We've just released a late-Summer update for your asteroid blasting fun.

In addition to a few small performance tweaks, you'll notice the following changes to Asteroid Blaster VR:

- The Start button is now set to launch your game in "Arcade Mode" by default. Arcade Mode provides you with an infinite-length level with progressive difficulty.

You can toggle your default back to "Wave Mode" in your game options if you would prefer to start things off on the first game wave, or you can just launch the wave of interest to you from your "Start on Wave" screen.

- You'll see bonus power-ups waiting to be collected at the start of Arcade Mode and Wave 1. Those power-ups will let you get a quick bonus to your weapon strength, maximum shield and health if collected.

- Power-ups now stick around a little longer on game start, though they'll disappear quicker later on in your game (unless the 'bonus time' power-up is collected).

- Weapon power-ups now appear more frequently. You'll find they're still pretty rare (except for the first two game waves -- you'll see a ton of them there), but weapon power-ups are not quite as scarce as before.

We hope you enjoy the changes!


Have a suggestion you would like to see in-game? We would love to hear about it on the forums!

Reviews are also greatly appreciated. Please do take a moment to post a Steam review to let other players know how much you've enjoyed playing Asteroid Blaster VR.

Do you prefer to hold your Vive controller wands in the 'phaser' style used in your Steam menus?

Or would rather grip your controllers upright, like the guns in popular shooting games like 'Onward'?

Either way, Asteroid Blaster VR has you covered.

You can now set your controller grip preference right from your main menu. Just toggle to the Vive controller grip you prefer and start blasting!



Have a suggestion you would like to see in-game? We would love to hear about it on the forums!

Reviews are also greatly appreciated. Please do take a moment to post a Steam review to let other players know how much you've enjoyed playing Asteroid Blaster VR.

Hot on the heels of the latest Asteroid Blaster VR release, an option has been added to allow a player to toggle their radar display on and off as needed.

On later levels, when facing hundreds of asteroids and numerous UFOs, the radar becomes a little busy with traffic and you may find it helpful to hide that information while blasting your way through those clouds of rocks. Clicking your right-hand Vive controller disc will handle that for you, with the left disc remaining available for your emergency hyperspace needs.

Some players have also reported an occasional issue with gun position being set incorrectly over their Vive controllers (guns pointing downward, upside-down or other strangeness). That has been a super-difficult bug to track down (it's one for the coveted "works on my machine"[blog.codinghorror.com] seal of approval), but a fix has been put in place which should permanently resolve that hiccup.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who reported that gun mis-alignment issue to us. We cannot fix bugs we're not made aware of, and the few moments spent letting us know about difficulties you encounter is greatly appreciated!

Have a suggestion? Found a bug? We'd love to hear from you! Please do take a moment to post your thoughts on the Asteroid Blaster VR forum.

The late-Winter update for Asteroid Blaster VR brings huge improvements to your Vive space-blasting fun:

Zippy Shots

So, it turns out the retro video game feel of slower laser shots with limited range isn't terribly fun outside of 1970s arcade games. Who'da thought?

The speed of weapon shots has been increased considerably, with your blasts now swiftly zipping to their targets. UFO shots maintain their constant speed (they're hard enough to dodge already), but your own weapons are near-instant trigger hits. Blast away!


Close-Range Radar

An in-game radar scope now floats before you in a head's-up display, identifying the location of all asteroids, UFOs and UFO shots within 250 meters of your location in space.

The center of those nearby objects is depicted with a sphere on your scope, with their height and direction shown relative to you. Any asteroids more than 250 meters away will not be appear in your radar scope, but distant UFOs will be indicated with smaller scope blips at the edge of your radar sphere.


Spiffier Effects

In-game shots, shields and other effects have been considerably improved, adding the eye-candy which was missing from earlier Asteroid Blaster VR versions. Get ready to duck when you hear the sizzle of incoming UFO plasma bolts!


Arcade Mode

A new 'Arcade Mode' is now available which starts the player in a slow-paced game environment which grows progressively more difficult as time passes.

Controller help overlays and hint text provide guidance at the start, with asteroids slowly increasing in pace as UFOs, power-ups and player shield/health power-downs make their way into the game.

Arcade Mode can be started either through the selection option in your 'Start On Wave' screen, or you can use your options to set your main menu 'Start' button to open Arcade Mode direct. If you want to let your friends jump right in to virtual reality and start blasting without going through a tutorial first, Arcade Mode is for you!


Less Deadly Asteroids and UFOs

Getting hit by an asteroid still isn't fun, but being smacked with two in a row will no longer kill you on the earlier levels.

Asteroids also start out at a slower pace on earlier waves (and at the start of Arcade Mode), growing faster until they reach their maximum speed on later waves.

UFOs became considerably more deadly on the last version and that has now been corrected. They'll still shoot you, and they're still dangerous, but you'll be less likely to face 'game over' due to an unexpected UFO shot from behind.


More Helpful Help

It turns out that a distressing number of players were not aware that the Vive controller grip buttons would allow them to thrust about the playspace. That resulted in a ton of frustration as players remained stock-still, rather than moving out of harm's way, while asteroids converged on them from all directions.

To help avoid those issues, a guide overlay has been added to the player weapons pointing to the location of the forward/back thrust buttons, weapon fire trigger and hyperspace disc-click buttons. That overlay text remains in place for the first three game waves and in the first few minutes of Arcade Mode.

Game hint text also appears in the player's head's up display during the first game wave, reminding about the available control options and providing a few gameplay suggestions.



More is coming in the future, and we'd love to hear your suggestions. If you have an idea for an in-game bonus or addition you would like to see in Asteroid Blaster VR, just post it up on the forums!

The year-end update for Asteroid Blaster VR is all about 'more'. Here's what you'll find inside:

More Loot

The larger the asteroid, the greater the number of upgrades, score bonuses and power-ups which are released. How many can you catch before they disappear?

More Challenge

Higher waves will now start you off with lower maximum levels for shield and health, but don't worry: Those can be increased to full with new power-ups for shield and health strength!

More Bonuses

Environment power-ups now provide temporary adjustments to each wave to freeze all asteroids, explode all rocks, or increase the lifetime of all power-ups. But be careful how you use them: Once an environment power-up has been activated on a wave, it will not appear until the next!

More Help

Bomb power-ups now appear near wave end on later levels to allow an instant clear-out of the final few rocks.

More 'splodey 'splosions

The impact of player shots and destruction of asteroids are now much more explode-y.


We'll be adding even more power-ups and bonuses in the near future. If you have an idea for an in-game bonus or addition you would like to see in Asteroid Blaster VR, just post it up on the forums!

Our December update delivers a huge improvement to Asteroid Blaster VR, adding in more game mechanics and Fun(tm).

Running over the biggest additions:

• Every time you destroy an asteroid, a collectable item will now be released to provide a score bonus, a health / shield restoration, or weapon / thrust energy recharge. More collectables are coming soon!
  
  
• Weapon upgrades can now be unlocked through power-ups found in each game level, with your guns changing in appearance as your shots and their firing distance improve.
  
  
• Thrust and weapon energy now decrease at a more reasonable rate, providing more distance and thrusting turns for your flying and blasting fun.
  
  Running low on that energy? You can now catch a helpful power-up to restore your guns and rocket pack to full charge!
  
  
• UFOs now arrive considerably more often, with later levels presenting many UFOs teleporting in at once to attack asteroids and waste your power-up bonuses as they hammer away at your shield and health.
  
  
• Earlier waves now provide a smoother introduction to gameplay, with asteroids fragmenting into fewer pieces for the first few waves (UFOs won't be met until Wave 2).

We'll be adding more power-ups and other surprises in the near future and would love to hear what you think. If you have an idea for an in-game bonus or addition you would like to see added to Asteroid Blaster VR, please post it up on the forums!

Asteroid Blaster VR has just been updated, with battlilng flying saucers and Steam Achievements adding new challenges to Vive Virtual Reality space.

We hope you all enjoy these new additions and welcome any feedback and gameplay suggestions you might have!