The Very Public Blog of Ken Richlin

Outlier VR,is an LLC I founded solo in October of 2016 to self-publish and market my own VR experiences, code snippets, and original art. It also represents the Lab and Studio space I am building in order to create this work – we are one part Game Studio, one part Virtual Reality Arcade, one part Innovation Lab, and one part Tech Startup, and one part… well, we will probably start introducing influences of a Media Lab or get involved with some consulting work focused on deploying Arcade Style VR experiences, like the ones that are all over China but for some reason hard to find here in the States. The company is also safe harbor in which I may stay safely anchored while waiting for a larger, established development house to pluck me from ship and provide me with what I REALLY want: full-time software development, and business development work in the VR space.

In terms of products, our flagship product will be a Sci-Fi themed Escape Room, “Escape from Zellman Orbital”. We are currently targeting a release date of October 25, 2016. But I can assure you we will almost certainly extend that target to October 26. At OutlierVR, we are dedicated to quality in both story-based and game-driven VR experiences. But only those two genres, so if you have other ideas, like fun things with 360 degree video or cinema-style short films, I’d be interested to learn about those projects, but hesitant to embark on one myself. My company is me, myself, and I, and together we three Titans will conquer the VR world! (However we welcome collaboration)

Additional Projects that are also in Early phases of Development:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pokemon No (or, as my lawyers advise me, Super Ball Pit Mania)
Unnamed Glyph-Magic Game (using the Magic Leap Motion Controller)
Saitek X55 Control Schemes For Ships, Planes, Cars and Tanks (Unity Store product)
Simone (a clone of Simon)
Battle Bridge
Super Skee Ball

more info on my blog here: http://kenrichlin.me

Good News, Everyone!

On Monday I founded my new company, OutlierVR LLC! Here at Outlier Labs, we are all about just hanging out and self-publishing a few VR titles here and there. That’s all. This is just the home of a few pet projects I’ll be sharing with you in the form of FREE Steam experiences, and maybe some private demos to close personal friends and non-enemies. At some point I will probably start asking for $1 or $4 for some of the more mature products I plan to put out, so I’ll be publishing those through this LLC, mostly for liability purposes. The company will also be my foil as I navigate the waters for a more permanent position with an established studio.

So, to conclude, I want to make it clear: I have no greater ambitions for my Virtual Reality company at this point, and anyone who claims otherwise is a LIAR! I am certainly not interested in complete world conquest. That is not even one of my stretch goals.

You can visit my (other) non-website here:

Outlier VR Labs

How to make a Stone Firepit!

A firepit can be a great addition to your yard. It’s a great centerpiece for social gatherings, and they’re not too difficult to make. Here’s how I made mine:

First, select the site. It should be in a clearing, with no trees close by or branches hanging above. Choose a flat place, and mind that you don’t put your firepit in a low spot that could possibly flood.

Next, get your materials. You’ll need gravel, sand, bricks, and a steel ring. The ring is the most difficult to find. I eventually found mine in part of a kit I bought at Lowes. I wanted my firepit to be a bit taller than what the kit provided, so I bought a few extra bricks to make up the extra layers.

You do NOT need any adhesive or caulk. The bricks will stand just fine on their own. And if there is some damage, you will be able to take the firepit apart easily and replace damaged stones without a problem. You should consider getting some black spray-on stovepipe paint. This will help protect the ring and the inside faces of the stones.

Now that you have your materials, mark the center of the firepit, and then put down a ring of stones as a placeholder. My stones formed a nice ring with 12 bricks, but yours may be different. Mind the gap – at every third brick, I left a small gap in the ring. This is for ventilation, to admit air into your firepit. Air comes in through the gaps in the sides, and fuels the fire. The stones shelter the flame and hold the heat in.

Take a garden hoe, and use it to make deep cuts into the ground, around the stones.

Flip the stones outward, so they lie outside the cut you just made with the hoe.

Use your hoe to rip up the grass and sod from the earth.

You can move it to elsewhere in your garden, if you like.

Start digging! You should dig about 8 or 9 inches down. As you can see, I went a little crazy and dug a little deeper than that.

Lay down some gravel in the bottom. The purpose of the hole and the gravel is to allow for effective drainage of water, and to provide a substrate that will easily hold heat.

On top of the gravel, put down some sand. This will prevent too much of the ash from settling down into the gravel layer. It will also hold heat well, and make it easier to remove ash from the firepit later.

Flip the stones back over! They should be a tiny bit settled into the earth – maybe penetrating an inch or two below ground. This is all you need to provide a firm foundation for your creation. Use a level to make sure all the stones are exactly the same height. If you don’t do this, your firepit might end up looking like the great tower if Piza! And, don’t forget to mind the gap at every third brick.

Add the second ring of bricks. No need for a gap this time, the ones at the bottom are enough. Make sure the bricks in this ring are tucked in nice and snug. Check to see that they are level.

Add the third ring of bricks, and optionally the fourth. Then, place the steel ring at the top.

Spray the inside of the ring and stones with heat-resistant stovepipe paint.

Burn things!

The first few burns might be tough to get started. You will have to burn a large amount of material before you accumulate a decent bed of ash. However once you do, you will find your fires to be be easier to light, and that they retain heat better.

With this particular firepit, I spent about a week last year burning old debris from behind my garage. I would go to bed late at night after the flames died down. When I woke up late the next morning, the ashes would still still be hot! A little bit of tinder and coaxing was all that was needed to get my firepit back to blazing once again. My record for keeping my firepit hot last winter was four consecutive days.