This is a documentation and writeup on my process and breakdown on working on a mobile VR game called Puzzler.
THE PROJECT (Puzzler)
Puzzler is a mobile VR puzzle game which challenges the user to solve a puzzle in the form of orbs in a dungeon environment. The orbs follow a pattern which the user has to imitate before exiting the dungeon room.
PROCESS SECTION
This section includes my user tests and personas and sketches
Personas
Name : Doug
Age : 31
Occupation: Gym Trainer
Quote : “The gym is like a gaming simulator except with the pain and actual gain “
VR Experience : None
Doug is a gym trainer who’s obsessed with body workouts and the gym. He’s a casual gamer if he’s not completely exhausted from work. He’s a bit reluctant to try out VR. He keeps “forgetting”.
Sketches
Gameplay sketch and menu sketches were done.
USER TESTS
User Test 1 result
One test was carried out on a user
VISUAL TESTS
Describe what you’re seeing
“ a hunted dungeon, spooky”
How tall are you in the experience?
“ i feel slightly taller”
Is there anything you can’t see?
Outside is extremely blurry…is it finished or is it a time portal?
Any issues with the UI Interface
“no issues works well”
MOTION TEST
“ the movement seems a bit to fast”
USER TEST ITERATIONS
- Height was adjusted till the user felt more comfortable
- Camera movement speed was adjusted
- A mountain environment was put outside the dungeon
FINAL BREAKDOWN PROCESS
This project was made using the unity engine and comprised of 3d models of the dungeon environment with lights to give the environment a dungeon feel.
Orbs were made to light up in sequence
The start and restart menu was iterated from the initial sketch
And sound effects and music was added as the final addition.
CONCLUSIONS
This was a first virtual reality project to work on and of course there were so many challenges as a first. Mainly in the whole user testing. But the major take away from working on this project is that the “user is always right!”. The next steps i see for the future of this Puzzler project is too maybe update the dungeon environment and have maybe more floors and more orbs and spice it up with some trivia questions or riddles and maybe have a highscore leader board.
I also hope i can make better and more challenging Puzzle games in Virtual Reality.