Team project (Jingyuan Li / Chengbo Xing / Arial Fang)
Programmer / Game Designer
Unity XR Interaction Toolkit API
3D models from "Synty Studio"
6 weeks
Dream Delivery is a single-player game built for Virtual Reality. Courier needs to complete training in order to get qualified to deliver dreams in three locations, from easy medium to hard levels. Using controllers to grab materials and using strategy to place different objects to build road. Explore, think, and interact.
Team
Role
Tools
Duration
About
01
Game Demo
Game type
Target player
Playtime
First-person perspective building & platform jumping VR game
Have experience with VR & Players like platform jumping game / building game
15 mins from beginning to finshing one level
02
Overview
Game Experience
Step 1, Base
Players will start at the base, the guidance on the screen will lead them to tutorial scene.
Step 2, Tutorial
Players need to complete the tutorial to learn how to use controller.
After finishing the tutorial, players will go to portal and enter the pick up scene.
Step 3, Pick up building material
Players need to pick up as much as possible of the material in a certain amount of time.
Step 4, Choose dream to deliver
Once players collect all materials, they can select from three different levels to grab the dream to start the game.
Step 5, Enter the level
Player needs to complete the tutorial to in order to start the game.
03
Hedonomic in VR
Hands as information affordances
I continue the interaction design of the VR hand of "Death Stranding's VR packaging system (Click to check the project and Hedonomic meaning)". Hands are not only the avatar of players, but also an important information affordance. Comparing with the static interface following the player's camera, VR hands are a more intuitive signifier to pass the information for players.
The "Death Stranding" project only focus on one scene, while there are different scenes and levels in "Dream Delivery", so the information and functions of the VR hand are different in these scenes. .
Hands when players at base scene
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Guildence that lead player to tutorial scene / pick up scene portal
Hands when players at pick up scene
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Time counter
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Number of materials picked up by the player
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Player cannot spawn material through hand watch in picking material scene.
Hands when players at game level scene
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Players could spawn the building materials that they collected in picking up scene.
Corresponding with the conceptual model of the system
All the interactions, especially the action of players that are designed by the system, should follow the world view of the game and match the interactive context of VR.
Pick up action:
We use the backpack as the affordance of picking and collecting materials.
Portal Transmission
We use portals as the medium for selecting levels, rather than the static interface and buttons of traditional games.
Different Types of Materials:
We extracted the elements that make up the building materials from three themed dream scenes.
The five materials include: a static dance floor, a flying pannel that moves up and down, a coffin that moves left and right, a rotating pizza and a rug step.
04
Process & Iteration
First Round: Game Experience & Level Design
At the prototype stage, our original thought is to design one level, which contains three islands. Therefore, players need to develop a strategy to decide which island they will go to first with the limited materials.
Here is the first virsion of our game experience:
We made a simple prototype level which contains two island and picking up scene to test these aspects:
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Could players easily understand how to use controller?
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Which watch interaction method is more intuitive for the player: drag or spawn?
*Drag from interface to get the building materials
*Using raycast to get and spawn the materials
From the playtest, we found these insights and came up with the solution:
1. Feeling Dizzy
“I am feeling dizzy exploring the whole experience, from grabbing material to packing it and going through three islands to complete the game. It is overwhelming for me.”
-> Splitting experience into multiple levels (easy, medium, hard)
We initially wanted the game to have only one level, containing three dream islands, and players could choose how many islands they would eventually reach, or they could freely plan the path between the islands.
Some testers, especially players with no previous VR experience, gave up at the beginning because of dizziness. In order to alleviate the dizziness of players who just started playing the game, we designed levels with different levels of difficulty. When players adapt to the VR world, they can challenge longer levels.
The difficulty of the level is divided mainly by the number of checkpoints, the distance between the starting point and the destination before and the height difference.
2. Controllers Instruction
“How to build a road again?” “How to select building materials again?” “Which button is for grabbing?” We use verbal guidance in the first-round player's test. But it's hard for them to remember all the input and they rapidly asked again and again.
->Adding a tutorial to practise
We added a tutorial level for players to practice and master how to use the controllers. This tutorial level is designed to be simple and straightforward. The level consists of two basic platforms, players need to practice picking up materials, put them in their backpacks, build roads to the first platform of the same height and the second slightly higher platform, and finally complete the tutorial.
3. Drag is more intuitive
Most players said dargging from the interface is more intuitive. This is because when the material is spawned at the player's feet, the player's eyes are focused on the watch rather than the ground. The material tends to be ignored by the player.
Second Round: Detailed Interaction
We showed this project at NYU ITP Wintershow, and people of different ages and backgrounds have tried our games.
At this stage, we have basically completed the production of all the levels, shifting the focus to more detailed game interaction, including whether the player can quickly learn the controller input, can master the skills of picking up items and building roads, etc.
1. "Where am I?"
“Do I jump into the second platform?”
-> Adding a circle to indicate the location of player
2. Backpack Visualization
When we test the action of picking up an item and placing it in the backpack, players often ask, "How can I be sure I put it in the backpack?"
-> Adding a circle to indicate the location of player
We originally had the backpack follow the player's rotation (Figure 1), so when the player turns around in the physical world the backpack is not visible. But now we have fixed the backpack so that the player can see it when he looks down slightly.
3. Bug: The player capsule collider didn't follow players when they walk in physical world
05
Further Dev
After we presented our project to our Hedomonic lecturer Michelle and got feedback from Winter Show audiences, we found that several aspects can be improved:
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Enhance the relationship between watch and backpack
Some players didn't quickly understand the relationship between the watch and the backpack: items placed in the backpack are displayed in the watch interface. They tried to touch the backpack to see what items they had picked up.
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Add feedback for pickup
Players will often be unsure whether to put items in their backpacks or not. A simple sound effect might solve this problem.
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Controllers Preset Settings
When we tested the game, we observed that different players had different controller operating habits. Some people are used to move with their left hand, while others are the opposite. Michelle's advice to us was to give different presets and let players choose their own preference.
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Teleportation
One of the guest speaker also suggested us to add teleportation to the game, it could also help players reduce dizziness.