It’s been a long time since I made a post about the WRXR project. To start, the project is pretty much finished at this point. Any further work will be use adjustments once things get back to some sense of normalcy and we can actually get people testing the project where it is meant to be used. Below is a video running through current experience in full, minus any personal explorations.
Like I said, a lot to go over. I’ll start where the last post left off, with the UI.
The menu has had many levels of overhaul here. Thanks to the artistic input of one of CIE’s new hires, Erica, the menu now has proper style and formatting to look good. Everything is still using the same button base I set up prior, though a few new versions were added and adjustments were made to the base script to make it more modular. The outer rim issues from the last post were solved using a simple rigged object as the frame. A bone in each corner of the frame skinned to that given corner allowed the frame to be easily adjusted in size on the fly, letting each menu have it’s own ratio. This was necessary as a menu like the Pieces tab had a huge list of objects while the Interactions (previously Modes) tab was much smaller. Overall the UI is much cleaner and easier to use now, though it can still be a bit obtrusive at times if the player doesn’t realize they can grab and move it away or close it. One possible change after user testing would be to see if people would rather the menu auto-close or move when certain focus shifting events occur.
Moving on to the rocket, the primary change is that it’s now properly textured. Less obvious is some changes I’ve made to the grabbing system. I delved into VRTK’s code and created some derivatives to allow for better uses. For one, now you can grab with two buttons instead of one thanks to adding an alternative grab option copied off their base grab code. Some people kept trying to grab with the trigger while others did the grip. Now both work. Also, when an object is grabbed now, it deactivates the grab collider of it. This is normally not something desired as it means you can’t switch hands, but it helps in this experience as it lets you grab a piece with one hand and disassemble it with the other. Since the main object collider is turned off, it makes it much easier to grab the smaller colliders around the object. I also did a lot of backend tying the menu interactions to the objects in more depth, including a focusing function that moves the player to the piece location and fades it in and out to draw the eye.
The environment got some updates as well. The wall texture was updated and the closing ceilings/floors were given a proper model with shutter teeth to make their division clear. Some decorative touches like doors to nowhere and badges based on the past WRXR launch project were added as well.
Finally, the experience has more of a narrative now. There’s audio buttons to give information on each piece of the rocket. Some possible work after user testing will be to see if a more “narrative guide” is necessary or if the open player exploration is enough. There’s now also audio with the photon demonstration showing the way photons pass through the focuser. Due to these new interactions, the “Modes” tab got renamed as “Interactions”. Included in the Interactions is the new “end” for the experience in actually launching the rocket. The whole setup is fairly simple: some smoke particles, camera bloom, some fire particles and audio from the real world launch to sell the final shot.
This project was a strong introduction to VRTK and VR development in general for me. VRTK’s code base seems very robust, covering a ton of different possibilities. This also makes it a bit messy though, as everything linking together can get a bit lost at times. Focusing on everything as unity events triggered through the system seemed to be the cleanest option for making more intense interactions. This is all understandable as the platform is meant as a wholistic solution so covering every aspect is important. Moving forward, it seems our group is going to be focusing on another VR management plugin being developed in-house. We’re hoping this system will be as robust but a little more focused on what we’re needing.
As for the rocket experience itself, I think it turned out pretty good. The overall experience has a sense of purpose and exploration to it. It should both work well as a means of getting new people on board with the project with a chance to look at the important pieces in depth, and with introducing the uninitiated to the project as a whole for advertising purposes. The launch in particular turned out really well in my opinion, providing a strong final moment for the experience.
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