The bizarre phenomenon known as VRChat that has gripped the gaming world over the past few months is a fascinating if wholly unpolished experience. Its premise is up to the player. We’re still not completely sure exactly what VRChat is even after several months of play. The player is dropped into servers in the game and from there can choose from numerous preset player models (what you look like in the game!) and can range from aliens to robots to everything in between. Players run around and speak with other players using voice chat.
What exactly makes VRChat so enjoyable? That depends on who you ask. For us, it was watching other players run around in various models and role play certain characters or fandoms. There are some seriously strange looking players running around in the wild wastes of VRChat due to the ability to create custom models for your player using third party applications such as Blender. Our most memorable would have to be the Goku Knuckles model, featuring a small, odd looking Knuckles the Echidna model complete with Goku from Dragon Ball Z style hair and clothing.
Part of VRChat’s rapid rise to fame lies in the aforementioned Knuckles the Echidna model. It became a viral internet sensation overnight due to the model’s hilarious speaking animation and overall silly looking body shape. The said model is also extremely small compared to many of the other player models in the game and only becomes more comical as additional players don the model and run around in little herds of clicking and singing Knuckles. The most widespread use of the model includes acting like a Ugandan soldier, particularly those from the Ugandan movie “Who Killed Captain Alex?” Players often quote lines from the movie and speak in an accent similar to that of Ugandan actors in the movie. Although use of the model drew some controversy due to the supposedly “racist” way players were mocking Ugandan accents, my fellow writer and I believe it is all good-natured fun. For one, simply speaking in and trying to imitate another culture’s accent is not offensive in our eyes. Additionally, the creator of the movie the quotes are taken from, himself being Ugandan, has repeatedly endorsed the joke through retweets and laughs on Twitter.
Surprisingly enough, VRChat is free to download and also does not require a Virtual Reality headset in order to be played. Although the main unique experience is lost in doing so, the complex 3D graphics in the game can actually be run on a desktop computer or laptop; however, VRChat is far from being optimized for this setup. While even high-end desktops labor over pumping out the immersive atmosphere of virtual reality, computers with the processing power of a potato struggle to hit just 20 frames per second. At this speed, the playability of the game on the computer drops substantially from the buffering and teleporting characters. Users with poor internet connection face yet another roadblock in trying to obtain their daily dose of red echidnas and will constantly be booted from the servers.
Virtual Reality as a whole has been advancing at an unimaginable rate and the gaming industry parallels this development perfectly. VRChat is only one of many free games released in the past year that has been built for Virtual Reality and more are being produced at an increasing rate. At first glance, it seems as if Virtual Reality will take over as the next big gaming sensation; however, the technology still has a long way to go until it reaches the right price range and stability for most gamers to enjoy it.
While VRChat has exemplified the social and communicative aspects of Virtual Reality, the technology as a whole has opened the door to far more possibilities. Medical students can practice on virtual subjects to conserve resources, buildings designed by architects can be tested more freely, and stressed individuals can take a brief vacation to any location on the planet.