On the Theory of External Reticle Gaming Gadgets

While Cat the Production Manager is busy overseeing the production minions, we thought we would take a little break from reports from the production line. Instead, we wanted to share with you some conceptual considerations about Hereticle, our external reticle gaming gadget.

The First Proof

If you were patient enough (much appreciated!) to read this on our history page, you already know how the idea of an external reticle gaming accessory came into being. Our Restless One realized the first proof of concept using a transparent film, with crosshairs drawn in the middle of it. To hold the transparency in place in front of the screen, our Resourceful One attached it to the webcam that was sitting on the top edge of the monitor. Purely by accident, as it often happens with Ingenious Inventions, the transparency ended up being positioned at a certain distance from the surface of the monitor, rather than stuck onto it. And it is precisely this accident that led several serious, respectable grown-ups to embark on the venture of developing this idea into a consumer product: the first external crosshairs gaming gadget.

A New Focus

“The focus”, our Astute One realized, looking at the reticle dangling about a centimeter away from the screen. “It’s the focus that’s changed”. Such a simple thing as placing the reticle away from the screen, rather than on the same plane with the screen, was dramatically changing the gameplay experience. There were now multiple planes of focus: the plane of the monitor screen, and the plane with the external reticle. When you focus your eyesight on the external reticle, these multiple planes of focus create what we call the “iron sight effect”. You now see the target a bit out of focus, and this effect gets you much closer to the experience of aiming a real firearm.

As we always say, it’s not better or worse than other ways to enjoy your shooter games. It is simply different, and, as we strongly believe, simply enjoyable and fun. We are extremely anxious to get to the point (and that point is coming very soon!) where the Hereticle gadget is available for you gaming enthusiasts out there, so that we can learn what works for you when you look for a more realistic shooter game experience. Is it the super-expensive 3D gaming gear? Or is it the tangibly real iron sight focus effect Hereticle brings into gaming? We look forward to hearing from you!