Doctors, trainers, therapists, and Pegasuses all agree: Exercise is a great way to manage stress and reduce tension. There’s one kind of tension you might actually want to increase in your VirZOOM workouts, though, and that’s pedaling resistance. With the tension control knob just underneath your handlebars, you can control how hard a workout you get. And in one game (so far!), you can even use it to boost your score.
The tension control dial, or resistance knob, works by adjusting a magnet between your pedals. A higher setting means you have to pedal harder against a stronger magnetic pull. Just turning the dial is enough to change how much work you need to do, but there’s an extra step if you want VirZOOM Arcade to be able to recognize your current resistance setting. If you haven’t done this already, next time you launch VirZOOM Arcade, click on your username, then go to OPTIONS, and then choose CALIBRATE RESISTANCE and follow the instructions on screen. Calibrating resistance makes sure you get a more accurate report of virtual kilometers cycled, and is absolutely crucial if you’re shooting for any of the goals (and associated PlayStation trophies or Steam achievements) that require you to be on the highest resistance setting.
In most VirZOOM Arcade games, adjusting resistance is just a matter of personal preference. Go for a higher resistance setting to get a tougher workout, or a lower setting for a less strenuous workout. The game still detects your resistance setting, but doesn’t really do anything with that data, at least for now. One VirZOOM game does figure your resistance setting into results, however: our cycling game, Le Tour. A higher resistance setting means a higher score multiplier. That game is a much more straightforward workout than others – no tanks to shoot, gems to collect, bandits to lasso, or what have you. It’s most fun when you challenge yourself physically, so the score bonus offers some added incentive to do that.
We have plans to make use of resistance detection in other games, as well, but we’re interested in hearing from you about where you think it would work best. Comment on the blog or email us to let us know how you’d like to see your extra pedaling pay off!
