I'm a galactic cartographer and a member of the European Space Agency's Gaia Mission Data Processing and Analysis Consortium.
I've released two Horizon Worlds experiences in which players can fly starships around the galaxy. One is a treasure hunt game and the other is a galactic space port.
More details here:
Really interesting to read about your work studying the stars.
I'm a big fan of edutainment, and the treasure hunt world with ships for groups to explore together in is a really fun idea. Nice use of world streaming to pull those areas in and out during travel.
So glad that you like the treasure hunt game! I wish it had more traffic. I'm not sure what the issue is. Do I need to promote it differently? Do I need to simplify it? Is an astronomy theme just not popular? I would love to understand what the issue is.
You could try refining the title and key art to bring in a different audience. Perhaps a name or imagery that evokes the exploration, treasure hunting, or team adventure aspects of the world.
You can also use the thumbnail A/B testing tool to refine your thumbnail for what works best to pull in new users.
Hi, I'm very interested in this topic. I'm into astronomy (especially astrophotography). I'll visit your world as soon as possible.
Have a good day.
This world is actually good! Unlike many I've looked through... they should make it easier for 'new' worlds like this to be discoverable on both the headset and web store.
Thanks! Although the Galactic Treasure Hunt game was written for a mobile phone contest (and an update will be submitted to the next mobile phone contest), I have been testing it to make sure it works in VR and I just added a couple of Mirror Gizmos (which only work in VR) so that people can take and share pics at crucial parts of the game.
I have to submit my updated Galactic Treasure Hunt game to the contest tomorrow but that doesn't stop me from adding little tweaks today. Like this Scenic Viewpoint area at the end of Mission 9 on the Achird star station.
Sigh. No prize this time either. Maybe the game is a little more elaborate than what the judges were looking for? Not sure.
I know this is not usually done for contests but it would certainly be useful to have some feedback like: "your game would be more likely to win a prize if you made the following changes ...". Not that I would necessarily want to make those changes but it would help me decide whether it was worth submitting the game or anything like it to future contests.
Just for reference, here is a link to my latest contest entry: Galactic Treasure Hunt
With what I saw your world is a scavenger hunt game.
Great job on your submission, you had many neat features. Liked that you had a UI that tracks your progressive and I like the portal effect for the spaceship.
Progression
I saw picking up artifacts (primary goal), keycards to unlock doors, it is progression, but compared to the winners it doesn't seem like enough progressive elements.
Sharable
I find this one hard to say and unpredictable. Maybe space station could be a cool place that people may want to share, but its possible that there isn't interesting enough scenes to be sharable or not obvious enough to say, dang I could really see people sharing this.
Possible Improvements
I think making your world and UI more visually appealing, would have helped. Maybe as well making the scavenger hunt more engaging like having to complete a puzzle to get it, or other game features. Add more progression, like as you get more artifacts you gain level/rank and it unlocks wearable (badge) for the player. Add some areas that are really interesting, like a alien attacking that puts the camera at a good angle to take pic. Improve your video submission.
These are just my opinion, trying my best to do research (researching winning worlds) and improve my own world so hope it is helpful. If you want you can give some constructive feedback here instagram.com/reel/DNE36-LNmFT my submission is devpost.com/software/fractured-party-games-updated .
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. If I had won a prize, I would have had the resources to work more on the game and even hire an artist to improve the visual appeal. As it is, I think it will probably just stay the way it is.
I think I learned quite a bit developing the game which I can use in future if I ever get the chance to work on another game.
Agree on that, you did implement many things that will be helpful for future projects.
You don't have to hire an artist, you could just collaborate with an artist instead. That is what I am trying to talk myself into doing for this next competition, but a big part of me just wants to do it all my self, but I also know if I had the right artist I could just get the logic down and have a much more polished project (with someone doing the art side). Other side, you have to figure out how to separate work, earnings and expectations (good and bad).
