In Descent Alps, skiing is controlled by moving the whole body. You shift your body weight and lean into the curve. You hunch down to carve the skies and make quick turns.
Descent Alps have been available for one year in various pre-release versions. The game has been downloaded close to 100k times and the slopes have been worn down by pre-release skiers. All feedback and knowledge gathered during the first year of Descent Alps have evolved the game into its first full release. The core remains the same, but the experience has been refined and is now faster, better, bigger, and easier accessible!
Note: This is the DEMO version of Descent Alps. The full game is available on App Lab.
My tips for the devs. After playing the game, I have some constructive criticism, and before I do I just wanna say, I know it’s in beta. But knowing this, before it’s released, here are some cool things you guys could add. First off, the setting/multiplayer. I don’t know what you guys have in mind for multiplayer, but I think it’d be cool if there was a lodge where you could hang out with your friends. Also a way to go back to the main menu without finishing the coarse. Another good feature would be a slope difficulty rating system. Another cool feature would be if when you crouch, you go faster.
Cool concept. He mechanics took a bit of practice to get used to, but once I figured it out it was a lot of fun! My major complaint was while playing through the first couple of levels the gates would change location on the mountain. I found this frustrating because I couldn't practice creating a line to optimize getting through the course. Additionally, due to the randomness of their placement, and it could be my inexperience, some gates felt impossible to hit. Some would be bugged into the ground and you could see one post but not actually see the rest of the gate. And some gates were placed so inconveniently that you had no choice but to hit an obstacle just before or after going through the gate. My last piece of constructive criticism is I'd love to see the physics of gravity to be a little less aggressive. When I catch air it'd be cool to have a little bit more travel, as getting sucked back to the ground threw me off a bit. Despite some of these complaints the game is really cool, and i can't wait to show friends and family as I know this would be a fun entry level game and experience to show off VR. Looking forward to seeing this game improve because it has a lot of potential!
Big surprise. Well, I’d assumed this would be low res, low quality experience. But was free so had a go. The mechanics are amazing and I absolutely love it. What a great piece of work, keep it up devs. Will definitely purchase the full version. Obviously multiplayer would be great too. You really do have a sense of skiing and I got no motion sickness which I can do with some games. As mentioned by other reviewers- the great soundtrack kicks in and you start cruising. Fantastic.
Looks so cool but got motion sickness. Immediately pulls you into thinking you're flying/speed is ridiculously great but I got thrown off and couldn't hack it. Sucks for me because looks sooooo cool.
So sooooo good. This is an absolute gem of a game. The way you control the turns, the speed and the soundtrack Combine to create one of the most unique and best experiences on the quest. Can't wait for even more awesome levels, would love a day and night mode too.
Fun, but lots of room for improvement. Thanks for the fun experience! Considering the fact that HMD can't track your legs, it must have been quite a challenge to realize VR skiing, but it works amazingly well! Initially, I experienced drifting in one direction like others, but by not just shifting my body but also facing the direction I want to turn to, the problem was cleared. Suggestions for improvement are as follows: At start, I felt like I was floating in the air. More textures on the ground plus shadows of skis may help alleviate the feel. Also, the sense of hardness of snow is needed, probably via combination of sound and visual effects. Similarly, snow particles in air and sounds of wind would help add sense of speed. And needless to say, much improvement in scenery is a must in skiing games. I'm looking forward to playing the final version!
Very promising! First off, even as a demo, I prefer this to Steep :) will definitely buy once/if the full version comes out!
A few points from the demo: - the scoring system is not quite clear, and it would be good to have a tutorial online from the devs.
- it would also be cool to have 180/360 rotation (e.g. ski backwards), combined with jumps
- I wish to see jumps and grinds integrated into the gameplay - think of the possibilities: - using the grab buttons at different places on the skis/board relative to controller: - zones that would appear to reach for and grab, letting go before landing or whipe-out, each grab taking varied time to execute fully for a variety in difficulty - same with arm movement to initiate airborne rotation, e.g. holding down triggers to load up and following through with hmd and controller movement, landing sideways - whipe-out or reduction in stamina depending on angle of landing, speed of movement and incline - grinds lock-in movement, use combination of hmd and controllers to balance sideways and back/forth (maybe a ring around the avatar with green and red zones for the controllers)
- have you experimented with falling animation? Maybe switch to 3rd person on impact, although personally I would find it fun to stay fpv and get disoriented/shaken - obviously toggleable for those prone to motion sickness (maybe an ‘expert level’?)
With the lockdown, this has been a much welcomed way of keeping fit. And did I mention the soundtrack is awesome? )
Very excited to see full game, and would be ecstatic if the freestyle features were added. Needless to say, I’m more than happy to be a guinea-pig if you decide to take a crack at the above, and willing to endure the motion sickness XD
Great immersive skiing game. After watching the game trailer I'll admit I was a little skeptical. The movements looked too good to be true, but I love the snow so I was eager to try it anyway. I bought the paid version, but the demo is the same.
Wow! After the first few runs, I was hooked! The movement is sublime, and when coupled with music it's almost trance-like. I actually feel my knees rising and falling as I glide over mounds and can feel my body weight shift as I lean into a corner.
The audio and music are great, with the sound perfectly matching what your skis are doing. The graphics are good too. There are one or two cartoon-style moments here and there but they're few and far between. There's heaps of trails, most of which are easy to unlock which means you can honestly spend time doing what you love most - skiing down the side of a mountain! If you want, there's slalom gates, trees, and rocks to dodge and there's even a Super-G course. Once unlocked, you can also activate the infinite mode allowing you to ski a trail indefinitely (read: the trail doesn't end after 2 minutes when you reach the finish line, it just keeps going!).
No idea why this one's still stuck in App Lab, it should totally be on the main store. This game gets fired up every time I turn on my headset, even if it's just one quick trail before climbing into bed after a long day.
Amazing immersion! Surprisingly extremely immersive. The developer has done an amazing job at making this feel like you’re actually skiing which is impressive considering there’s no tracking on your legs. The feeling of cruising through the slopes and going for a few jumps is so much fun. Looking forward to the final version! Thank you.
Awesome, relaxing experience! This is one of the first VR experiences that actually feels like the real experience. It’s very relaxing to be able to ski down the slopes listening to some good music.
Also get a good left workout in if you really get into it!
Wonderful. Fantastic game. I love that the developers are thinking outside the box and creating a new and unique experience. Good for you and I hope you are rewarded for your efforts. There is a lot to like about this game and a lot of ways to improve it. Number one is better graphics. They are so poor I lose immersion in the game. I would love to see some more Physics added to the game. I.E. The more you go straight down the hill without turning the faster you go and the less sharper you can turn thus missing gates or flying off the cliff. The faster you go the higher you fly off the knoll. I am an expert skier but my jumping days are long over. Would love to be able to jump higher in the game. There are plenty of other things I would love to see but then it would sound like I was being critical. The game is wonderful and I cannot wait to see where it goes. Thanks developers for creating something new. Good luck!!
Closest thing real skiing in 2021. This game is amazing, I got it from sidequest not expecting much as it is unable to fully track my body, however it excellently captures that feeling of skiing down a mountain in the alps. The scenery is not extremely realistic but that does not bother me as you end up focusing on trying to get down the slope as fast as possible to get on the leaderboard. The main races feel good and trying to get through all of the gates can be difficult at times forcing you to concentrate on the environment around you to avoid trees and rocks to keep your chain going. The turning mechanics in this game fell like how you would turn when skiing in real life and this game can be tiring after playing for a while. I cannot wait for this game to be released and it is likely the closest I will get to actually skiing this year. I would love to see more, longer slopes in the future and maybe even being able to use that snowboard on the coming soon section.