08-08-2018 07:03 PM
08-11-2018 10:00 PM
08-12-2018 06:20 AM
Neil D. Short
OLP18: Week 6
Project Title: Adventures of PICL Jones
Type: VR Game
Genre: Comedy/Adventure,
Sci-Fi/Western
This has been a very busy week for me and I’m keeping a lot
of plates spinning. I left my job at SCAD to begin a new position teaching
VR/360Film at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, California. I’m dropping off
my Airstream RV in Pensacola, FL driving to CA over the next three days with my
cargo trailer and my dog Molly and I’m stopping in Palm Springs to pick up my
wife from the airport.
Of course, I’m also working on an awesome VR game with an amazing team. Before
I left Savannah, we did motion capture of two characters with a couple of great
actors.
The shoot went well and we now have also have WIP on the model of one
character to give feedback on.
08-12-2018 08:41 AM
Week 6: The team has created two levels to the game, and enabled the game to be used on tablets, android/ios phones as well as web. We have started playtesting with some folks on local networks, and got some feedback, much of which has been incorporated into the mid-point check point draft/budget I’m working on. TLDR version: players want “roles” to be assigned (ie, command center help vs alien(?) saboteur, etc.), leaderboard tracking indicating who is best in each role, and the ability to create play rooms/instances that allow the organizer to adjust rules/roles. We also just found the source of the remote network audio issue, and are working on resolving it. Hopefully that’s the only tech issue lurking!
We also are working on a “preview” of the basic gameplay - goal is to submit it along with the midpoint check-in and as a comment/edit to this blog post for yall to look at! We also bought a domain name as prelim marketing and an access point for the game (site has not been stood up, but we will likely get a basic version up for the next round of playtesting).
08-12-2018 09:40 AM
Week 6: VR Sea Legs
The story:
You start in a gray and neutral place. You look around, and a voice begins to speak. She tells you that you are in Conversion. She guides you through the steps necessary to re-embody yourself in her experimental robotic host body, and you enter conventional reality in her laboratory. The mysterious voice is the Inventor, an experimenter in alternative sources of energy and dimensions, and she needs your help. You’ll run, fly, swim, and drive as you explore strange new worlds in your quest to restore power to the portals and get back to your real body.
Project status:
This week we added the foundation for the rest of the planned levels. The basic setup for each level now integrates all of our self-created systems: VR movement system, haptics system, grab and throw, crafting, and interaction system. We configured the movement system for each area and created a small test area in Procore to provide the starting point for future level blockouts. We also created our logo for the project (see image below).
Content Unlocked!
This week we have unlocked FPS Grounded and Rubber-band Grounded.
At this point in the flowchart diagram, the player has learned the basics of movement, including teleport and hand-guided movement with two speeds. They have learned to use the basics, feel pretty good about movement, and now we are ready to transition them into more traditional controls!
We consider these advanced movement systems because they require more thought than simply pointing and pressing a button.
FPS Grounded can use the head direction or controller as the forward direction, based on user choice, plus uses joystick direction for strafing. This leaves our hands free to do stuff like chomping, punching, or fighting your favorite zombie.
Rubber-band movement puts an anchor point down and allows you to control both direction and speed, just like an analog joystick. This VR joystick lets you move in 3 directions, and gives you the most precision in your movement controls.
Hey ya'll prepare yourself for the Rubber-band!
Rubber-band movement does not require wrist movement in order to move in full 360, making it easier to move precisely… you can back up with intention, keeping movement completely under your control.
08-12-2018 10:10 AM
Today
my vision of the objects and the VR environment I want to bring to life crystallized
further. There are 4 projects and ideas I’ve recently encountered that serve as
a reference point to my project:
1. Laurie
Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang Chalkroom (2017), where Laurie
Anderson stated: “My goal is to make an experience that
frees you.” Chalkroom is an
exploration of interesting spaces through users’ flying and defying gravity.
The environment is textured and tactile, while objects are made of lightweight
letters forming words and trees. Very important for me was her clearly
resounding, smooth, and hypnotic voice, guiding users through the experience.
The experience is meant to be solitary, like reading a book.
2.
The visualization of E8 – an interrelated 248-dimensional symmetrical object – possibly
a geometrical representation of the “theory of everything.” I’d like to show
this visualization to my collaborating 3D animation artist in order for her to
be able to put into motion the interrelatedness (inter-subjectivity) of the
natural world and users.
3. An Oculus Rift experience Where Thoughts Go (2017) by Lucas Rizzotto. The description the author provides is very
useful as a model for conveying succinctly what the experience is about: “Genre:
Introspective Immersive Narrative; Where Thoughts Go is an emotional VR social
experience in which users can explore intimate stories of others - and leave
their own for others to find. Set in a parallel reality where all human thoughts exist as sleeping
creatures, they await to be awakened. What will you find, and what stories will
you leave behind?”
I found the users’ testimonies of this experience extremely
valuable for the following reasons: a) The testimonies reveal that this
experience targets a very clearly defined audience. The positive outcome of
this is that those who try it out really enjoy it. b) They reveal users are
willing to take risks and discover something about themselves and learn about
others. c) People appreciate the recordings of voices of other people who
had
the same experience before them. This gives them documentary value and inspires
trust and deepens the users’ experience. d) Although solitary, Where Thoughts Go gives a feeling of a
rewarding social – multiplayer – experience because of the sharing intimate
thoughts, feelings, and life experiences.
4. An Oculus Rift experience Nature Treks VR by John Carline. It’s a meditative, yet somewhat
interactive experience in VR simulating archetypal natural vistas. Users can interact
with the environment to affect the weather, grow trees, etc. They can also
choose to either listen to the music or turn it off and immerse themselves into
the sounds of nature. The overwhelmingly positive user feedback testifies to
the fact that there is a definitive niche out there for such experiences.
08-12-2018 12:30 PM
08-12-2018 12:37 PM
08-12-2018 01:17 PM
OLP18: Week 6
Project Title: 1946 Stories To The Moon
Oculus Go Storyboarding, Prototyping & UX User Research
I've also been on it with VR tools companies inquiring when their toolsets will work with the Oculus Go.
"You'll be able to view finished Sketchbox projects on Oculus GO by the end of the year."
08-12-2018 05:34 PM
New Concept
July 27- August 3
I can’t seem to create a progression for the original concept I had, but while designing a level for the initial concept I was able to make a new concept. For the first concept, I hade a level idea where the projectiles will be deflected to colourless flowers and depending which projectiles hit them their colour change to the colour of the orb. But I find the idea to be a bit strange on the interaction, I was imagining the situation from a butterfly and a hummingbird experience that’s when I decided to scrap the original concept and build a new one around the flower interaction.
I have two goals for the overall experience it will contain simple linear exploration experience and a gardening/farming experience. I think the linear exploration is the most realistic with my time. While I believe the gardening experience will have more player retention and replay-ability it will require to script the memory and designing the plant growth.
I created a quick movement script to program a flying movement that was based around the “water booster movement”. I spent a good five minutes in VR with just moving between primitive geometries and not much interaction. It was a sign for me to develop this further.
Conclusion: I am working on a different concept from the past couple of weeks.