For our final project, we’ve decided to create an environment where the player can move pebbles on the ground of a deserted island surrounded by sea, and having the stars up in the sky to reflect the movement of these pebbles as they are being moved. After a certain time has passed, the sun rises and sets, thus “renewing” the sky and giving it a new blank canvas for the player to create another constellation on.
This idea came from reading the chapter from Invisible Cities, where things happening on the ground affects what’s above it in a similar manner.
Here’s what we imagine the environment to look like:
*note: the sea surrounding the little deserted island gives necessary boundaries as to where the player is constrained in terms of space.
And a storyboard of how the world would work:
Our project aims to use the space, the objects within it, the relationship between them, and the sense of time in relation to cause and effect to convey “the stuff of story.” The interaction between the player and the world lends itself to discoveries and experiments.
Assets we’ll need:
- stars in the sky
- island terrain and water for the ground
- night sky as skybox
- animation of sun rising and setting to restart the sky
Interactions to design (+code):
- moving of pebbles – objects with gravity, and responsive to where the player is moving them
- similar reflection in the moving of stars
- extra time element (delay) added to stars so they leave a trail behind as they’re moving into places corresponding to pebbles, creating the effect of shooting stars!
Sound/light:
- ambient during nighttime – see first photo referenced above
- calming sounds of ocean waves in the background
- stars above sparkling a little