Star Wars HoloChess; Augmented Reality Board Game Available Soon

The force is strong with Phil Tippett, special effects artist and the original designer of some iconic 'Star Wars' characters, since he wanted to created an augmented reality video game called 'HoloGrid Monster Battle ' based from 'HoloChess', the popular AR game seen on Star Wars movies.

LucasArts and Tippett, the founder of Tippett Studio, decided to collaborate to bring the augmented reality game to life. HoloGrid Monster Battle looks like the HoloChess game seen in some Star Wars movies including the latest release, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".

Tippett and his team will develop the said augmented reality game but not without any help. According to Space.Com, they recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to gather funds for the development of the game. As of March 08, a total of $28,967 pledges were given to the campaign. The funds will be used to create the first version of the tabletop-card-mobile game hybrid which can be played with any smart phones.

"Over the years I have been creating monsters for directors, and then now I'm creating monsters for you to play with" said Tippett on the game's official website. Tippet also wanted to incorporate a new hybrid gaming experience involving both the augmented and virtual reality technologies.

Augmented reality (AR) is a live view of real environments with elements that are augmented by computers including sound and video. While virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated an environment, whether real or not, where a person could actually interact with it.

Tippett said he will use the new technology called 'photogrammerty' to create the game; which will be done by scanning Tippett's physical creature sculptures into the 3D environment of the game. They aim to achieve the classic stop motion video technique used in the older Star Wars movie to mimic the look and feel of that specific era. This will be the first step in creating a fully functional augmented reality and virtual reality versions of the game.

Tippett, being an expert in creating visual effects and out-of-this-world 'monsters' also wanted to create the most advanced looking character, which is why his team did not rely solely on digital art in making the 'monsters' within the game.

"The cool thing about it is that we used real three dimensional objects, they're not digital characters" Tippett said.

His plans may seeom too advanced for today's standards, but the design team is confident that the latest advancement in augmented reality video games will pave the way for the success of 'Hologrid Monster Battle'.

Both 'Star Wars' fans and VR and AR gaming aficionados are anticipating the release of HoloGrid Monster Battle whose phase one can be played using smart phones or computers.

Tippett's Kickstarter campaign aims to raise up to $100,000 to develop the first phase of the most advanced combat-chess game to ever be made.