What Protonwar is
Protonwar is a fast-paced arena FPS from Outer Planet Studios, built around quick, flowing movement. It works in full room scale VR with HTC Vive and Oculus Touch, and it also runs in non-VR and seated VR, so people without a headset can join in. Matches can be played online against other players, offline against bots, or with a friend through your friends list. A dedicated server executable is included if you'd rather host your own.
Playing together
The mode list covers the usual group options: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Hunt the Flag, Domination, and Horde Mode, which works solo or in co-op. Bots are there for practice when nobody else is on. Since non-VR players can take matches against friends in VR, a group doesn't need everyone to own a headset. Mutators change the feel of a round — Bullet Time, Low Gravity, Instagib, Big Head Mode, All Weapons Mode and others. The maps include DM-Abyss, DM-Aerowalk, DM-Castle, DM-Hazardous, DM-Ruins, DM-Ruins-Night, DM-Overgrown, DM-TrinityStation and Overgrown SwampLands.
Movement and VR comfort
Movement is the core of the game, and in VR it goes well beyond walking. Jumping is physics based and driven by controller gestures, and combining a trackpad jump with a controller jump lets you pull off tricks: dodging, double jumps, and speed jumps for strafe jumping in VR. Climbing works by holding the climb button, moving your controllers down quickly, then releasing — timing the release is what matters. You can climb any wall that looks climbable, but you can't shoot while climbing, so watch your back. Arm swing and player-relative movement are also available.
Locomotion in room scale VR has two main setups: a teleport-only mode, and an advanced mode with multiple options. The advanced mode can cause VR sickness for some people, so start with teleport only if that affects you. Joystick turning with yaw plus the SpeedBoots mutator is fun, but work up to a comfortable level first.
Before you start
The game is built for PC players with deep customization through the UI, config files and console commands, so expect to tweak things if you want a specific setup. It's an online PvP game at heart, with bots and a co-op Horde mode for when you'd rather not face other people.