There might be a growing collection of virtual reality (VR) videogames that can off big expansive worlds to explore but if you’re looking for something more akin to Ready Player One’s Oasis then your options are fairly limited. One of these social VR worlds available now is Somnium Space which launched in 2018, offering a persistent world as well as an economy. Today, Somnium Space has officially announced the upcoming launch of v2.0 adding new features to strengthen the experience for users.
Somnium Space first began discussing the 2.0 update last summer promising a range of features and improvements as well as additional headset support. v2.0 will see persistent server architecture arrive to ensure that no one will experience
any loading screens whilst Somnium hosts hundreds or thousands of players at the same time. Full body avatars will become available so you can look like a real digital person using the Unity Avatar SDK. For those that have purchased land through Somnium Space’s previous Initial Land Offering’s (ILO) the Builder tool will be enhanced to purchase or create new assets.
The virtual world will add native NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) integration allowing users to place any NFT directly onto Somnium Land Parcels they own and explore them in full VR in headsets like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Valve Index. Users will also be able to create and tokenize items, avatars or full structures directly from Somnium PC client, allowing
anyone to instantly monetize their creations.
“We are putting a lot of effort into the immersive aspect of our VR world. Players are able not only explore creations of each other but ultimately get lost in the vast territories of a truly alive world. You can start a business and instantly monetize your ideas, visit the planetarium or museum, touch the water, or go mountain hiking, watch birds flying across the sunset throwing real-time shadows onto nearby standing buildings created by users, stumble upon wild animals or simply enjoy procedurally generated weather changes. All of that wakes up your body senses and brings an emotional connection to your creations or your friends to the next level,” says Artur Sychov, Founder & CEO of Somnium Space in a statement.
As well as Somnium Space 2.0, the developers are also launching their own in-game currency called Somnium Cubes. This currency aims to make microtransactions in Somnium Space easier, such as paying to teleport to the other side of the world or renting an item. Landowners could use the Cubes to purchase user-generated content and Cubes can be earnt as a Karma reward when achieving a certain status.
Somnium Space 2.0 will be rolled out this Thursday 20th February. The app itself is completely free to download and explore. A version for Oculus Quest and Oculus Go is still in the works with Somnium Space slating a release in the next few months. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR