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SkyIslands VR

erica_layton
Expert Protege
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Hello, from a world where islands float in the air, and an ancient guild of mages once lived, only to vanish. Clues about who they were and the ecological disaster they wrought can be found in the landscape. Your mission is to help restore balance, and set their ghosts to rest.

I'm actually a few months into the process of building the SkyIslands game. It's slow going, because I'm doing all parts of it myself:  game mechanics, 3D assets, coding, sound design--whatever is needed. I've also been doing various contract work on the side, but focussing as much time as I can afford to on this project, with the goal of publishing it for GearVR on the Oculus Store.

Participating in the Launchpad has given me the encouragement I needed to continue working towards my goals for this game!

So far, I've produced a demo. Here's a walkthrough, captured in GearVR. It's not very interesting yet: I'm currently re-writing the mythos for the world (Thanks to Bernie Yee for great advice!), out of which will flow stories, strung together with puzzles and games for the player.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ybZEH8c5I8

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55 REPLIES 55

erica_layton
Expert Protege

Also, I've been using webVR as a sketching tool for SkyIslands, and as a quick way to share concepts. I share lots of updates and images of this on
Twitter: @EricaLayton

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DrSzilak
Expert Protege
Cool, Erica. Giant spider made me think of Miyazaki's Naussica of the Valley of the Wind. 

Anonymous
Not applicable
Cool! This is exactly the type of game I'd explore, I'm also making something a bit similar, but I love that color pallet you have going.

erica_layton
Expert Protege


Cool! This is exactly the type of game I'd explore, I'm also making something a bit similar, but I love that color pallet you have going.


I'd love to hear your thoughts on the teleports I have in my demo... in my experience taking this thing around to meetups, people don't get how they work. One suggestion I got from a player: move the pink teleport-cubes to above the islands, so that the destination is more clear.

Player on-boarding is tricky.. I'm thinking of using voiceovers, or a helpful spirit-animal to teach people the controls. Time to experiment! 🙂

akababa
Protege
Nice Job Erica!

erica_layton
Expert Protege
It's been a super busy week -- I've been helping a friend with her startup company! Also, working on a formal Game Design Document for SkyIslands.

I'll post a formal entry about this, soon!

erica_layton
Expert Protege
This will likely be a multi-part entry, spread over the next few days, as I produce concept art for game levels.
I've written a rough GDD, and now I'm focussing on two things: writing the story of my game, and concept art. 

I was taught that it's a good idea to have an attitude of "create 50 ideas, use 3, throw out the rest." This is true in some brainstorming situations. In that spirit, I'm spending the next few days producing as much concept art for the game environments as I can.

I'm new to painting in Photoshop, so we'll see how this goes...
:gets out old drawing tablet, somehow finds drivers for it:
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meh. Rough.. the sketch for this still works better.
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Alrighty, then. Time to get painting! I'll post anything interesting that I come up with.

erica_layton
Expert Protege
One of the scenes I'm brainstorming involves haunted towns on top of floating islands in a desert, at night. I keep imagining these islands being very vertical, with ghostly lights in the windows..

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akababa
Protege
Woah! I am only just seeing your latest post and really looking at your artwork! It's totally awesome, I sketched floating worlds in my sketches on Sunday, totally coincidence? I don't think so – it's got to be that we are just tapped into the same frame of mind! I see my worlds represented differently, and will try to stay clear of your direction! You artwork is just so beautiful!!!! :smiley:

I'm attaching a pic that inspired me from my friends trip to China (Zhangjiajie). I think it feels like the movie Avatar!
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