Introduction
Treasure Thieves is a Virtual Reality experience for Google Cardboard. Made with Unity Engine and inspired by the classic game “Simon Says”.
The project was developed as part of the fourth assignment of the Udacity’s VR Developer Nanodegree.
Development Process
For this project the purpose was always to develop the idea as clear as possible, with a simple game mechanics and a fantasy environment that could attract users who like to observe the details.
Concept
As part of the fourth project of the Nanodegree we had the challenge of making an adaptation of the classic game “Simon says” in Virtual Reality. I decided to take the bases of the game and apply them to five Orbs that would light up in a different pattern each time the game was restarted. The objective was to position the user in front of the Orbs and that he would remember the pattern in which the Orbs lit up, repeat it and finish the level.
Game Mechanic
Once the user clicks the botton of the firts menu the user moves to the play area automatically. In the play area the user will see the orbs in front of him, next the orbs show the sequence to imitate. After the sequence, if the user manages to imitate the sequence correctly, he is automatically transferred to the final area, where he can open the treasure and see the restart menu.
For the player movement I used iTween, a simple, powerful and easy to use animation system for Unity.
The orbs are the soul of the game, so it was important that the player understood what was the task that had to perform. Initially I created five spheres, added a texture and color that would make them “enchanted”, add a particle system and scale them to a size that would be comfortable from the user’s perspective.
Now we had the Orbs ready but we had to make them work. I added an Event System to the Orbs with a Pointer Click so that the Orb would recognize the player’s choice, a Pointer Enter so that the Orb would light up when the player was selecting it, and a Pointer Exit for when they stopped selecting it, it would go back to its normal state.
Art
I wanted to do something different from the original Udacity project. After making a list of ideas for my game I decided to execute the final idea: A Fantasy style base of thieves, in the bowels of a forest. All this with a clear rule: Any element that was integrated into the scene should be Low Poly, being a game for mobile devices could not afford to raise the count of polygons, at the same time any light that was added should be baked.
I made everything with the help of four packages from the Unity Asset store: Glowing Forest by SkythinCat, A Piece of Nature by Evgenia, Free Sylized Fantasy Weapons by VertexFrog and Tent Pack by Zug Zug Art.
Statement of Purpose:
Treasure Thives is an easy to play application for mobile devices, suitable for all kind of ages and mainly focused on introducing new users to the virtual reality world.
Persona:
Name: Edgar
Age: 25
Occupation: Graphic Designer
VR Experience: Moderate
Quote: “I love my job, even when I have to help with the design of advertisement posters for tomato soup brands. At least I can draw everyday at work…”
Motivation: He wants to grow as an illustrator and graphic designer to work in the film industry as a concept artist.
User testing — Iterations and outcomes
After the creation of the prototype in Unity, it was time to show it to the world and see what was failing from the perspective of other users. All facets of user testing were done with two people of different profiles and ages. My cousin, a 22-year-old man with no experience with Virtual Reality and the other user who was testing the project was my co-worker, a 31-year-old woman who, like my cousin, had no experience with this type of technology.
User Test 1 — Fixing the UI and Scale
The first user testing was centered in UI and Scale. The user tested the application and answered the following questions: Does the scale feels apropiate? Do you feel comfortable with the experience? Is the mood well established?. He felt comfortable and described the experience “as something like a fantasy game” but quickly pointed out some details about the UI and scale that caught his attention.
“It seems that the menu it is very far and I dont like the design, it does not seem to combine with the rest of the game”
I adjusted the size and change the design of the UI interface, resulting in a more readable menu with a much more striking design.
User Test 2 — is it too fast?
In this phase we focused on Movement Mechanics. We let our next user try again our application and we recomended him to put extra attention to the movement system that we had just implemented with the help of iTween. After our user ended the experience he answered the next questions: Do you felt comfortable with the experience? What about the speed?. In general the user responded favorably, but suggested that the speed was not appropriate and that he would feel more comfortable if it were slower and thus have the opportunity to look around while moving.
I reduced the speed at which the player moves from the starting area to the game area, therefore reducing the probability that our users may feel sick when using our application.
User Test 3 — Final Test
The third phase of User Testing began, this time concentrating on the mechanics of the game and paying special attention to any extra details that our test users could highlight, the user should answer the most important question: What do you feel about overall experience?. The result was good, but we had things to adjust. The speed at which the orbs changed and the color of them was uncomfortable for our user as well as the lighting of the play area.
I changed the design of the Orbs to make it more striking, as well as the speed at which the game is played. Additionally I redesigned the level and change the position of the assets that decorated the level, the bonfire was placed under the Orbs to get the attention of the user. Additionally I corrected the volume of ambient sounds, as well as the sounds of interactive objects such as Orbs.
Break down of the final experience
The start
When the user starts the game, the first thing he will see is a simple and focused menu, with a design that combines with the environment of the game. Around him a forest with a dramatic night lighting, in front of him a path that leads to the game area.
The play area
After the user presses the Start button in the initial menu, the player begins to move towards the game area, where he will find the main area, decorated with three different tents, a bonfire, weapons and a treasure. Right in front of the user the Orbs will begin to play a sequence, which the player will have to imitate to beat the level.
The end
Once users complete the puzzle they will be automatically transferred to the end area, where they will be located in front of the king’s treasure and a UI congratulating them for saving the treasure and giving them the opportunity to restart the game.
Conclusion and next steps
Definitely this has been a very fun project to do and where I have learned a lot. Unlike other projects this has taught me a lot about the great importance of User Testing and how the perspective of other people can help us improve our projects.
I will continue working on the project, I will add a couple of more levels, more difficulty and a more complete story. I am satisfied with the result I got in a couple of weeks of working, but I want to take the experience to the next level.
Link to additional work
Some of my VR projects here:
- www.alexiskotsiras.com
- Feel free to connect with me in Linkedin
