For my capstone project I wanted to create an immersive experience and experiment with Unity’s terrain building features. The emotional theme for this game is “serenity”. I settled on a simple step counting game where users could explore an environment and by “spending” accumulated steps, they can add features to the environment.
Features and Dependencies:
3D Models + Assets
Landscape models
Vegetation- I would like to create a beautiful scene with grass and trees and atmospheric effects, but I am not sure how much I can push the envelope an maintain a good frame rate.
For my capstone project I wanted to create an immersive experience and experiment with Unity’s terrain building features. One of my major complaints with VR experiences is the teleport mechanic which, unless there is a good in-game reason for it, breaks immersion. There are three potential solutions for this:
Operate at room scale. This solution has been employed very well in Space Pirate Trainer, and Chair in a Room, but does not work well if I want to fully explore a terrain.
Find a good in-game reason to have a teleport system.
Use an alternative form of locomotion.
Of these three the last one seemed like the most fun. There are some fantastic experiments being done in the realm of VR locomotion and it would give me a chance to try my hand at something a bit more complex. So the first step is to look into what is already being done. Links to some of my research are below.
If we rule out teleportation, and confined room scale, the next most appealing is the subtle manipulation of the virtual space that keeps the user physically moving within their limited boundaries while appearing to, as implemented in Unseen Diplomacy. This would require a level of sophistication in planning that I am not sure I am up to at the moment. Ultimately I decided to experiment with a walk in place mechanic. This can still cause vection in some users, but it seems like it might be at a level that can be adapted to.
I recently completed the second course in Udacity’s Virtual Reality Developer nanodegree program. Our final project was to create a gallery-style environment where viewers could learn about the potential impacts of VR/AR on an industry or company. Since I work in higher education, I chose to focus on that. Full versions of the videos linked in the experience can be found here:
here:
and here:
Click and drag inside this one to view it in 360 degrees.
Puzzler is a Virtual Reality minigame, produced for mobile devices using the Unity engine, and meant to introduce users to the fundamentals of a VR experience using a simple “Simon Says”-style game.
Process
Set Outcomes
When users have played through this minigame they should feel comfortable using the gaze control and interaction button on their mobile headset. Movement within the game is limited, making it an excellent test space for users concerned about the potential for VR sickness.
Create a User Profile
Developing a user profile personalizes the development experience and leads the developer to consider design questions that might not otherwise be considered.
Name: Jared
Age: 10 years
Occupation: Student
Quote: “That’s so awesome!”
Description: Jared is technologically savvy, but young enough to take major jumps in technology in stride. He is impatient and won’t spend time reading through instructions, so controls need to be intuitive and the interface graphically oriented. He is physically active and may try to intuitively use three-dimensional space to move. He has a limited experience with VR.
Sketch out the scene
Sketching out the scene helps orient the space in the designer’s mind. I learned to draw in 3d space so my paper sketches are minimal and are more nearly design diagrams such as I would use when designing a physical object, and assist with scale. I also collect images to help inspire mood and establish the color palette.
Frequent testing was vital to the development of this project. I had wanted to test Unity’s terrain-building features as shown in these early development screenshots, but I quickly discovered that they were too resource-intensive for mobile development without a great deal of further optimization.
Other insights provided by the user testing were:
The scale seemed appropriate for a grown man. Shorter users felt tall in the virtual space. Since the shortest of my testers was 4’ and the tallest 5’9”, I decided that the scale was appropriate.
Lighting provided a good atmosphere but difficulty seeing the color change in the orbs led me to make them highlight a different color.
Users were momentarily stumped as to what was expected of them when confronted with the orbs with no additional instructions. They were all able to figure it out after a few cycles.
Two of my testers are used to VR in the Vive, and one of them found this experience to cause a bit of vertigo.
Breakdown of the final piece
Players begin at the start menu.
Once they have hit “start” they glide forward into the building where they are confronted with five orbs that light up in sequence.
Fire effects by Webroid Studios downloaded from the Unity Asset store.
Once the player has selected the correct sequence, the lights briefly flicker and a fanfare plays. The player glides forward to the “reset” screen.
Conclusion
This game meets the objectives that I set out for it. Users can move through the game and successfully complete it, even if they have limited exposure to VR.
Next Steps
The assets for this project were provided as part of the VR Design nanodegree course. I would like to work through improving the look of texture joins at object scenes. I would also like to optimize the lighting to refine the mood while still allowing it to run on most mobile devices.
