not have a Hydra then you can use keyboard/mouse or XBox 360 controller if you do not have a Hydra.

I have been working on Temple of Merk since the beginning of June 2014. I have made the prototype available for download.

You can download the Windows prototype of the game on Oculus Share. I will upload a Mac build soon. See the readme.txt file for non-Hydra controls.

Here is a great review of the game:

Here is a review of the game that Cymatic Bruce did on his livestream (goes for about 10 minutes from the timestamp).

And here is a German "Lets Play" review of the game that got over 100,000 views:

If you are using the Hydra, be VERY aware of your surroundings. I've been showing this game for a few weeks in San Francisco and in the South Bay and I have seen a few bystanders get clobbered by excited players. Make sure you don't hit your desk or the Hydra base either. The easiest way to attack without getting too violent is to just use your wrists. I had this cartoon made as a disclaimer:

By default VR comfort mode is enabled. Press C to toggle it.

The game can be played sitting or standing up. You turn using the joystick on the right Hydra, and move forward/backward or sidestep using the joystick on the left hydra. The game assumes you are always facing forward so try not to turn with your body even though it can be tempting (if you find yourself turning your body in the game then you should play sitting).

The game favors discrete hits over wild swinging. When you connect with an enemy they will turn red momentarily and get knocked back. They are knocked back to compensate for the lack of haptic feedback since I didn't want people to be swinging furiously with both hands which some seem to have an inclination to do.

The controls are somewhat complicated, but if you've played enough Hydra demos then they should come to you easily. The controls are on the wall to your right when you start the training level.

Note that I have not tested this on the DK1. I let one of my friends borrow my DK1 since I have a DK2 now. I am interested in hearing if anyone is able to get it working on the DK1.

Other important info:

• There is a shield in the game which you can use to block attacks. You can strike your enemies with it but it does very little damage.
• There is a torch in the game which also does very little damage.
• You can parry attacks by swinging your weapon a short distance into an enemy's weapon when they attack. Note that this is challenging against most of the enemies because they mostly attack low. It is easy to parry attacks from larger enemies.
• Stabbing attacks are supported with the halberd (the long weapon).
• When you first launch the application you will see a Hydra Calibration screen which will give you instructions on how to calibrate the Hydra.
• Button 3 on the left Hydra resets the rift tracker. If your head appears to be off your shoulders or your view is off center then look recenter yourself and press this button.
• There is a GUI interface with a mouse cursor if you press the start button on the hydra. Use the right Hydra to move the mouse cursor.
• The character's fingers got messed up last week at some point when I was making changes to the model. So for some of the weapons the hand position does not look right. It's on my list of things to fix.

To jump to a level press any key 1-3 on your keyboard (and close your eyes for a second so you don't get motion sickness when the screen freezes while the level loads):

• 1) Island level (If you climb the stairs and jump over the walls to the outside of the level, you'll go for a dragon ride)
• 2) Cathedral. This level is tough.
• 3) "Cave." I guess you could say this scene is experimental. It has some mushroom enemies that spit projectiles at you. They'll kill you really quick so watch out for their projectiles. You can deflect the projectiles by touching them with your weapon.