So I’ve returned to school, and it’s really a huge change from being in a full-time job for a year. At my school, I have a lot of opportunities to work on very creative and technical projects for assignments. This project is one of these.
In this series, I will be documenting my progress working in a group to create a VR game using the javascript library aframe. We will be following a process starting with the ideation of the game concept, moving to reference images and wireframes, before getting to the technicals and nitty-gritty of making a VR/mobile multiplayer game that functions in the browser. Hopefully, by the end we will have an interesting project to show for!
Our Task
The goal of the assignment is to create a multiplayer, multiplatform experience using the javascript library aframe. The experience should be educational and take into mind good design and interactive experiences.
Initial Ideas
While considering the different talents of everyone in the group, we decided to make a music-related game to take advantage of a group member’s skills in music production. Because this must be a multiplayer, multiplatform experience, we will be creating music experiences for both touch device experience and a VR experience.
The two players will have an asymmetric experience, meaning that although they are playing together and can hear each other’s sounds, they both actually have very different screens and tools to work with. The VR player will play drums. Unlike other instruments such as piano or clarinet, hitting drums do not require individual fingers and so VR controllers will work nicely. The person on the touch screen device will be given access to a step sequencer with pre-made chord sounds available.
Some examples of already existing drum games include Rock Band which uses a physical plastic drum setup or the more recent Paradiddle which is a true VR drum game. Meanwhile, a good example of a simple step sequencer is Sound Maker, from Google Music Lab.
The educational aspect of this game includes an explorative approach, where players have an environment to make music together. Different genres of music can be chosen (Pop, Hip-Hop, and Jazz) which will allow them to start recognizing different sounds. (Different instruments used in the chord sequencer, and different drum sounds). The drums will also be created in a setup mirroring realities drums, which may allow someone with no real drum experience to gain familiarity with a drum set. A great example of this happening with VR drums is shown here in the article Here’s What 100 Hours of VR Drum Practice Gets You.
Get Ready
My group is excited for this project and I will be documenting the whole thing. In part two, I’ll be sharing some of our initial wireframe designs and prototypes.
Thanks for reading.
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