Project Description:The boisterous sound of cicadas in the summer, two kitsune statues on either side of a road leading to a pagoda, a series of gray gravestones surrounded by overbearing bamboos… these are the first things that users find themselves spectating once they enter Paths of Perception. This experience, originally designed and intended for the Google Cardboard yet executed for the Mac and PC, places players in the verge of reality and fantasy as they are faced with the danger of getting possessed by a nogitsune (a wild fox found in Japanese folklore known to trick and even possess humans). To avoid losing complete sight of reality, users have one last chance: to correctly identify three objects that have changed in their surroundings between the time they first found themselves in the cemetery and when they enter the spirit world.
Since users in Paths of Perception are given no mobility apart from the possibility of rotating 360° around the same spot, the design of this environment was carefully done to make the most of only one main point of view: looking outwards. As such, everything is placed in a loose circle surrounding the user, indicating that they somehow are the main focus of the experience. The “storyness” of this space then comes from a change in this environment. What at first seems mundane and everyday suddenly turns eerie and even mysterious, as the sky turns dark with shades of red, a slightly purple tint encompasses the environment, and two nine-tailed foxes run towards the user. The experience’s story is then driven further through the use of text: prompting users to point and click at their objects of choice as well as providing another alternative by supplying riddles hinting at the correct objects.
Process and Implementation
Brainstorming and Game Logic
One of the largest parts of the process of bringing this project to life was actually the idea and plot development. Initially, Neyva and I used the key words of “escape room” and “wonderland” as starting points to try to design a story that was driven by having an objective (like escaping from an escape room) and also presenting mystical qualities to it. Since at the beginning we were designing the experience for the Google Cardboard, we also wanted to constrain ourselves by having a small and very detailed environment that would only require users to look around to get a sense of the narrative. We eventually reached the idea of drawing inspiration from Japanese folklore, particularly that surrounding the kitsune, fox spirits known to be benevolent or malevolent depending on their type, and also known to have intelligence and be able to shapeshift. Reading further, we realized there were various types of kitsune, and we decided that we wanted to form a narrative surrounding the possibility of making a choice between two of these foxes, with no knowledge of which one was the bad or the good fox. After weeks of user testing and reconsidering our idea in relation to what the user’s actions would be, we eventually landed on our final concept: where users start the experience by being possessed by the nogitsune (bad fox), yet are given the possibility of breaking the curse by selecting the three correct objects that changed in their surroundings. To keep our original concept of having the user choose between the two foxes in front of them, we decided that these foxes would also present the user with a riddle hinting at the objects that supposedly changed. The good fox would hint at the three correct items, while the bad fox would contain one incorrect one. With no clue of which fox is which, users are invited to take a gamble and choose which one’s advice to follow.
Implementation
- Environment
The environment’s design was an aspect that took a lot of trial and error to get just right. Originally, as shown in our initial storyboard, we intended for the user to be in the middle of a road passing through the surrounding cemetery. The two foxes would then come towards the user from either side of the road, with the visual distinction between the two of them serving as indication of the difference in choice that they represent (one intending to help the user, the other intending to deceive).
Considering this layout with a main road crossing through the cemetery, Neyva and I unconsciously created a larger space than we initially envisioned, causing a lot of the items to only be able to be seen from afar. It was until after we did our first user testing session in class and asked people to find 2 quite obvious changes in our environment that we realized how the environment we had created was not conducive for our type of experience. A lot of users mentioned the desire to walk around and explore further, getting close to the items they could only look from afar from their one vantage point. The amount and variety of objects we had also contributed to making users feel overwhelmed rather than guided, which was a significant reason why we decided to reconsider our layout design to make it more small and personal, ultimately contributing to our story as well. As such, we decided to create a sort of square or small circular opening where users could see everything from their location and height. Having this more intimate setting then allowed us to be more careful with our object placement. We decided to decrease the variety of items and be more selective. Gray gravestones would surround the user yet serving as a clear background, while distinctive and even colorful items would clearly serve as the foreground and as clear focal points. Having only one road also served to give context by indicating the path where the user potentially came from, while also providing closure regarding its purpose once the foxes use it to run towards the user.
2. Interaction
With our new environment design, we addressed one of the main modes of interaction of the Google Cardboard: looking around. We decided to take advantage of the second mode of interaction, that of using the pointer by using it as a means for users to choose the items they wanted to select, as well as “submitting” their items by lighting the candle in front of the foxes. To make this pointing and clicking intuitive, we decided to change the color of the selectable items. Once selected, their material color also changes permanently to suggest that the choice has been recorded, unless clicked again (causing it to deselect and go back to its original color). Having more than 3 selectable objects, and having these be very recognizable items such as the red lamps, and a detailed lantern also serve as a way to encourage the user to try to decipher the riddle, as no two items look the same. In a way, by presenting the riddles, our game provides two different experiences: one where users try their best to remember how the environment was originally or take wild guesses, or one where users could instead take their time to decipher the riddles and muse about which of the foxes’ advice to follow. Having users light up the candle at the end of the sequence also has various purposes. First, it serves as a clear and easy way for the program to know when to analyze the items that were selected and trigger the appropriate ending. Second, and most importantly, it works as our way of directing the user’s gaze back towards the foxes. Originally, once users made their last choice they would stay facing towards the graves and the cemetery, missing the foxes’ movement at the end according to their right or wrong choices. By having the additional step of lighting the candle, they are now naturally facing the direction where the action will happen, finally having closure on the triggered outcome.
In terms of the logic to make all of this possible, I did spend a lot of time figuring out how everything would happen properly. I learned how to use coroutines in Unity to properly time and set delays between different events. This was key for showing and disappearing text, as well as for triggering the fade out transition effect. Doing the small changes in the environment such as rotating the foxes, changing the fence to a new one, and changing the material of the small gate were actually surprisingly simple. In order to properly check which items the user clicked on and determine whether they are correct or not, I wrote a script that added or deleted objects into a “selected items” array accordingly. Once the 3 choices were made, the program then searched whether the correct items were “contained” into the array, and triggered the final scene. Finally, figuring out how to switch between the fox animations was also a small hurdle I had to overcome, particularly since our bought prefab’s animations were read-only, so I had to find a workaround. Regardless of these challenges, piecing all of these elements together to create our functioning game was a great learning experience.
Reflection
Overall, even though it was quite a long, and at times frustrating process, I am really happy and proud with how our project turned out. As mentioned previously, Neyva and I originally wanted to make an intimate experience that made the most out of a small environment that drove our story forward. Considering the final result of Paths of Perception, I feel that we were definitely able to fulfill our own expectations, as we continuously user tested outside our class sessions with our roommates and adapted our project accordingly. The final choices we made regarding the environment’s layout, the tone of the text and the riddles, and even the final placement of various objects were done with confidence because of this. Since the very beginning, Neyva and I were very clear about creating a project whose concept we were passionate about, and whose scope was realistic given our time, skills, all the while considering the fact that we were only two people in a group. In the end, we were able to keep these in mind while ultimately creating an experience that successfully conveys our story and intended mood.
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