The Time Plague Heading to Steam Early Access VR Late 2023

Experienced Solo VR Software Developer, John Thornewill loved Half-Life: Alyx. However, he couldn’t find anything similar to play once he’d finished it, and with no apparent sequel on the horizon, decided to create his own immersive VR adventure instead. The issue was he lacked the necessary budget, so instead invented a new development method called “The Infinity Engine” that allows small teams to create high quality games for a fraction of the traditional cost.

The first game built using these techniques, The Time Plague, combines the best storytelling concepts from games such as Uncharted with the steampunk visual style of Bioshock. To improve the immersive nature of the game, John has added a number of procedurally generated elements.

The game was made by Red Nought Limited, a company which was founded in August 2022 to capitalize on technology previously created by John Thornewill and his team that had not yet been fully exploited in other ventures. Red Nought Games is the publishing arm that handles the distribution of games created using the team’s engines.

The advanced techniques created by John drastically reduces the time taken to develop complex VR adventure games. They work by assisting in generating repetitive game content, such as visual scenery and automating the training of non-player-characters. This allows John to focus on the high-value elements of the design such as the main story and script. The game’s story is a continuation of that told in the classic H.G. Wells novel “The Time Machine.” John loved the original book, but always felt there was room for more story, given the abrupt nature of its ending. This new chapter in the story has also been augmented with characters inspired by the works of other great authors of the Victorian period.

The Time Plague is due to be released into Early Access in Late 2023, and John is seeking to build a community of users to help tune the game’s story and gameplay elements. The full release is scheduled for the start of 2024.