My Varsity Final Project:Test level

So, as in all games we need a playable level.
Now this didn't need to be this completed but we wanted to give the Artist and the Musician a platform in which they can get a feel for what they will be working with.

I spent two days researching and prototyping level design and on the third day I pitched a "final" level to the team and they liked it. The level was done in Blender.

Note: the player controller is just the basic physics Unity FPV controller with the VR weapon...I needed something for the player to play with. How even...I do have a bit of a bug where if you run straight into the wall at high speed, there is a chance that you'd get stuck. An odd way to get out is turn to face the wall, walk back and fire the weapon.

Pictures:

Note: if you get stuck, and cant get free...just reload the page (the files should be buffered). Bad fix...but this is only a level demo. And yes, we know...getting stuck is frustrating.

So, that is the state of the level till thus far. Will do an update again on when I get the locomotion of the VR player down or the Artist/Musician delivers something.

Stage 2: VR prop                                                                                                                      Stage 4: Conclusion

My Varsity Final Project: The VR mayhem

So, I'm doing a Computer Science and Games Development (not to be confused with Design clarification link) and our final project is a "Large" game. We will be using Unity for this project.

Project requirements TL;DR

• Needs a 3D environment
• 2+ independent player gameplay
• Use of vfx (particles etc)
• AI npc's
• Consistent Theme
• Sound (sfx, music, etc)
• And any other features we wish to add.
• Game Design Document
• Project Website

We are a team of 3 guys (Male to Female ratio in the course is heavily slanted...there are however female devs...they are just in the minority here with us), all having beards....so we call our self is

The team

• Jacques Botha (me) (Front):
• Art Director
• 3D Modeler
• Game Developer
• VR enthusiast.
• William Grant (Mid):
• Game Developer
• Assistant Writer
• Sound Design
• Yusri Dollie (back):
• Lead Writer
• Game Developer
• VR enthusiast

And the game we are going to create is called:

Eden's Odyssey - Liberation

Break down of what we are planning to do, and I quote: 

"Eden’s Odyssey is a First ­Person Sci­Fi brawler/shooter, it takes gameplay inspiration from the
Dark Souls series of games, with melee dominated combat, and limited healing and checkpoint
mechanics. The game allows for ­4 players simultaneously, experiencing a mixture of PVP and
PVE. Players can work together to overcome challenges and bosses (Note: Bosses do scale with
the number of players present in the Arena) alternatively players can choose to fight amongst
themselves in an effort to slow other players and gain extra resources (This poses a risk to both
the attacking and defending players as you may lose more than you gain when engaging each
other)
The game is laid out linearly, with branching paths that may lead to traps or dead ends, dead ends
may contain special loot which would reward the player for exploring, however progress can only
be made along the main linear path. The game ‘ends’ when one player reaches the escape pod
and leaves the prison. Thus a player weighs the risk of exploration and the possible benefits of
gaining an item advantage, the time wasted doing this and the possibility of being caught in a
trap.There is only one escape pod so the first player to reach it would win, this is the source of
competitive conflict between players.
Players may choose to co­operate or actively compete with against one another. The game
supports a specialised boss system which allows each player to engage in their own boss session
or share a session (At the cost of increased boss difficulty based on number of players) The
deciding factor being whether having more people to make a boss fight easier vs doing it alone in
the hopes of getting out sooner and thus reaching the end sooner.
Players may choose to directly engage one another in an effort to slow each other down, or steal
resources from each other by killing an opponent."


TL;DR:

• Science Fiction – Based on a futuristic prison planet
• First Person Perspective
• 1-4 Player Multiplayer (PVE & PVP Hybrid) – Gameplay is both Co-operative and Competitive, players are always in competition with one another but can co-operate to achieve certain goals.
• Staged Gameplay- Like many classic games levels lead up to ‘boss' fights

The style will follow a minimalist Sci­Fi Theme, being based in a space based prison designed as a planet it draws inspiration from other prisons depicted in pop­culture (e.g. Chronicles of Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy), the major difference being the minimalist texturing style adapted from games like Superhot.

please note I do not own any of the following images, this is purely to convey an idea (..so please don't sue)

And then there is some "back story":

"Eden’s Odyssey is a minimalist First­Person science fiction game. Based on a futuristic prison
planet where prisoners attempt to get to the planet’s surface in order to escape from captivity and
head towards civilization.
The player assumes the role either one of the 3 prisoners sequestered to solitary confinement who
are unexpectedly released and must now fight their way to the surface and their freedom or the
role of the special character AND1, an android prison guard which is suddenly imbued with
sentience also fights to escape.
As they try to breach the surface, they must fight android guards as well as cybernetically
enhanced humans who guard the prison planet. Players can collaborate or compete in order to
survive and at the same time they must accomplish goals in order to move through the different
stages of the game."

Basic players will be standard mouse and keyboard setup connected to each other via LAN.

However...this post would not make any sense now would it.

Ladies, Gentlemen, spaghetti monsters, lizard people and our robotic overlords. I proudly present to you, the thing that makes this game project actually interesting, non generic and is entirely my responsibility....Project AND1     (Andi)


In essence a VR player wearing a Motion caption suit, holding a weapon prop and of course wearing a form of VR headset...all while being completely wireless from the hosting machine, playing a game with the other players.

Ok, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. let me explain the components and how they will interlink to make this part a reality.

• The mocap suit:
• A while back Yusri, Myself and another gent (not part of the project) back a kickstarter project called Perception Neuron by Noitom. From their site:

PERCEPTION NEURON is the first tool of its kind to deliver SMALL, ADAPTIVE, VERSATILE and AFFORDABLE motion capture technology. The modular system is based on the NEURON, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) composed of a 3-axis GYROSCOPE, 3-axis ACCELEROMETER and 3-axis MAGNETOMETER. The strength of the system lies in Perception Neuron's proprietary Embeded Data Fusion, Human Body Dynamics and Physical Engine algorithms which deliver smooth and true motion with minimal latency.

The PERCEPTION NEURON 9-Axis sensor units output data at 60fps or 120fps*. The data stream is channeled to the HUB where it can then be transferred to a computer in three different ways: (1) via WIFI, (2) via USB or (3) recorded onboard using the built-in micro-SD slot.

PERCEPTION NEURON then connects to the software AXIS Neuron or AXIS Neuron PRO for calibration and management of the system, as well as recording and exporting data files for manipulation in most professional 3D, previz and game development tools.

PERCEPTION NEURON was specially conceived as a professional tool for video game developers, film makers, visual effects professionals, biomechanics researchers, sports and medical analysts, and virtual reality enthusiasts to finally have a flexible and affordable platform to experiment with and push the limits of motion capture.

*60fps: 19 - 32 Neurons, 120fps: 18 Neurons or less

Me rocking the system

• Getting this to working in Unity was tricky but finally got it up and running via the Neuron Axis program

• The weapon prop:
• Still far from done (30-60% in development). The concept is that the player hold a "weapon" with a tracking node. The prop has a wireless controller built in, meaning player pulls the trigger, the characters' weapon fires, etc.
• Concept 1:

• Current version (modified airsoft rifle):

• VR headset:
•  Originally we where planning on using the varsity's Oculus Dev2, Unfortunately a master student needed it more (and us being in undergrad means he gets preference). However the saying "Necessity is the mother of all the invention" rang true. 
• Plan B was to use a Google cardboard for the VR player...however getting a mobile game and desktop games to communicate properly as well as having the mocap suit talk to the phone...forget it. Solution? Stream the pc screen wirelessly (at a high refresh-rate) to the phone in the cardboard. It took some research, testing and luck...but finally got that up and running (Using KinoConsole streaming app on phone and server on pc). Unfortunately you need to keep the Google Cardboard to your face with your hands...and seeing as we wanted to allow full body movements (no limitations) I decided to redo the Cardboard and 3d printed one with head straps (with the cardboard's lenses).

• So with the ground work laid down, I started trying to pull all together. After about...a month of tinkering and fixing...I got the headset and mocap suit to work simultaneously in unity.

Unity+Mocap+Headset Demo (cringe worthy I know)

More mocap (uncalibrated) testing

So yeah. That's how far i have gotten with this project. The rest of the team was busy with their internships...so the are behind schedule.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months. (If you have any question feel free to ask and I'll try and reply to them as soon as I can)

Bonus Round:

Mocap recording Unity test

Stage 2: VR prop

Global Game Jam - 2016

So, yet again I've decided to do the Global Game Jam hosted at my University this year.

This years theme: RITUAL 
The diversifiers: 

Comic book colours
Your game uses only 4 colours, with an emphasis on contrast 
- Accessibility, Art, Design, Pervasive

LEGO Got It Right
There are no spoken or written words in this game. This is even true in the instructions 
- Pervasive, Accessibility

The Bard's Tale
2016 is 400 years since the death of Shakespeare. Build a game around one of his works - Content

A local game for local people
Make a game that features your country, city, or people that jam around you 
- Content, Theme

Where in the world is…
Gameplay or art changes depending on the player's geographical location (GPS, IP location, etc). The game experience is therefore significantly different for players all around the globe - Art, Content, Design, Pervasive

Crowd sourced
Anyone who is watching it can play along!
- Design

No retreat, no surrender
The protagonist is unable to go anywhere but forward, in every situation 
- Art, Content, Design, Theme

Capture and Play - Bluetooth
Make a game with Bluetooth capabilities in which any bluetooth device near the PC that have the game would interact with something inside the game. (More items, more enemies, another challenger player, or instant co-op, etc)
 - Code

Take Control
Instead of the usual keyboard and console controllers, your game must use a custom controller
- Design, Accessibility

Marco Polo
Create a game that contains no graphical output -- all information is conveyed to the player through audio 
- Accessibility, Audio

Gandhi’s Game
This game must have zero violence in its game play. Conflicts must have resolutions based on logic 
- Design, Theme

One hand tied behind my back
Create a game that can be played with only one hand. On mobile just one hand holding and playing at the same time i.e. just play with your thumb. Desktop, mouse only or keyboard only 
- Accessibility, Design, Serious

Multijammer
Work cooperatively with other GGJ sites within your own timezone 
 - Meta

Story Mode
No cutscenes, textboxes or interruption of gameplay. Use player actions for all your storytelling - Content, Design, Accessibility

Infinite
Your world is procedurally generated 
- Code, Content

Loudmouth
All audio assets are created by sounds from your mouth
 - Audio

What was that?
Any sound featured must not be sourced from the object in the game making that sound 
- Audio

Work and Play
The game requires the player to code/learn to code to progress - Code, Serious

Won’t somebody think of the children?
Your team must use the works from a child or children - Meta

Companion screen
The game uses a mobile device as an additional screen to show a different mode or portion of the game - Code, Design

Common Ground
Make a co-op game playable by players who have very different levels of ability to each other - Accessibility

Twitch Plays (sponsored by Twitch)
Create a live streamed game intended to be played concurrently by the masses on Twitch.

Do You Even Care? (sponsored by iThrive Games)
Drawing from guidance materials from iThrive's subject matter experts, make a game that teaches empathy to teens.
Guidance materials from iThrive's subject matter experts is available from: http://ithrivegames.com/iThrive%20G4H%20Materials.pdf

Now...I could not think of a game....Nothing. I was a barren wasteland. Luckily, the rest of the community had a ton of brilliant ideas. So, I joined a team and we made a game called:

RPG where you are the village's most amazing and successful hero. (Named Bjorn) You also happen to have a severe case of OCD. You're sent on a quest to save the village, but you'll encounter a lot of things that are an extra challenge for you with your OCD condition.

The team (Not to be confused with the A-Team...different division ;P ):

(Left) Ben Geldenhuys - Art

(2nd from left) Megan Hughes - Game Designer, Project Manager, learnt-to-colour-in-using-wacom-at-ggj16

(Middle) Jem Smith - Lead Programmer

(2nd from right) Jacques Botha (Me) - Programmer, Art, Sound

(Right) Kevin Gibson - Music                         (can't find him?...welp, resident ninja in action)

Some of the Epic art that was designed by Ben (and his sexy assistants): 

The Hero, Bjorn

The home stead

Village

Dreaded Forrest

Final Boss

Unfortunately I don't have the original files anymore (Formatted PC soon after the Game Jam)

Exe download link [win] (for those of you who want to try your hands at being an OCD'd viking hero)

All in all was a epic experience. Even after the disaster (Coined the "Great Git Crash") where by we lost all audio (cept music) we still where voted the best game at the venue....squeeee xD. I would love to team up with these epic folks again and see want we create.

Guess I'll be back next year for another update on GGJ adventures, cheers.

Global Game Jam 2015

Global Game Jam 2015

This past weekend I took part the annual Global Game Jam event.

1. "A game jam is a gathering of game developers for the purpose of planning, designing, and creating one or more games within a short span of time, usually ranging between 24 and 72 hours. Gamedevelopers are generally made up of programmers, game designers, artists, and others in game development-related fields."

This years theme was: "What do we do now".

Diversifiers (Optional conditions):

1. Noise Generator: The mechanic of the game is based on players having to stay in constant communication with each other.
2. Folk: The game uses a folk or indigenous art style of your region.
3. NES: Make the game playable on an old school console, either directly or through an emulator.
4. Wrist Watcher: The game is playable on a smart-watch, or uses wearable technology in some way.
5. Clueless Parents: The game helps kids teach something to their parents or other family members.
6. Batch Job: The game is a batch file from any operating system, using command line tools found in an out of the box installation.
7. Chimera: The game is played partly as a digital and partly as a non-digital (board, card, etc.) game. (we did this Diversifier) 
8. Hyper-Local: The game is set in your town/city and contains elements locals can identify, while still being entertaining for a global audience.
9. Can I Try?: Any spectator of the game automatically becomes a player as well.
10. This is How it Feels: The game raises awareness of how hate speech or unfair accusations feel, and what kind of effect they have on their targets.
11. Stephen Hawking Can Play This: In the game everything (including any menus) can be navigated with one button, without any need for quick / precisely timed presses.
12. Eagle Ear: The game is primarily visual, but is also playable by visually impaired  players, either through audio design, or through a screenreader (VoiceOver, Talkback, JAWS etc).
13. Relatively Speaking: A game based on the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which explained that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, such as light bending around black holes.
14. Public Domain Class of 2015: Make a game based on the works entered to Public Domain on 1st January 2015 - for instance works of Wassily Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, Edith Sitwell, Piet Mondrian, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Felix Nussbaum, Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti, Glenn Miller, Flannery O’Connor, and Ian Fleming (cough, James Bond, cough), depending on your country.
15. Code for Good (Sponsored by Intel): Make a game with the goal of improving literacy, or inspiring interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

So when this jam started I was like, "I'm not going too code a single line of code. This year I'll be purely art-ing"....I ended up being the only coder in a team of 5.

Anyhow, it was tons of fun, this is what we made.

Augmented reality card game where players play cards to give their beasts weapons and actions. To start the game, each player chooses their character and takes the associated deck. Shuffle the deck and draw three cards each. Each card has an image, description of impact and the energy cost for the card. You cannot play a card if you do not have enough energy to play it. Decide which player will play first and place both creature cards onto the play mat. Player 1 selects one card from his or her hand and plays the card face up on the player mat card slot. The computer will calculate damage and reduce energy. It will then be Player 2's turn to play a card. The game continues until one beast has been reduced to zero health. Note: If a card indicates that you gain or lose defense percentage - this applies for the attack in the very next play of the opposing player. to use AR, ensure you have a decent webcam connect too the system that can see the cards.

GGJ link

The team

Jacques Botha (back middel) - Augmented Reality & Game coder, Project Manager, 3D modelling + rigging + animation, DJ

Ben Geldenhuys (back left) - 2D Art, Creative Metal Direction

Richard Ramsbottom (back right) - 3D modelling & rigging

Megan Hughes (front right) - Card game design

Adam Linder (front middel) - Music

Game screen shots 

Tech demo vid

Augmented tech: Vuforia

All in all it was fun, stressful, hard work and most importantly very very educational (even if we didn't stick to the theme). We as a team are contemplating on maybe continuing developing this game for a few months and see what the results turn out too be.

Global Game Jam 2014

So just finished my entry for the 2014 Global Game Jam
(More about GGJ "About GGJ")

Had fun. My team consisted of myself and a mate of mine (Conveniently named Jacques as well) and a guy called Deon.

The team:

From left: 

Deon van Heerden - Music

Jacques Heunis - Coder

Jacques Botha(Me) - Coder Artist and Sound FX

I participated at UCT (Cape Town, South Africa). This is how our location looked like.

The theme for this years jam is:

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are"

Hmmm....this was rather tricky to approach. So we treated it as an source of inspiration rather than a guideline (ie. we took a short cut =P ). There where also side challenges that you can incorporate to add that extra zing (We did a no gender (as in the characters have no def. gender) and a local multi play (2+ people on 1 machine)

The idea we worked with is this. You are running along in parallel universes, trying to out run your parallel self opponent. All the obstacles you traverse (and the manner there of) affect you opponent (ie. Take the easy route, they get an easier obstacle. Take the harder route, harder obstacle awaits them). Ie. Things you do in your "world" does not affect you but rather you opponent. 

I was in command of art and sound, and helped with the coding. Other Jacques mainly focused on coding and  Deon did the back track for us. 

1 thing I can say about a jam like this, is little sleep and VERY high paced work.

Because our team is so small, we had to cover allot and where limited to what we can do.

But 42hours and 10 liters of coffee later, I present to you:

Sketch page:

Models (examples):

Finnally our game.

WASD - Player 1

Arrows - Player 2

Objective: Out run other player. Collect floating crates to make their lives harder

Web player: Rapscallion Racing

A big thanks and well done to those who organized this awesome event,