Inspiration As a full armor enthusiast, we struggled to find like-minded friends in the real world, and even when we did, organizing real-time sparring sessions was nearly impossible. We dreamed of a space where we could freely practice historical swordplay—anytime, anywhere—without the heavy gear, safety concerns, or logistical hurdles.
What it does "Facing" is a VR sword-fighting platform that enables realistic, real-time duels between friends. It preserves the authentic feel and techniques of historical swordplay while removing the need for physical armor. Players can engage in immersive, physics-based combat from the comfort of their own homes, anytime they wish.
How we built it We developed the experience in unreal, prioritizing high-fidelity physics simulation to ensure every swing, block, and parry feels authentic. To truly understand VR development and combat design, one of our team members worked at a VR game studio for a full year, learning the complete pipeline from concept to launch. The network architecture uses a deterministic lockstep model to synchronize complex physical interactions in real-time with minimal latency.
Challenges we ran into The core challenge was balancing realism with playability. We needed strict, accurate physical information transmission for the swordplay to feel genuine, yet the experience still had to be intuitive and fun like a game. This required creating a custom physics interaction system that goes far beyond typical VR melee games. Another major hurdle was designing netcode capable of synchronizing precise, high-speed weapon collisions and physics states between players without feeling laggy or unnatural.
Accomplishments that we're proud of We successfully created a combat system that feels both physically convincing and highly engaging. Our networking solution allows for fluid, real-time duels that maintain the tactical depth of real swordplay. Perhaps our greatest pride is building a platform that genuinely serves a niche but passionate community—historical martial arts practitioners—giving them a space to train and compete that never existed before.
What we learned We learned that true realism in VR combat isn't just about graphics; it's about the integrity of physics and haptic feedback. We gained deep insight into the complexities of synchronizing physics-dependent interactions over the network. Most importantly, we learned how to bridge the gap between a hardcore simulation and an accessible game, finding the sweet spot that respects the art of swordplay while remaining exciting to play.
What's next for Facing We plan to expand the armor and weapon sets to cover more historical periods and styles. Upcoming features include structured tournaments and ranking systems, and enhanced social/clan features to better build the community. Long-term, we aim to support full-body tracking for advanced footwork and integrate more detailed biometric feedback to simulate fatigue and impact, deepening the tactical and physical layers of the duel.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.