Compound is coming to Quest 2 as Dev teases new platforms

“A lot of the inspiration comes from the bright pixel art of the early 90s games I played on my old 286: Day of The Tentacle, Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D. There’s also a very strong influence from the Build Engine trinity of Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow Warrior”, McKechnie replied by e-mail. “As for the gameplay, many of the mechanics were directly inspired by the top-down 2D action roguelite, Nuclear Throne. The excellent hot dogs, horseshoes and hand grenades inspired me with their reloading and their very physical and satisfying weapon handling and I was interested in adapting that to a faster pace. There’s even a few nods to some of my favorite 80s movies and cartoons.”

For those unfamiliar, Compound is described as “a random, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for VR veterans. Dodge and dodge around enemy fire in a tough retro FPS with multiple locomotion options. Prepare to die – a lot – until you are good enough to reach the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone…”

McKechnie wrote that “As soon as I got my hands on the first widely available consumer headset in 2016, I started working on making prototypes. After a few false starts, the foundation of what would become COMPOUND grew organically as I experimented with combining gameplay elements that I personally found fun. I don’t really like designing too early as I think it can stifle the natural discovery process of the “fun factor” while putting things together, but I was constantly experimenting with what felt right, what needed to be developed, what should be deleted, etc. However, having satisfying weapons and enemies has always been a given.

Porting from PC VR to Quest

We’ll be curious to see how Compound resonates with Quest buyers and if the developer is able to reach a much wider audience than found in PC VR.

“I really don’t know what to expect. I am aware that my game is niche and may not appeal to certain types of players, but I really hope that anyone who enjoys the same types of games as me is familiar with COMPOUND,” McKechnie wrote. “The PC version enjoyed a long Early Access period during which there was a lot of community interaction. I think that did a lot to spark a long-term minor cult. I also think PC gamers are a bit more open to indie and retro style games. Again, the Quest version has the potential to reach many more gamers due to the sheer numbers and popularity of mobile VR, and COMPOUND will arrive as a fully-featured game with the benefit of 6 years of polish in the public eye. , which is not common. Your guess is as good as mine! While I’m not trying to make predictions that would probably age very badly anyway, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting resounding success.

Updates and new platforms for Compound

As for the sequel, McKechnie didn’t say what other platforms Compound might come to but teased “I’m sure most people reading this may find a few obvious assumptions.

“After that, I will consider backporting all the improvements made during the transitions to other platforms, such as optimizations, accessibility options, and possibly localizations. I’m sure I’ll add a few new features in along the way, but until the time comes, I can’t quite say what exactly it could be.” McKechnie wrote.

More “retro-style VR shooting action” is likely to McKechnie once Compound is done, and “I’ve already created the next generation pixel renderer that takes the style of COMPOUND and takes it to the next level with a host of visual and performance improvements. It looks great and I can’t wait to show it off. I also want to try creating a handcrafted single-player campaign with moments of slower exploration balanced with lots of intense and violent combat. We’ll have to see where that leads, but I’ll definitely show some prototypes soon and often because I think real feedback is essential.