It took me a lot of brainstorming to come up with 2 ideas let alone three so the third isn’t as fleshed out as I’d like it to be. These are three ideas I had:
1. Constructing a 3D environment in VR that a person can interact with. I was thinking of retooling my animation final from last year (a small witch hut) and giving it more polish. People could move around the inside and possible interact with some objects.
2. An team based RPG I’ve had in the back of my mind for the past few years. This one would be the most technically challenging as I would require me to do a lot of coding in Unity and play testing. This one is a fun idea, but I think it works better as a side project for me to go back to every couple of months rather than a dedicated one.
3. Something to do with cooking? That’s all I could really think of for this one. I’m trying to think back to my project map and what I enjoy and cooking is up there. Maybe a sort of interactive cookbook? This idea still needs a lot of refinement, but it’s fun to think about.
I can’t get over the witchy room game idea. That environment seems like it would be perfect for a fun VR game to explore and mess with the various potions and tricks hiding around the room. Your other game idea is something I can also see myself playing, but it looks like a huge undertaking that should take time to perfect instead of race towards a deadline.
Honestly those two ideas were my favorite. I love environmental design and I’ve learned a lot more since my last class through practice. The game is an idea I’ve had for awhile and I think the biggest hurdle will be learning how to code everything and not have it break. Someone mentioned I should just focus on making a super clean 20-25 minute demo and I think I might take that route if I choose the game.
I think an interactive cookbook would be very interesting. What could you do to make it interactive? Could the person use VR in some way to view someone else making the food before they do? How would you make this different from just searching a recipe online?
I don’t think i would include VR in a project like this. The point of it would be ease of use and connivence and that technology isn’t readily available. I’d do something along the lines of printing a (single) physical book with recipes and graphics then connecting it to a phone app. I’d most likely use QR code to unlock animations on the specific way to prepare the recipe like the proper way to cut an avocado for guacamole without cutting yourself, etc. To be honest I’m not sure how it would be that different from just googling a recipe at this point.
Okay so “hotpunch” was the one I remember from class, and I absolutely love the idea. However, since you want to style it like an RPG, you might have to conduct more research on the different types of RPGs out there and what you can do to make your play style, story, and characters different. I mentioned in class a game called “Food Fantasy,” which came out over the summer this year. I will warn you that this is a JRPG and I remember you saying that you dislike JRPGs. My question to you is why do you dislike JRPGs as opposed to RPGs? It’s not that I’m overly passionate about Food Fantasy, I’m curious as to why you would avoid that sort of RPG.
I also really like the witch room idea (maybe it’s because we’re in spooky season). You can make that into a really fun interactive experience and, dare I say, a video game. You can make it into some sort of escape room where you need to complete a puzzle in order to get out of the “witch’s den,” and when the time is up, the witch will come to kill you. Obviously, this is different from what you originally planned, but this could just be something to keep in the back of your head if you decide to go with that idea. VR is so popular now that this project would be a huge hit if you went with it.
Lastly, I’d like to say that if you’re really passionate about a particular idea, then just go for it. You should consider scope, but if you want to do something, you can constrain your project so it will be more feasible. If that means doing an interactive cookbook, a witch’s room, or RPG, then go for it! We’ll be here to help you every step of the way. I’m excited to see what you have in store for the class!
To answer your question I don’t particularly like JRPGs for a lot of their tropes, mechanics, and character designs. I find them to be too grind heavy, with tutorials that can span hours and plots that are so grandiose I can’t muster the mental power to decipher what’s happening. I’m not overly fond of the many sexualized women (and sometimes minors) common to the genre either. I have my problems with western RPGs as well and there are some JRPGs I do enjoy. As a whole I prefer RPGs to JRPGs, but if I’m recommended a game I’ll check it out for at least a few hours.
I didn’t think of the escape room angle, but now that you bring it up I love it! It seems like such a great combination and it would be a great way to turn it into a game rather than an interactive environment. I’ll look into what it would take to code something like that and how escape rooms work.
I’m excited that so many people liked my ideas and it’s making the choice between them hard because I love them all so much! Sometimes I forget that I can ask other students for help but being reminded is nice. I don’t have to lock myself in my room for 7 months coding and making models.
As I’ve mentioned in my comments about some of the other VR project ideas, I think what would make the witch hut idea successful is allowing the user to interact with the environment beyond just turning their head with a headset. They need to use their hands, if not even more of their body. The Vive allows you to move around within a virtual space, and the hand controllers allow you to “hold” and manipulate virtual objects. I can imagine exaggerated motions to mix potions, wave your hands over a cauldron, etc., sorta like Mickey’s movements in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice: https://video.disney.com/watch/sorcerer-s-apprentice-fantasia-4ea9ebc01a74ea59a5867853
With the RPG idea, if it’s a side project you keep going back to, then maybe it’s not a side project. Clearly you’re inspired by the idea. Is there a tool more directly suited to this type of game? Unity might bring more complications than you need.
The way you described the interactive cookbook idea reminded me of the meal kit delivery services like Blue Apron. Sometimes the simple process they describe on their recipe card doesn’t exactly match up with the reality of prepping the meal in your own kitchen. Might it be a better experience if — instead of printed cards — they had an interactive (voice controlled) tablet app?