Arizona Sunshine Celebrates Oculus Quest Anniversary with New Content and a Giveaway + A Look at How They Optimized for Quest 2
It’s been one year since the launch of Arizona Sunshine on Oculus Quest, and Vertigo Games is celebrating this major milestone by adding a brand new horde mode map to the untethered VR zombie apocalypse on December 15, 2020.
Set in a classic Arizona Sunshine location, the all-new Trailer Park horde mode map will transport up to four players to a closed-off area set in a grungy lot. You and your fellow survivors can watch each others’ backs as you scavenge the rundown trailers for precious loot and explore the alleyways and narrow side streets in a map with many places to hide—or get ambushed. Stand your ground against wave after wave of undead Freddies for as long as you can.
We spoke with Arizona Sunshine Programmer Arjen van Heck to hear more about the evolution of the game and their process of optimizing for Quest 2. Read through to the end for details on how to win a Quest 2 with Arizona Sunshine and more.
Arjen van Heck: Well, we’re all fans of the zombie shooter genre, and we thought this would work really well in VR. Handling weapons with real-life movements, scavenging a large environment for loot, ammo, and consumables while staying on guard at all times for hangry undead—all this becomes so much more immersive thanks to VR.
AvH: Luckily, we had the luxury of already having Arizona Sunshine running on the original Quest. When we were rebuilding the game for Quest, we had to make big decisions about what and where to optimize our game. With the added hardware power of the Quest 2, new possibilities opened up and we could add a lot of flavor to the game with particles, shader upgrades, and high-definition zombies.
One big challenge was that we really wanted to support cross-play within the Oculus Quest ecosystem. So we had to carefully choose which things to upgrade, having it look good on both Quest and Quest 2 and allowing them to play together.
AvH: Quest 2 is a very powerful device in comparison to its predecessor, but keep in mind that striking a middle ground between what you want to add to the game and maintaining at least 72 fps can be challenging with VR. If you add too many things, the frame rate can drop quickly, so add the most important features and make them really good.
For us, it was really important to have the same experience that our fans have come to know and love on Quest: a large world with lots of interactions and zombie mechanics that let players shoot off legs and heads. For me, those were things that made Arizona Sunshine stand out, and we put a lot of effort into preserving those parts of the game that made it a success in the first place.
AvH: Some of the best reactions were from people who were used to playing VR wired, then suddenly having the freedom to move around with Quest. Suffice it to say, minds have been blown.
And we’ve received a lot of positive feedback on the improvements for the Quest 2 update, especially when comparing the Quest and Quest 2 versions side by side. But don’t take my word for it: Check out the Arizona Sunshine Quest v Quest 2 Graphics Comparison video to see the difference for yourself.
AvH: Awarded UploadVR’s 2016 VR Game of the Year, Arizona Sunshine was one of virtual reality’s first full-feature games, and throughout the years, the VR zombie apocalypse spread to all major VR platforms including Quest on its third anniversary last year. Since then, Arizona Sunshine has seen continuous updates for Quest to reflect all the game’s content, including Dead Man DLC, The Damned DLC, and no less than three horde mode maps. Most recently the game received a graphical enhancement for Quest 2, bringing HD zombies to the wireless apocalypse. And now fans of this all-time VR favorite can look forward to the entirely new horde mode map “Trailer Park” coming to the Oculus Store on December 15.
AvH: We wanted to make a zombie shooter unlike any other, so instead of going for the classic horror theme of small, dark spaces with lots of jump scares, we decided to take Arizona Sunshine in the opposite direction and chose a bright setting out in the open. The huge southwestern environments of Arizona were really inspiring. There is a lot of variety to be found, from wide open spaces to treacherous canyons and deep, dark mines. In the end, this really adds to the experience. Players step into a large and deserted, post-apocalyptic world, with nothing but hangry undead for miles and go on a desperate search for other survivors.
AvH: Our sound designer is Jonathan van den Wijngaarden. He has worked with the Vertigo team for years, so we consider him family. He's very versatile and has years of experience. When Jonathan developed the soundtrack for Arizona Sunshine, he worked closely with the design team and developed a musical style that is authentic to the Arizona Sunshine story and setting, combining western-style elements with retro-electronic synthesizers. Jonathan is a breeze to work with, and we know him well enough to let him go off and do his thing. He’ll always come back with something authentic that meets our vision.
AvH: The feel of the game is important, especially in a VR game. Immersion is key, and it’s important to know what the most important aspects of your game are. When we developed Arizona Sunshine for Quest, we knew that we had to do so without sacrificing the things that make the game so much fun. So even though the graphics had to change, we focused on getting the same feel and experience on Quest that playing the PC version would give. I think we nailed it, and the game is just as fun and thrilling as when we made it for the PC.
AvH: We want to thank all players for supporting Arizona Sunshine over the years, and we hope you’ll enjoy playing the new horde mode map with your fellow survivors when it drops on Quest on December 15.
If you don’t have this must have VR title yet, Vertigo Games is hosting a global giveaway! For a chance to win a Quest 2 with Arizona Sunshine and a whole horde of Arizona Sunshine goodies, click here.
