Virtual Reality
TASK 2
GANTT Chart
My GANTT chart states when I will do each part of the project in which week so that I keep on schedule and finish it on time without overworking myself or stressing that certain parts aren't complete.
Unique Selling Point
Skyhouse's main unique selling point is its skyboxes that allow the player to see in, but not out. No other game has tried this in Virtual Reality yet, and with the puzzle nature of the game, I think the game is very unique, and can't really be compared with other puzzle games.
Another USP Skyhouse has is the two separate screens for the players. One in the VR headset that shows a first person view of the map, and one on the TV for the other players that shows the level in a top-down manner. This allows the players watching the TV to give instructions to the player in Virtual Reality and lead them to the exit of the level. The only other game I know of that does this is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, where one player defuses the bomb and the other player gives them instructions on how to defuse said bomb with an instruction manual.
Stakeholders
The main stakeholder of Skyhouse will be the publisher, who will give us a sum of money to finish the development of it. This will allow us to not put as much of our own money into the development of the game, and feel safe that we have enough to provide for ourselves. A bad side to publishers however is they may suggest changes to the game that we won't want to do, which may then sever our ties with them for future projects. They also may only fund this one game, and might not be interested in other ideas, so they're a one trick pony more than a constant stream of income.
The next main stakeholder will be the audience and consumer, who buy the game and fund the development from it. By targeting the right audience and doing adequate research on that audience, we can maximise profits from customers and therefore gain a net profit to allow us to delve into other games later on, not only Skyhouse. A big upside to customers buying the game is a passive income stream, where even a while after the release, people will still be buying it. A downside to customers however is they are more critical and honest in their opinions about the game, and if the ratings aren't very high, then there will be a decrease in sales, which won't produce a passive income or grow the fanbase for another game.
From researching reviews on other VR games, I made word clouds from them and analysed the most used words. All the reviews have specific terms from the games that they're reviewing in them, which suggests that each game has their own terminology for things, and so maybe Skyhouse should too. This would get people talking about it because mixing things up and creating these new terms allows for an environment to play the game in that's all inclusive, as everyone would know the set terms and there would be no ambiguity with what things are named what.
Target Audience
Families and groups of 3 or more. This ensures that at least 2 people will be guiding the VR player, which creates confusion if they have conflicting routes, which in turn adds to the madness and fun. The more players there are, the more confusing it gets, and this makes it more fun as the VR player must trust someone to guide them through and instead of taking everyone's suggestions.
Brainstorming the UI Layout
I want Skyhouse's UI to be simple and clear, and so want as little settings/options as possible and as little menus as possible to drive this point. We were wondering if we should even include a save/load system, but then realised that players might not get through all three levels in one session, so decided to add one, saving at the start of the level so the load brings you to the level after the one you just finished.
Since the game is in VR, a normal UI won't cut it, and the positioning and interaction of the UI will also a lot of thought. And so I'm thinking of having just a list of buttons on the player's hand which they select either with a finger or a point and click to get to the sub-menus. However, having it on the player's hand will make it un-suitable for some players if it's on their dominant hand, making them use their non-dominant hand to use it. This can be fixed by letting the user change which hand the UI is on, or by not having it on their hand in the first place, and instead on a wall or screen in front of them to make it diegetic and more skeuomorphic.
After researching more about this, I've come to the conclusion that using a diegetic UI on a screen in the game is better as not only does it cater to everyone, but it also makes sense within the game itself, as a floating menu on your hand doesn't work too well in that regard.
Research into Professional Workflows
After researching about the workflows of different UI and UX designers, there was a general theme around research, wireframing, protoyping, and then testing. The main one I found was on UX Planet from Shubham Khatkar, a professional UX designer. In it he shares his 5 step workflow in creating UIs, the first step being research. Research is a huge part of creating a good UX, because without it, you wouldn't know who you're targeting the UI at or what kind of UI you'll make. Researching incorrectly or not completing it fully can lead to a loss of functionality and elements.
The second step that Shubham outlines is strategising with other people on your team. This can not only help with ideas and creativity, but also lets them give you feedback before anything is implemented. It's also useful to discuss the overall scale and style of the UI to fit with the research conducted earlier.
Creating the UX is Shubham's third step, and in it he details that it's "the bread & butter for UX/UI/Product designers". He thinks of many ideas and solutions to a problem, and then narrows them down to only a few based on how feasible they are to make and their ease of use. He also goes through them in a "user-journey" to him imagine how users will navigate them, which is a great way to get into the mind of the user and test how well the UX designs work from their point of view.
The fourth step is to design the interface, which is "the bridge between user experience and the final product". This step is similar to the previous step, in which Shubham thinks of many ideas and narrows them down and refines them. More research is also conducted at this stage into the current UI trends and looking at the leading products and brands. He takes his wireframes and converts them into high-fidelity screens to then showcase to his team and users.
Testing and validating the design is the fifth step, which takes the design and gets feedback about it from its users. Shubham likes to "engage with end-users in a 1:1 session" where he can get reliable and immediate feedback. He adopts the design of the product depending on the response, so it's never a "release and leave it alone" situation.
Reflecting on Previous Projects
My most notable project is the Unnamed Game I made for Project 1, with lots of tabs and UI elements. This "bloating" was done to be similar to Valve's UIs, and that works fine on a flat screen with that in mind, but in VR, it certainly won't work as well because of the somewhat finicky controller aiming and random small spasms that some people have when trying to stay still for a while (even a few seconds is too much, which is how long it might take to click a button), so my VR UI has to be large and very simple, something I wrote about in my brainstorming of said UI.
Roles and Responsibilities
Moodboards
Half-Life: Alyx takes a sci-fi, futuristic approach with vivid colours and sharp angles. It floats infront of the player to also fit this aesthetic, where cyberpunk-styles normally have floating panels and thin screens. This floating aesthetic also compliments the UX, as it uses large buttons to make it easier for the player to click on, reducing the frustration they get from misclicking.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes exercises a skeuomorphic and diegetic UI, emphasising the idea that the player has a job defusing bombs, and needs to write down their discoveries in a notebook and check them off when complete. The Free Play screen exaggerates the idea that this mode isn't specifically "canon" or part of the diegetic nature of the game, it is instead just a visually pleasing and familiar way to to create your own bomb to defuse, hence why it uses a similar aesthetic to the bomb itself.
Flight Simulator was originally made for normal computers and not VR, so when it got VR support, the UI and menus were made into floating panels, which work fine, but don't really fit with the environment and aesthetic of the game, seeing as everything else to-do with the plane and flying is completely diegetic on the dashboard. Having both the diegeticism of the dashboard and the non-degeticism of the floating panels makes it feel like the panels were just slapped on without much thought, which gives an odd dynamic.
Concept sketches
Just the Main Menu
Main Menu and Load Save Menu
Main Menu and Options Menu
These boxes will be projected onto planes in the 3D space either as 3D Widgets or Render Target textures to make them appear on a screen or wall in the world. They are purposefully big and clear to make sure there isn't any confusion or anonymity when using it, and to cut down on the frustration of being unable to click on a certain button easily. This scale also lets me add lots of detail to the designs later on in production to emphasise specific aspects of it (like which parts are clickable and which aren't, with clear rules laid out as to which element looks which way to avoid confusion).
Concept 2
This concept is based off a simple OS and is meant to be displayed diegetically on something like a computer monitor. This will let the player go up to the computer to start, which makes the game more immersive. The large buttons also conform with the ideology of most VR buttons being too small and finicky to use, so large buttons solve that problem and also have the opportunity to be a lot more satisfying to use than smaller buttons, which then quenches the user's need for a satisfying interface.
Bibliography
Professional Workflows - Khatkar, S. (2021). My 5 step UI+UX Workflow: 2021 👨🏻💻. Available: https://uxplanet.org/my-5-step-ui-ux-process-2021-5a048ad60cce. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Moodboard:
Half-Life: Alyx Options - Unknown. (2020). Custom Font Designed for Half-Life: Alyx. Available: https://blog.youworkforthem.com/2020/04/30/half-life-alyx-font/. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Half-Life: Alyx Interface Options - Gabrielmosspdx, Brianxbang, HavokRose. (2020). Half-Life: Alyx Wiki Guide. Available: https://www.ign.com/wikis/half-life-alyx/Things_to_Know_Before_Starting. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Half-Life: Alyx Performance Options - Dev Team. (2020). The Half-Life: Alyx Workshop is now open. Available: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/546560/view/3758762298552654077. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Notebook & Freeplay Screenshots - sundstromfred. (2015). Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Available: https://www.gameuidatabase.com/gameData.php?id=648. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Manual - Dev Team. (2017). Things You Might Have Missed. Available: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/341800/view/4549154898505709504. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Flight Simulator VR Cockpit View 1 - redlee732481. (2021). (1.14.5.0 Sim update 3) NEW BUGS >VR Issues with in game menus?. Available: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/1-14-5-0-sim-update-3-new-bugs-vr-issues-with-in-game-menus/375913. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.
Flight Simulator VR Cockpit View 2 and Main Menu - MACHKOVECH, S. (2020). Microsoft Flight Simulator in VR: A turbulent start for wide-open skies. Available: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/12/microsoft-flight-simulator-finally-works-in-vr-but-not-quite-cleared-for-takeoff/. Last accessed 12th Jan 2022.