“Singularity“
VR Storytelling Games (2022)
Game Designer (Experience, Level, Narrative) · Environment Artist
My Role
Game Designer (Experience, Level, Narrative)
Environment Artist
Time
Oct2022-Dec2022
Team
5 people
Tool
Unity
Maya
Substance Painter
Platform
Oculus Quest2 (VR)
OVERVIEW
A storytelling-focused VR experience about a man who lost his wife but continued to chase after their common dream of exploring a wormhole with a hand-made spaceship. He learnt to forget the past and focus on the present after the journey.
Storyboard:
DESIGN
Challenge:
Short production time.
4 plot points.
Build emotional connection.
1.“The MOTIVE Object”
There is a key object throughout the story, which is a pocket watch as a memento of his wife. When he touches it, it turns into his memory scene, in which he interacts with his wife around the pocket watch. Thus the guests remember the pocket watch stands for his dead wife, through which we can easily evoke their emotions.
Design Approach:
Interaction around key object (“The Motive“)
Environmental storytelling.
Use “help“ to build connection with characters.
2.“HELPING builds connection”
His dog and his wife will help the guest to build the spaceship. And they would also need the guest to help them back in different times. (The helping interactions are also based on key objects) Thus the guest could hopefully feel the emotional connection with the characters.
Two Design Concepts:
PLAYTEST
1.Quick Block-Out
In user testing, I found that the scale/distance looks smaller/closer in VR, so I iterated them multiple times to make the room feels real.
2. Interior Arrangement
For example, based on my everyday experience, I think the main character would tend to store big heavy stuff not commonly used in the rear and near the wall, where they would not block his daily movement flow. But for the movable small stuff, he would tend to place them near their activity range, so he could easily get them.
ART PRODUCTION
3.Believability
Although it is virtual, I believe people would feel the believability when the virtual architecture is built based on real structure and material. For example, because the size of the garage is 8*12 m, I built the roof support to be four large-span steel trusses, of which the thickness is 100~200mm. They are placed on two 350*300mm joist steel over eight 300*300mm concrete pillars. Because the property of concrete and steel, the distance and span of the structure should be just right. As for the interior wall, people often use raw planks on wooden frame without paint, as it is a fast and economic way of building a garage.
4.Visual Guidance
“Singularity”
Game Designer (for VR Experience), Env Artist
Shuozhi Shen
Nov 2022
5.Modeling/Texturing (Maya&Substance)
