CONSTELLATIONS: Trailer Featured on IGN, a New Build, a Contest, and a Sneak Peek
Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Hello Insiders!
I can’t believe it’s already the final week of January! It’s flown by! And while it’s easy to just dismiss the past four weeks as a blur, it’s more fun to reflect and celebrate the milestones.
CONSTELLATIONS went live on January 1st and received its first post-launch update almost 2 weeks later. That update introduced a brand new startup experience that you can read more about in the “Onboarding Update”.
The day after I published that newsletter, the CONSTELLATIONS trailer was featured on both IGN GameTrailers and IGN VR!
Landing on these channels is somewhat of a rite of passage and I’m proud/excited to have CONSTELLATIONS make the lists!
I actually learned that the trailers landed on GameTrailers and IGN VR from a friend who congratulated me on LinkedIn 😲
✨“Entering” the Cosmos… digging into the trailer
The featured trailer is the full-length “Early Access Launch Trailer” (now on the product landing page too). I had previously shared a ~15sec version of the trailer across my social channels (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok), but this full-length version really tells the Now Available story.
The camera is moving the minute the trailer starts, generating forward momentum. The camera then pushes into the headset (my favorite part) - creating the sense of entering a completely different world. If you watch the trailer closely, you’ll see the CONSTELLATIONS title screen through the lenses of the headset as the headset raises to eye level.
🖊️Creating the Effect
Right as you “enter” the headset, both a lens distortion and CRT-style filter are used to simulate an up-close encounter with a display, creating a sense of space-time warping as you cross from one dimension into another.
Almost as soon as you’ve entered the headset, the camera pulls back and turns left, followed by outstretched arms and the “Reach Out” text that is now familiar if you’ve been following this project since first announced.
🎥Conveying Full Immersion on a Flat Display
It's challenging to convey immersive experiences on flat screens. Talk to anyone creating trailers for VR and they’ll say the same thing: “You have to see this in the headset to really get it.” So, we use tricks like this - asking the viewer to imagine putting on a headset and experiencing full immersion. This is no different than trying to market a new set of speakers - “Those look like they would sound amazing!” Haha… similar challenge.
I’m not claiming to have invented this zoom into headset technique - watch enough VR trailers and you’ll see this used in various ways. BUT, I do like how this version of the technique turned out - hopefully you agree!
A New Build: “The Background Update”
This is a minor, but important, update. In all of the early builds (and therefore screenshots + videos), the sky had a subtle, dark blue-to-black gradient that grew from the bottom up. The gradient was disabled while optimizing for performance, targeting an average of 90FPS on the Quest 3. It was a sad casualty that I felt was worth the compromise to publish.
But, the gradient is back! With the many optimizations made across different areas, this visual touch can now return and not impact framerates - yay!
Don’t Worry, It’s “Toggle-Enabled”
The gradient is now enabled by default in the latest builds, but don’t worry - if you want to enjoy the pure-black sky, you can toggle the background using your hand-based context menu:
🔑Contest: Key Giveaway
A HUGE thank you goes out to @sugartikitikivr for running a CONSTELLATIONS Key Giveaway Contest across all of her social channels. The contest wrapped up this past weekend, and now 4 more VR enthusiasts get to experience the night sky in a new way!
Not only did @sugartikitikivr run this contest, she helped announce CONSTELLATIONS back in November and has been a big supporter of CONNECTOME as well. Please support her channels by subscribing/following!
📅Sneak Peek: Daily Constellations
One other note, I’m starting a video series called Daily Constellations - these short (think TikTok short) videos will show all of the 88 IAU constellations available within CONSTELLATIONS: Touch the Stars. Over 3 months you’ll see the entire night sky completed!
Here’s your Sneak Peek! Take a look and let me know what you think before this series goes live!
👋Until Next Time
That’s it for this update - if you made it this far, thanks for reading!
AND, don’t forget, you have access to a 20% off DISCOUNT CODE: CONSTELLATIONSINSIDERJAN-2E107A
Don’t wait too long to use it (or share it) - this code expires on Jan. 31!
As always, a reminder that if you’d like to help shape the direction of CONSTELLATIONS, please join the Discord!
👉 Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/3ay2f9k4NV