Ragnarok VR is an Immersive Remake of the Biggest MMO You’ve Never Heard Of

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This is Ragnarok VR, a virtual reality remake of an early and hugely popular Korean MMO, which takes the original’s 3D assets and recreates the fantasy world in immersive 3D for a dose of immersive nostalgia, for those that have heard of it.

One of the first and most popular early examples of an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) title, Ragnarok Online (or RO) was played obsessively by legions of Koreans following its release in 2002.

It’s addictive job progression and social focus meant an ardent fan base built up around the title, with fond memories cemented in those for whom the game represented their first foray into the then fledgling world of massively multiplayer online games.

Now, a fan of the series, has gone to the original game’s assets and recreated the maps from the original in a new virtual reality experience which lets you walk around and generally just ‘be’ in the heavily stylised Ragnarok world. “This is a small project that I created using Unity, Which current allow user to enter RO’s maps (extracted from data.grf of RO original file) and walk around using vive,” says developer ChaMi, “just want to share this nostalgic, my favorite game in vive!” (see gameplay video embedded at the top of this page).

ragnarok-vr-2

Built for the HTC Vive, the Unity based project afford the player room-scale exploration of the maps, along with teleportation locomotion for covering larger distanced. Along with locations like Payon, you can also traverse the overworld map and skip to areas of interest using a 2D mini-map represented attached to one of the controllers. Originally Ragnarok VR comprises only 4 converted maps stitched together, but the developer has made real progress recently adding in more refined visuals, character stats and even combat and NPCs.

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It’s clearly a labour of love for ChaMi and considering the visuals date back to 2002, the artwork from the original maps stands up remarkably well. And judging by the near 300k views ChaMi’s video has garnered since its release in May, clearly the nostalgic appetite for old games brought back to life in VR is strong.

As an ageing gamer myself, I’m now imagining RPG worlds that had so much impact on me in my youth being reborn in VR in similar ways. Imagine charging across the plains of Final Fantasy XII on a Chocobo or riding Flammie the dragon across the lush overworld of Secret of Mana. Any developers out there willing to take those on?

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a download link for the project, however you do – let us know in the comments below and I’ll update the article.

Note: This is not to be confused with another VR project “RAGNAROKvr”.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • David Tai

    Thanks for sharing my project! And there’s actually a form for collecting opinions and support in the description section of my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfOwfLxHCXY

    • Thanks David for the info. Do you mind if I update credit for the work in the article to ‘David Tai’ – I only didn’t originally as I couldn’t verify that was indeed your name. :)

  • David Tai

    Also, the donwload is not avaliable for now. I’ll see how it goes after discussing with Gravity about this.

    • DiGiCT Ltd

      Hi David, Im in China myself too, what you did is great, i like your hopping movement for motion, was wondering if you could enlighten me how you did that as im also not a huge fan of keypress movements or teleports.
      I know the artwork is going to be a lot of work for this game as for VR they need to be made in other ways as normal 3d pc games.
      An other thing thats going to be a challenge is the multiplayer part if you ever plan to make it a more full version gameplay.

      If you want to exchange some knowledge feel free to contact me.

  • Julie Heyde

    Hi lovely peeps, we’ve had a game in development for a few years named RAGNAROKvr (and it’s publicly known). So there might be de facto copyright issues on the name or at least a lot of confusion ;-) Email me on play@VRUnicorns.com if you wanna chat about it. We are pretty friendly and like carrots. PS. We’re the #SelfieTennis devs.

    • David Tai

      Email send!

      • Julie Heyde

        You’re the best!

    • Steve Biegun

      #SelfieTennis is the first game I was able to try for the HTC Vive. Just wanted to say thank you!

      • Julie Heyde

        THANK YOU!!! We have more stuff on the way – send us an email if you wanna try something early.

    • I thought the name rang a bell @julie_heyde:disqus – give us a shout when you’re ready to talk about it.

    • Also added a note to this article to this effect with a link to your project.

      • Julie Heyde

        Thanks man!! Guess I have to update that web site now ;-)

  • Mane Vr

    I just like the fact this isn’t another galley shooter i’m guessing David is a one man team. when I get my touch i’ll give this a try even with the fact I hate the teleport as movement

  • sirlance

    Locomotion please…I’m not a fan of the teleport…at least have both options….not all of us get motion sickness

  • GraveUypo

    never heard of?
    this is by far and away the game i have spent most time playing in my life.
    i have no idea how many exactly, but i suppose it EASILY surpasses 10 thousand hours