The Vortex, a metaverse connected social environment where all are welcome. The facilitation system ensures all people have an equal opportunity to speak.
All Reviews:
Positive (10) - 90% of the 10 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
Mar 18, 2022
Developer:
Publisher:
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Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Our project is the work of enthusiasts.
We want to share the project with people who are interested in communicating on interesting topics.

Thanks to Early Access and users, we want to support and develop the project in the future.
Improving the communication experience of each user and adding new functionality to our game”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The vortex will remain in early access until at least June 2022 while we test and improve user experience.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“We want to give you the opportunity to create your own unique rooms and upload avatars.
Communicate freely
Create new maps, like a scene with listeners
Use the in-game coin mechanic to buy a move in the room. So that the user has the opportunity to speak in more than one minute
Create room portals to quickly and easily navigate the type of rooms”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“In this room, in the center of the map, there is a circle.
In the center of the circle there is a mirror and 12 seats for users who want to start communication.
Each user has the opportunity to speak for 1 minute, or another specified period of time for a given room.

Anonymity and authorization
When anonymous users move closer to the center of the circle, a pop-up menu pops up for him, in which he is asked to log in to the application using e-mail or other social login methods.

After authorization, the user has the opportunity to change his name, add the desired type of Avatar and change its color.

If the user prefers to remain anonymous, he is limited in functionality, only online chat is available to him, he is not able to communicate with other users in any way by voice.

It is assumed that for these users there will be a separate type of room where each anonymous user will be able to talk to test the capabilities of the application (under discussion)

Room, discussion spaces and spaces
If there are a large number of players in the room and all the chairs have been occupied, the user is offered the opportunity to use the queue button in order to occupy the first freed stone

Entering the game, players find themselves in the base room. This room provides a place for communication of 12 authorized users and transitions (portals) to thematic spaces for communication.

Thematic spaces are hub locations with portals to rooms. In hubs, players observe portals, having approached which and interacted with them, it is possible to see the fullness of the room, its rules and parameters, as well as join the room or cancel the interaction and move away from the portal. If the user has moderator rights to call the menu, he can create and open his own room within the space. To create a room, the moderator-player just needs to call the server-browser menu in which he will have an additional function - create. There is also a portal to exit the thematic space near the center. When interacting with the exit, the players are shown a pop-up confirmation that they really want to leave the space. When exiting a space, players return to the common room from which they can, if desired, move to another space.
Depending on the type of thematic space, the created room is assigned by default a number of rules common to all rooms of this type (for example, a hub for anonymous users: general rules - only for anonymous users, rooms without a password). Basic rules cannot be changed when a room is created. The location of the room and the number of places for discussion in them depend on the type of space.

Spaces can be of different types for different purposes of users.
The following can be presented as goals: discussions and discussions, speeches and reports, format of envelopes and meetings, presentations. And also by type of users: for anonymous and authorized.
Depending on the type of space, locations, their appearance and structure can vary, for rooms specifically for the type and purpose of a particular space.

Entering the thematic space, all players find themselves in the center of the location, at the point near the button for creating a room. To enter some rooms in the space, you may need a password invented by the creator of the room. In this case, when trying to enter the room, the player will be prompted for a password.
Moving from space to room, players get to a point on the edge of the location near the exit "portal". In order to leave the room, players need to come up and interact with the exit portal. When interacting, the players are shown a pop-up confirmation that they really want to leave the room. When leaving the room, the player moves to the current thematic space.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“our product is distributed free of charge and is not planned for monetization”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Through feedback, I use Steam tools to communicate with users. And also through the game, where every user will be heard. And their ideas were used to develop and improve the project”
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About This Game

The Vortex is intended to be the safest and most elegantly designed audio discussion space in the metaverse and beyond.

Every vortex room is facilitated by a robotic laser facilitator that operates the discussion circle. Visitors to any vortex room will see a circle of stones in the center where they can sit if they wish to participate in the discussion rounds. Participants are each given an equal amount of time to speak and they can pass without speaking or whenever they are finished. The microphone rotates automatically, so no human needs to “warn” or “facilitate” people if their time is almost up.

All vortex circles have 12 stones for up to 12 active participants. Additional people can be in the room as audience members. Audience members can press a button to get in line for the next available open stone.

Users may create their own vortex rooms where they can change the amount of time per person to speak. The creator of every room has the ability to pin and change messages such as topics on a virtual display board in the room if they wish.

System Requirements

Windows
macOS
    Minimum:
    • OS *: Windows 7 (SP1+) , Windows 10 and Windows 11
    • Processor: x86, x64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support
    • Memory: 200 MB RAM
    • Graphics: DX10, DX11, DX12 capable
    • DirectX: Version 10
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 200 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Hardware vendor officially supported drivers. For development: IL2CPP scripting back-end requires Visual Studio 2015 with C++ Tools component or later and Windows 10 SDK
* Starting January 1st, 2024, the Steam Client will only support Windows 10 and later versions.
    Minimum:
    • OS: High Sierra 10.13+
    • Processor: Apple Silicon, x64 architecture with SSE2
    • Memory: 200 MB RAM
    • Graphics: Metal capable Intel and AMD GPUs
    • Additional Notes: Apple officially supported drivers. For development: IL2CPP scripting back-end requires Xcode. Targeting Apple Silicon with IL2CPP scripting back-end requires macOS Catalina 10.15.4 and Xcode 12.2 or newer

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