Hey fellow Unreal Devs!
I’m Ben and I’m creating Sanity City, a cyber punk themed Virtual Reality game!
About Sanity City
Guns and crime rule the streets in the outer districts of Sanity City.
You’ve become a raider striving for fame and money.
Assemble a team and become a mercenary for crime syndicates, shady corporations and anyone else who’ll pay you.
Sophisticated full body avatar system
VR & flatscreen crossplay
Devlog videos
Website
You can find all links to Twitter, Discord etc. on the official website: https://www.sanity-city.com/
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Sanity City Devlog #5 on YouTube! Sign up for alpha access and see the 2D version of the game
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I’ve just posted a new Sanity City devlog, it’s the start of a three part mini-series, showing some Virtual Reality gameplay. Sanity City features full-body-avatar VR multiplayer action in a cyberpunk world, allowing crossplay with players without VR headsets. The game is free-to-play and a closed alpha release will happen in October.
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Greetings @Ben_Cykyria !
Sanity City looks so boss! Thank you for sharing your brainchild with us!
I’m really impressed with the character editor. I haven’t played many VR games, but the ability to create such a detailed full body character is amazing!
I find it really outstanding that you’ve included flatscreen co-ops with VR! This is incredible! Not only does this provide versatility for different styles of gameplay, it also doesn’t limit players from playing together if someone doesn’t have a VR headset. This opens the world and doesn’t force the game into a “members only” box.
I thoroughly enjoy your short, to-the-point devlogs! I’ve often wondered how game devs can improve the quality of VR. I thank you for addressing VR’s current state in not being able to render photorealistic worlds. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that the future of VR will present itself via the Unreal Engine platform.
Does Sanity City currently provide an expanded inventory, or is the player limited to the available storage slots? Is the game “moddable” by creators? For instance, are creators able to design and implement their own mods for gameplay, expansion, or character items?
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Hey @Get_DOVAH_it, thanks for your great post, you can’t imagine how much it means to me to get such an incredible feedback!
Does Sanity City currently provide an expanded inventory, or is the player limited to the available storage slots?
At the moment it’s just the storage slots, the number is arbitrary currently and will change.
There are many thoughts I’m mulling concerning inventory.
The number of slots and items you can carry will be limited, so players will have to choose wisely what to carry with them on a mission. Bags will be added at some later time, so you could carry more, though.
I’m torn between several approaches to inventories in VR.
I want it to be immersive, so the current approach isn’t really the best.
I think the waist slots you find in many VR games nowadays are one of the best approaches, however, big bellys (virtual and real) can get in the way easily - and you always have a body in Sanity City, so, I think it’s not a good solution.
Customizable body slots are an option (so you can move the slots around until they fit best to your real and virtual body), however they’d be difficult to understand for inexperienced players.
Is the game “moddable” by creators? For instance, are creators able to design and implement their own mods for gameplay, expansion, or character items?
I’m a big fan of mods (Skyrim with mods, yeah!). But Sanity City will not have mod support in the foreseeable future. As for the next 12 months, the goal is to get people on board, get feedback, make sure the base game is stable, expand it and make it fun.
Then I’ll be thinking about adding mod support.
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Greetings @Ben_Cykyria !
Thank you so much for thoroughly answering my questions. While you appreciate the feedback, I equally appreciate your engagement! 
I am a Skyrim fan as well. I’ve completed the game about 5 times on console. I’ve had Skyrim for PC for about a year now, but alas, I have not had the time to play it. There are so many amazing mods available, and I cannot wait to see how they improve the game!
That being said, I completely understand not including any modding capabilities for Sanity City at this point. After seeing the really cool customization options available, I just had to ask!
I just got finished viewing your latest devlog. While I do not have a VR set to answer this question, I thought I’d ask you instead. Is it necessary to have to hold your arms in such a way to be able to use the VR weapon? Are there other options for aiming and shooting in VR?
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Hey @Get_DOVAH_it currently there is only this one weapon, and I haven’t put much time into it to optimize it in VR. You can shoot it one-handed or hold it with two-hands. One-handed the recoil is stronger compared to holding it two-handed. In the real world, you couldn’t hold this kind of rifle and shoot one-handed, or even a burst 
there’s also a shoulder stock mode in VR, so if you hold it with two hands and pull it against your “virtual shoulder”, you have even less recoil and it stabilizes the gun.
it’s not a very futuristic gun, just for testing purposes as I mentioned, but the iron sights work in VR. You can aim pretty good with them.
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Hi there @Ben_Cykyria
I have to agree with you, the puddles look insane. They add so much to the world-building of the environment 
It’s also one of my favorite aspects of cyberpunk, the “dingy” feeling.
Super stoked to follow this project!
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It’s been a long time, but there’s progress at last!
I’ve made available for download a first Unreal Engine 5 based version of Sanity City!
If you have installed one of the old versions, please uninstall or delete it completely before getting the new version.
You can download the installer here: https://www.sanity-city.com/
It was a real struggle to make the step from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.
There are old and new bugs, some engine bugs and many new systems within the engine that I needed to learn.
Scope creep is real and Sanity City will now become an open world game.
With UE5 this is possible and that’s the really exciting news!
However, it’s still far from a complete game. It’s an early development version, it’s full of bugs.
Please watch my videos and enjoy your stay
Sanity City in Unreal Engine 5 - Flatscreen
Sanity City in Unreal Engine 5 - Virtual Reality
Release Notes:
Hi there @Ben_Cykyria ! Thank you so much for this update!
This is my first time encountering your project but I am so very excited that I found it! The idea of a multiplayer 3d game is so exciting to see! I’m also thrilled to see the progress and detail you’ve put into it!
Out of curiosity, would you be implementing a customizable apartment system?
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hey thank you for your nice words! yes I plan to add a system for players to rent or purchase property. I want that to be one of the main drivers of the players, from a sleeping bag on the curb to a high rise 5 star penthouse 
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Hey there @Ben_Cykyria !
That would be awesome! I think it would give a genuine rags to riches feel with the tier of homes you can progress through. I’m very excited and cannot wait to see more updates on this project.
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Development of Sanity City continues! Check out my new devlog:
BECOME A CITIZEN
Discord: Sanity City
Ko-fi Sanity City - Support me!
Web: https://ko-fi.com/SanityCity
Sanity City is a cyber punk themed multiplayer Virtual Reality adventure
Web: https://www.sanity-city.com
