Shuttle Commander

I picked this up to play on my rift, and so far I'm really impressed. Firstly it is vastly more immersive than I'd expected from it, anytime you get to be inside the shuttle you have a full detailed cockpit to look at, the rumble in the controllers on launch is a great touch as well. The second thing that really drives home the experience for me is the voice over, it does so much to make you believe you're actually there, I think it's really cool that half the voice over is a narration explaining what the call outs mean. After trying out a mission to repair the hubble I was really surprised by just how much is involved in the missions, after getting to grips with VR spacewalking it still took me quite a while and a lot of work to get the solar arrays removed and replaced, and I couldn't help but feel like I'd accomplished something, I can definitely see myself putting a lot more hours into this, and there's definitely enough content there for that. Probably my favorite activity so far is the landing sim, It made me realize two things, one: I really want to be a shuttle pilot, and two: I should never be a shuttle pilot. This plays a lot like a flight simulator, and like most sims it certainly is not easy to do, it took me a few tries to stop sending the shuttle into a nose dive, but after getting the hang of that I've been doing landings back to back, I can't get enough of the how good it feels to steer the shuttle. Personally I'd like to see a little more use of the actual controls, there's an amazing 3D cockpit there, and it feels a shame not to make more use of it, but other than that, for the price it is, It's an amazing experience, and I can't help but recommend it.

Update 2 years later (July 2022) Still unplayable as I can't do any of the functions like connect the arm to the Hubble or attach the solar panel. This was a really cool idea that just didn't work. Refunded a second time. (Dec 2020) Wait to buy. Has serious technically issues. I REALLY wanted this game. Didn't want to buy on Oculus so I waited till the exclusive ended so I could buy on Steam. The good is the game looks gorgeous. Its cool to watch the launch from the commanders seat. I was at the cape for the discovery launch so its really awesome to see it from this vantage point. The bad Its got some work ahead of it. Right now it is completely unplayable. None of the buttons work. The only thing I could do is change the view point. You can't actually fly the shuttle as designed. The buttons don't respond to input. The flight controls don't respond to any input. You can ride the launch to orbit but right now thats about it. To the devs, this will be an awesome game/experience. I really hate to give it a negative review. But it doesn't work at all. I'll repurchase once you fix the bugs and change my review accordingly. But right now its unplayable.

I was so waiting for this, and the launch is great, but missions just don't work (and the "Explore Shuttle" feature just says coming soon... I am using a Vive with Vive controllers, and nothing but some camera buttons works in the first mission. If I open in game menu, it shows me the mapping on Valve Index controllers for some reason. So, no working missions on Vive at least. If they fix the issues soon, I will change my review and possibly not ask for a refund.

Wow, what an experience. The Shuttle launch is just a ride along experience, but it gives you the sense of rush that it would have been. The interactive missions are great. The controls, while not always obvious (I tried to physically use the joysticks in the cabin, rather than those on the Oculus Touch controllers), are intuitive. You get a real sense of achievement when completing the mission. And a sense of regret when you accidentally let something float off into space... Then there is the Landing simulation. Here you do get to take control of the shuttle and attempt to land it. I say attempt, because it's not easy! I crashed first time, and still haven't managed more than 1 star! The gyro controls here are great, makes it feel a lot more like using the real controls. Perhaps using the thumbsticks will be easier (I'll try that later). There's three different landing sites, each with multiple approach scenarios. Plenty of replay-ability. Plus the challenge to get that 3 star rating! If you've played Elite Dangerous, or one of the other space sims, in VR, then you know the rush. You know it works. But that launch is something else. You'd love a full haptic simulation rig to really feel it, but the immersion is there. And if you've played Kerbal, Space Engineers, Stable Orbit etc. and wanted to actually experience, hands on experience, the deploying and maintenance of space craft, then Shuttle Commander is what you are looking for.

It does not work with occulus rift

Just noticed a patch downloaded at14:26hrs to correct the pointing error using htc vive however the same fault occurs, unable to select anything from the shuttle commander menu, very frustrating :-(

They should train astronauts with this. Feel the tension and joy from the launch in real time from the Kennedy Space Center and as Space Shuttle Discovery blasts upwards through our atmosphere, you can’t help to grip tighter on the controllers and look worryingly at the controls if an alarm goes off. The launch is what I will be showing the family over Christmas. When I get to space the work only begins as I have to deploy Hubble and then I’m tasked with all the service missions. I could manoeuvre around outside in a spacesuit and work as an astronaut. My Rift-S controllers feel as if they were booster controls at the end of my arm. Got a great sense of Hubble’s size as I boosted up beside her. The landings are where I am failing out of Astronaut School though. You must bring the shuttle and crew safely to the ground, but Discovery is a beast, and she is coming down hard with no autopilot, only person and machine now, but I want to keep trying to bring my team home safely.

While it's visually stunning at times. There just isn't a whole lot to DO. The launch, while enjoyable to view, is entirely automatic (granted as shuttle missions actually were), so it's just a movie more then anything. Landing, is only the final approach and doesn't really offer much challenge. Would like to see a full rentry with the risk that involves of not hitting the target landing area, or worse! The missions are just cookie cutter experiences. No challenge at all to them. Although the view is fantastic. I just can't say, despite the aging graphics, you're not better off on Orbiter. I would gladly recommend if we could get just some of the implementation there, such as a full mission from launch-landing.

A must have VR experience for space enthusiasts! There is a great variety of things to see and do, including a launch, a landing simulation, repair missions in space, and a hours of educational space science and history! I downloaded it to play with my Oculus Rift, expecting maybe 1 hour of things to do but ended up getting sucked into some virtual reality space and science lessons! I wish they taught like this when I was in school. There is a very immersive launch sequence at the beginning, with real audio from NASA missions which is probably worth the money on its own. The missions to repair the Hubble space telescope were slow paced but very realistic and rewarding. The detail in the shuttle control panels is so high! If you ever wanted to be an astronaut, this is as close as you will get! There is a landing simulator for the shuttle which is easy to pick up, but has lots of details to master if you want to get good at it. There are a range of options to make it more challenging too and a variety of bases to land at. You could spend hours perfecting your landing, and it even has authentic audio from NASA missions. If you are looking for an authentic VR experience of being a NASA shuttle commander, and to learn about the history of the galaxy in the most immersive way possible, then look no further.

this made me feel like an astronaut just brilliant it can do the same for you