Designer Chris Roberts plans to use virtual reality headset Oculus Rift to help players engage in deeper conversations and manage relationships in his upcoming space sim Star Citizen.
Speaking with The Verge following the Virtual Reality: The Holy Grail of Gaming panel at SXSW, Roberts said that using the headset to engage in virtual eye-to-eye conversation was a method he had considered "for quite awhile."
"The technology has changed so much now that I sort of feel in a 3D environment, I can render really great looking — not life-like — but cinematic characters," Roberts said. "I want to keep you in that moment. I don't want to be cutting away."
Roberts views the conversation method as a way to put players in the moment and build relationships.
"It's not so much about quizzing them about A, B, C or D," Roberts said. "It's sort of managing, ‘do I like you?' ... How you manage them will depend on how they fly with you and how they interact with you."
You can watch the full interview above. Oculus Rift will be compatible with Star Citizen, which completed Kickstarter funding in November of last year, when the game launches in late 2014 or early 2015. A dog-fighting module is expected to launch this year, allowing players to fly the ships they've backed through the Kickstarter campaign.
