Delivering Deluxe Chills

Published: Oct. 14, 2019, 7:01 a.m.

This is an Over Coffee® special-edition podcast, incorporating our 2018 interview. This Halloween, Los Angeles-based virtual reality publisher Fun Train VR is set to scare even more horror fans. And that's a good thing. In time for Halloween, 2019, they're released a deluxe edition of their first product, The Exorcist: Legion VR, on the STEAM website.  The Exorcist: Legion VR is licensed from Morgan Creek Film Partners, and based on the classic horror movie.   The title was developed by Wolf & Wood. And the experience immerses horror fans in a terrifying scenario of a murder mystery against the backdrop of demonic possession.   Fun Train originally released The Exorcist: Legion VR as a five-episode experience in October, 2018.  Since then, emails Fun Train VR Founder and CEO Douglas Nabors , YouTube playthroughs by fans have generated nearly 15 million views. (Photo courtesy of Fun Train, and used with permission. Photographer: Karen Strauss, difficultegg.com) Douglas also says The Exorcist: Legion VR received an exciting honor.  In May 2019, it was one of fifty exclusive titles to launch the Oculus Quest headset. This headset, Douglas explains, is the first step towards virtual reality becoming a mass-market industry. But--that's just Chapter One for Douglas and Fun Train VR.  They've just announced their second title, currently in production. As another classic title, very different from the horror genre, this will also be an experience based on storytelling. Here is Douglas' account, originally recorded in 2018, of the creation of The Exorcist: Legion VR, and the resources he recommends to fellow creatives. On this edition of Over Coffee® , you’ll hear: How Douglas first became interested in creating entertainment as his life’s work; How he first discovered virtual reality as a vehicle for storytelling; What the creative process was like, in bringing The Exorcist: Legion VR to life in virtual reality; Parts of The Exorcist: Legion VR that actually scared Douglas–even though he knows they’re coming! One of the biggest creative challenges Douglas and his team encountered, while telling a story in episodic virtual reality; The resources Douglas recommends, for anyone who wants to create stories or games in virtual reality; His vision for the ways Fun Train VR will be evolving and upgrading their VR experiences in the future.