MonthJune 2020

Glitch in Three Acts

Welcome to my final project. For this project, my priorities are as follows:

  1. Push my concept ideation process to be more directed toward visually solving problems.
  2. Organize and build well-functioning code that can be maintained.
  3. Explore the intersection of surrealist and glitch aesthetics.

I won’t reveal the main plot points now, but imagine Rene Magritte meets David Oreilly (whose CG library I will be borrowing from freely) meets Kingdom of Hearts. The idea is for the narrative to be intertextual, mixing visual narrative languages in a clear, linear story. And truly, the story couldn’t be simpler. The user’s sole desire is to go out and by some Earl Grey lavender tea so that they can get to some tedious paperwork.

The characters will be subject to glitches which the main character will have to fix in gestural and more intuitive ways. For this, I have to carefuly study existing glitches in virtual worlds so that I can intentionally implement them and provide the user with a way to fix them that is not code-based, but gesture-based. E.g. if an object is clipping, the user might need to reach up and grab the invisible camera rig and adjust it to an appropriate position.

All of the action will be set in the Zizkov area in Prague, where I was lucky enough to live in for a year. The culture there is rich with inspiration for surreal meandering.

I am enthusiastic since I will hold my process to a higher standard and ask for any needed help along the way in order to reach these standards.

Week 8: Storyboards done, new AR iteration + camera changes

(1) Finished the last storyboard segment on the world’s birds. Experimented with sprite animation and interaction for a more satisfying iteration of the AR comic portion.

(2) Cinemachine for a bird free look camera. The plug in allows me to adjust the three different orbits (tallest, middle, and lowest) when following the bird player model.

(3) Changed the main camera to a truly first person camera.

(4) Another iteration of day/night cycle so that skyboxes blend into each other, as well as fog and deactivation of the existing sun shafts. So far it has a surreal effect.

(5) More in-game comic style exploration

Week 7: AR Comic development + General Redesign

(1) Finished setting up the AR video players– shakiness is a problem, perhaps because of the quality of the markers. The video players on a plane are a temporary solution, as they do not take full advantage of panels in an AR space.

It is worth noting my first user test shed light into the role of AR in this experience– the user found that constantly taking out their phone for the closs-platform experience wasn’t always satisfactory or justified. They wondered if more could be done to justify the AR portion of the story, i.e. to define why it is that the comic isn’t just fully in-game.

(2) I did some work to add contrast to the UI and improve readability. I changed the fonts and colors.

(3) Instructions along quadrants to help the player map out space and guide them along existing puzzles.

(4) Tree trunks were also added to hold the instruction signs and define more quadrant delimitation.

The tree trunks further solidy the concept of the gameworld as a table-top game.

(5) Began working on a day/night cycle that also responds to the speed control script. The less a player moves the more possible it is they will get to experience night.

(6) Some design changes to make the world more atmospheric — sun shafts and tree particle systems (that also respond to speed control). The particle systems were also a tool in optimization, as I couldn’t have all organic systems procedurally generated as the project stands now.

(7) SFX for cigarette burning (particle system)

(8) Final puzzle – AI with NavMesh dynamic labyrinth, click to move grandma model (which moves slower) and have her meet running Romaine.

(9) Setting up last scene — in game comic