Despite being a student project, this game experience has a special place in my heart as it symbolise the achievement of my Video Game studies but also one of the best, most creative and challenging project, I had the chance to work on!
Project manager, Game and Level Designer
Project
- Team: 3 Game artists, 2 Game Designers (including myself), 1 Game programmer
- Duration: September 2015 - June 2016
- Engine: Unity 5 & plugin Middle VR
- Platorm: CAVE & 3D glasses
- Controller: Senso light & shadow
My role in the project
- Project management: Due to the specificity of the equipment, my main task was to create a dedicated production pipeline matchingo the constraints of the CAVE. We didn't have the possibility to use the equipement as often as we want (max 1 time / week), so we had to constantly adapt our production for every test. In the end, we worked in sprint for every test to make sure, every one of them count!
- Game Design: The Cave offers a wide range of possibilities, but it can be tricky to determine the best movement system that would avoid motion sickness. We designed a movement system that allow the user to explore the environment within the constraints of space. Additionaly, it help the user to navigate as if he was following a rail with a smooth and predictible movement (still some users had motion sickness, but it was the best solution we found for our experience). Furthermore, we wanted to use the CAVE to have an experience using all its possibilites: movement, touch and grab 3D materials with a specific controller. We designed all the interaction according to empower the sensation of being inside a 3D environment and interact with virtual shapes.
- Level Design: In term of Level Design my main roal was to create the Mock up of every rooms by using Sketch'up. Then, I decided of the walkthrough and point of interest for every location. Finally, I implemented them inside Unity.
- Sound Design: I remixed sounds and created specific atmosphere with Adobe Audition for every narrative phase of our experience. The idea, was to create spacialized sounds that would empower the immersion of the user.
Technology
The techonology we were using is a CAVE. It's an immersive room of 18 m². It is composed of 4 HD screens and 12 cameras. The user needs to wear 3D glasses in order to see the 3D environment and to be tracked by the cameras.
This device recreates a 3D environnement around the user and it is empowered by a set of speakers surrounding the user that creates a spatialized sound. |
Controller
The user moves in WARP-01 by using a rail and interacts with the environment by using a controller: a senso light and shadow.
The controller is tracked by the camera and follows the movement of the user. The trigger is the only button of interaction, the user needs to place the hand close to a 3D form to interact with it. According to the interaction the user can press or pull and hold this input. It will have different effects depending of the situation. He can also move in the CAVE while activating the trigger.
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Move inside WAP-01
To move in WARP-01, the user follows a rail set on the ground and squeeze the trigger on the controller to advance. You can see an example in the video below:
Pitch
Warp-01 is an interactive experience in virtual reality in which the user has to experiment and manipulate several abstract forms in 3D called glitches to discover new areas. Through manipulations, the user will cause a transformation of the environment.
Trailer of WARP-01
Example of glitches
Universe
At first, the user is confronted to a brutalistic environment that can be compared to a museum, it is a minimalist environment which is represented by the overwhelming presence of concrete. On the other hand, there are glitches which are in total contrast with the brutalist architecture due to their various forms and fluid movement. These elements create a unique entity: the program.
The user is immersed in a dysfunctional universe where a virtual nature awakes and slowly reveals itself to the user. This nature communicates through the glitches and will gain importance over the experience. Each glitch will impact the environment by transforming it and will increasingly destroy it until reaching a chaotic version of the program. They are all unique. The user has to understand their behavior and adapt to their various forms.
The user is immersed in a dysfunctional universe where a virtual nature awakes and slowly reveals itself to the user. This nature communicates through the glitches and will gain importance over the experience. Each glitch will impact the environment by transforming it and will increasingly destroy it until reaching a chaotic version of the program. They are all unique. The user has to understand their behavior and adapt to their various forms.
The trailer represents the environment and the impact of the glitch
Experience
The goal of the user is to help the glitches to express their true nature by interacting with them. To do so, he/she has to experiment and try different manipulations in order to understand the behavior of each glitch. When the user manipulates correctly the glitch, it will morph and modify the environment.
Situation 1
Situation 2
Situation 3