Design & Development
Week 3: Interaction Prototype
Sunday 17th February 2022
WEEK 3 -
TO DO: DOCUMENT INTERACTION PROTOTYPE (Made by Kiera)
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PLAN
Today I plan to document Kiera's progress with the core interaction prototype in Virtual Reality. We agreed that having a playable experience on Virtual Reality to begin with will be our back-up incase our plans with the physical space set-up fail. This allows us to achieve our intended player experience just through a different platform. As Kiera has been working on this throughout the week, I thought it would be best to document her progress so far to keep myself up to date with her progress.
RAY-CASTING PROTOTYPE
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DOCUMENTATION FOUND HERE:
https://www.notion.so/Unity-Getaway-Development-8dbac28620c04ce79ca3d760d6717952
WHAT HAS KIERA BEEN DOING?
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Kiera has been working on prototyping the core interaction in Virtual Reality before we progress further, thinking about how to curate a physical space, using a Touch Controller to interact. Over time, Kiera has been adapting a 'ray-casting' script, to allow players to be in control of an object throughout the virtual environment, in this case, the object represents the bird in our idea.
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(See documentation linked for more info)
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
After multiple iterations of the prototype, Kiera created a final prototype demonstrating how players can use a Touch Controller to guide the object around the walls of the space. We know we have this set in stone, so this script will work to fly the bird across the environment. If all else fails, we know where to turn to!
NEXT STEPS... THE PHYSICAL SPACE
DOCUMENTATION FOUND HERE:
https://www.notion.so/Unity-Getaway-Development-8dbac28620c04ce79ca3d760d6717952
WHAT HAS KIERA BEEN DOING?
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After discussion with Adam, James and Sid regarding the idea, we spoke a lot about the use of 1 global camera to prevent the issue of struggling to connect multiple projectors, to make them work simultaneously. To do this, we would have to work in a purely 3D environment, using 2D assets. As Kiera and I made the informed decision to work purely in 2D, the only solution for us is to import and layer our 2D assets in a 3D space - the traditional ways of doing things. This would require multiple layers in the 3D space, to give the environment depth and surround players, with the 360-degree effect just how we want it.
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In her next prototype, Kiera has been experimenting with a physical space in Unity. She began to create a box with the same dimensions as our original concept (2.5x2.5x2.5m) and then produced another version, with the multiple layers to demonstrate how we would go about importing different layers into the 3D Virtual Reality space. As Sid recommended, this VR prototype could potentially be made playable if the idea for the box/space fails, so we have back-up just incase.
THE BOX CONCEPT IN UNITY
HOW TO CREATE A 2D ENVIRONMENT IN A 3D SPACE: USING LAYERS
REFLECTION
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We had a handful of discussions and gathered a lot of advice this week, so now it's up to us regarding what we want to do and how we intend to begin building the game. This prototype was a great start, but as we ideally wanted to work in a physical space with projections, the 'gesture control' idea recommended by James is sounding the most appealing. Kiera and I have both agreed that we should do some more research into this, and wait to hear back from James about the 'Image processing' program, before we make a rushed decision. From here, we can decide exactly what to proceed with and what will benefit our experience the most.
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If the 'Image processing' program is as explained, this will be extremely beneficial for the experience, as it'll require players to use body movement to interact digitally. From my research, I know that this works through a webcam and a device, which is a simple setup and can be easily projected using basic equipment.
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NEXT STEPS
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Tomorrow we are scheduled to have another weekly discussion, where we will talk about what we feel is best and make an informed decision from here. We have organised to focus more on the full experience next week, by mapping out a step-by-step / scene-by-scene mockup of the game. This will allow us to think deeply about how interaction will work and what will be most beneficial. Over the next few weeks, we should receiving an update from James, and this moment will decide on how we progress. For now we must focus on the idea itself.
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