Skip to main content

Web Socket, Diagrams, and Design Document

This week, we decided to focus on finishing the Design Document as a main deliverable for the end of this sprint. Having this complete would help us to better understand our project requirements and develop an adaptable plan.

On Friday, we had a group meeting (~0.5hrs) to discuss our specific roles, project scope, milestones, and to create a more defined objective in terms of styling, target audience, and primary educational takeaway. I spent the rest of class time (~3.5hrs) working on writing these details for the Design Document. I also made a visual to illustrate a simplified version of our proposed development schedule, which can be seen in the WEEK 2 introduction blog post.

 I spent a few hours (~3hrs) researching web sockets, socket.io, and networked-a-frame because we will need to have connectivity and communication between our two platforms (desktop browser and VR headset). I also wanted to explore how other people created multi-user experiences with A-Frame. Because Mitchell will likely be very occupied with developing the Alpha prototype's in-game functionality, I will be helping with the server side stuff.

 Some useful links I found include the following:

I also started looking at making a diagram to illustrate the project's physical setup. This should be fairly straight forward as there are no real environmental restrictions for the set up. Since we are developing for Oculus Rift first, the physical set up will also take into consideration the placement of the sensors. The user with VR headset would also need to have enough space to play (like in the image below), and the user playing on the browser may or may not even be in the same room (depending on whether voice chat has been implemented).
Image result for VR setup"

Unfortunately, since all 3 of us participated in Global Game Jam this weekend (Friday to Sunday), we were not able to dedicate as much time towards this project. Next week, the goal for me is to work on finishing the diagrams and wireframes for the User Interaction Specification document, and to help with programming for the Alpha prototype.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sprint 5 - Finishing the Furniture

This week, I completed modelling (4hrs) and texturing (7hrs) the furniture that will be used in the scene. It took longer than I expected because I had difficulty nailing down an art style while also working with new techniques in Substance Painter that I wasn't familiar with. A big challenge was finding a style that I really liked and understanding how to achieve that. My experience is more in realistic modelling and texturing where it's easy to see where things don't look right. However, with stylized pieces, it's up to my own interpretation. I'm also working with a very base, low-resolution mesh because I want to avoid creating too much detail through normal or height maps. The simpler, the better, but, the simpler, the less there is to work with. The grand solution in nailing down a flexible art style was through the use of ambient occlusion. By baking the same model over itself, I get an AO map, which already improves the look dramatically as it removes ...
Post a Comment
Read more

[WEEK 3] Illustrations and Alpha Prototype

This week, we need to complete the user interaction specification document, which contains many graphical components that need to be created. This includes the storyboard/wireframes, design compositions, and the architectural flow of our game. Additionally, the Alpha prototype is due next Friday! This is a huge priority and at this point, we will be relying on Mitchell to work on coding majority of the functional elements. Primitive environments have been prepared by Maxime, but they need to be tested in a VR environment (i.e. for scale). Priscilla will be putting together all the parts of the proposal document and supporting both Mitchell and Maxime with their tasks.
Post a Comment
Read more

Storyboard and Physical Layout

I finished up on some graphical elements for the user interaction specification component of the proposal due this coming Friday. This includes the storyboard panels and the physical layout diagram. As I was researching Oculus Rift physical setups, I had to determine how many sensors we would need for our game. I believe that 2 sensors will be sufficient, since we do not need a true 360 degrees experience as the Builder player will primarily be focused on the 180 degree space in front of them (i.e. the fireplace, the TV, and building the furniture). Our game is not an action packed game with any running or shooting. Of course, the player will still be able to fully look around but they shouldn't have a great need to move in the other 180 degrees of space. This would also take into consideration accessibility to our game, because it costs extra to buy a third sensor (the Rift only comes with 2) as well as requiring adapters and wire extensions. I spent about 4 hours researching ...
Post a Comment
Read more