This week, I sat down with Alejandro from the Creative Tech Lab to discuss the possibility of a multi-player network. Although he is going forward with some Photon plug-in tests, our team decided we will pour all of our energy instead into creating an interesting environment for our game. Because of this, we will use VRChat and take it as an opportunity to research custom world creation, socialization habits, and interaction within the existing platform.

This past week I also wrote a script for the 360 filmmaking part of the experience, which will require a fair amount of compositing. Vier also modeled the forest scene for the game in TiltBrush.

Our next steps include research and design. We want to do a follow-up user test in one or two weeks time maximum.
(1) First, we have to see how to meet the requirements to upload our custom world to VRChat.
(2) Second, we need to research the extent of interactions we can include in our custom world.
(3) Lastly, we need to learn about code compatibility with VRChat.

This week we reviewed our first user-study results and with the help of our tutor, realized a follow-up is in order. This coming week we will contact our users via email in order to schedule a follow-up interview. In addition to this, we will complete some other things we missed:
(a) A consent form
(b) An info sheet
(c) Include and be led by research terms about existing games (e.g. social interaction in platforms like VRChat)

This week, we tackled two big challenges:
(1) Setting up a multi-player network and
(2) Testing whether our version of Werewolf/Mafia actually works.

(1) As for #1, I was able to get a simple 3D game in Unity to work within the same computer. The editor served as the host, and the build file served as the client. Both updated in real time.

It became trickier when I tried to run the game, simple 3D or VR, in another computer. I don’t have a degree in Computer Science, so there is a lot that goes over my head in terms of networks and servers. I have been using the Mirror networking plug-in. It seems, however, that I need to add a matchmaking plug-in, since the error I was getting was that the host computer was actively refusing the client. I don’t know if this has to do with firewalls, since we were using the university’s computers, but I have been told by an associate lecturer that one way she side-stepped this problem in one of her former projects was to source her own router and have that be the server that all players match through.

(2) User test #1: We wanted to test if the game worked at all and how we could make it more enjoyable to the groups.

We found a group of five friends in the school canteen and wanted to proceed as follows:

We would play four versions of the game, seeing which roles we needed and which were ornamental.
a) A game with all roles (trickster, healer, and forest spirit)
b) A game with trickster + healer
c) A game with trickster + forest spirit
d) A game with only trickster.

We used the platform VRChat to find a campfire world and have our players meet there virtually.

The questions we asked them later all related to enjoyability per version and what interactions they would have liked with the environment and with each other.

By far, the most enjoyable version was the version that featured all roles: the ability to shape-shift/silence another, the ability to heal those that have been silenced, and the ability to be immune to being shape-shifted.

In terms of interaction, they would have liked for a custom world that reflected their roles. They would have liked “the role to be in the game,” as one user put it.

Further, two/five wrote they would have have liked to push the avatars of their friends. One wrote they would have liked the ability to throw objects at their friends. Another two/five asked for a chat room with word bubbles, and the ability to secretly speak to others in order to plot together.

Going forward, we need to solve the multi-player network and create our custom space for the game to unfurl and be more enjoyable to players. The more narrative we can insert in the interactions with the environment, it seems, the more enjoyable it will be for the user. Also, friends need to be able to affect the others’ virtual avatars or they experience more dissatisfaction. The same goes for being able to privately message each other during the game.

Two main things we had to do this past week,
(1) Figure out the character backstories for the narrative aspect of the experience.
(2) Delegate tasks for the first user test we will conduct before or on February 10th.

(1) For our character backstories, we settled on a very elemental paradigm. The origin story involves a forest spirit discovering the power of fire. First, he is lost and can’t see, and the fire gives him light. Then, he needs to cook, so he uses the fire to make food. Finally, he wants to tell someone a tale, so he uses the fire to create shape-shifting shadows.

The forest spirit ends up being so grateful, they decide to give the fire spirit three gifts, which will be scattered among all their kin. First, because of the ability to see in the darkness, the fire spirit can see visions. Then, because of the gift of cooking, the fire spirit can now heal others. Finally, because of the shadow stories, the fire spirit can now shapeshift.

Today, one of the fire spirit’s descendants is misusing their power. They are making others shapeshift irresponsibly, so the forest spirit summons a healer, a seer, the shapeshifting trickster, and the fire spirit in order to get to the truth. The users must now figure out who is who in this mysterious campfire in the forest.

(2) For our first user test, which we have about a week for, we need to have three things in place:
(A) A research question that will help us improve our next iteration of the tale
(B) A multi-player network
and (C) customizable avatars.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the tale is shaping up quite nicely. It will be a light-hearted experience for friends to gather to.