A lot of progress has been made on the project. I have to make a few more additions in terms interactivity that we covered in the lab to complete the project.
Navigation:
There are two ways to navigate the space. one way is to physically move around in order to explore the environment. the second way is to use hotspots to move around the environment. There is a also a third way to move for one segment and that it by climbing the ladder.
I choose these for a couple of reasons. first, since it is a AR game it would be appropriate to have a mechanic of movement the ties the virtual world with the real world by physically moving. Second the movement mechanic is still a quirk and you would need a big space to comfortably explore the area so in order to facilitate exploration without the movement mechanic getting in the way of that so Hotspots were made and put at idea locations as a form of teleportation. the Hotspots also allow the player to look at the environment through idea positions that make the environment more special. the third is that the level should not feel flat it should have a form of 3d transversal in it. so for that the ladder mechanic was implemented. moreover the hotspots have also been put at different heights and the level is also made at 3 different heights to facilitates verticality of the level.
Interactions:
For interaction I wanted to do something that tied in with the concept of exploration. for that I have made these interactions.
- The player can pick up and throw canisters around the level. there will be a location where the player can place the canisters that they have collected from the environment.
- The player can fire the big three turrets from the control tower by touching the respective panel
- The player can rotate a small antenna on a device put on the landing platform. (WIP)
- The player can push one of three buttons on the landing pad to change the color of the signal flare(WIP).
- The player can click on random object to get a dialogue response out of the player.(WIP)
These Interactions will be made obvious through placement and maybe lighting hints. other than that it is the players job to explore and find these random interactions.
The transformation of expanding the environment vertically is very interesting! Like I said during the call, the module feeling of the space makes sense for AR, and also opens up possibilities as a mobile game. It’s very impressive that there’re a lot of things happening with many features to do, and as a player, I’m curious to learn about “who am I” and “why am I doing this” in this experience. If it’s about exploring, what are those tasks and interactions mean, can I get a sense of how does this work function, I’m interested to know bigger picture and the narratives side of them.