Kenechukwu Umelo
Technical Gameplay Designer
Won "Best Illustration of Impact on the Built Environment" at 2019 Yale Climate Change Hackathon
Role: Programmer, Quality Assurance Support
Time of Development: 24 hours
Team Size: 6
Eroglution is a virtual reality simulation that tackles climate change and CO2. The experience aims to be a fun illustration of reducing urban heat and surface temperatures by planting various trees around the town. The game is supported by real data analysis and feedback. This project was my first time working with Virtual Reality inside the Unity Game Engine.
*Unfortunately, I currently don't have access to the project as it was developed on Yale University property. So I cannot post visual details on the project besides the video provided.*
Tools:
Unity, SteamVR
Core Ownerships
Integrating Steam VR and HTC Vive Support
Given the short time, I learned how to use an HTC Vive headset and controllers and how to integrate the SteamVR plugin to allow the headset to run in the Unity Game Engine.
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I implemented the movement and button press detections, which other programmers used as the main base for interactions in the game.
Quality Assurance
After SteamVR was integrated into the project, I took on playtesting the experience from beginning to end. This included repeatedly wearing the HTC Vive headset during the final six hours of development during the hackathon.
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I noted all experience-breaking bugs and interaction issues that occurred and communicated any potential design ideas on enhancing the player immersion but ultimately didn't make it due to time constraints. Ideas I brought up involved:
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Haptic Feedback
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Indication and Animations for Growing Trees
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AI Crowd Movement
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Post Mortum
This hackathon was the first time I worked with virtual reality. I easily adapted to the tools and software needed to get the project going from early on which helped the team focus specifically on implementation. I then focused on ensuring a quality and polished experience which led to a good presentation when the game was showcased to judges.
During the development, an unfortunate incident caused us to move our projects to Yale's provided desktops (hence why the project cannot be publicly seen). I learned that VR game development required a more VR-ready PC or laptop to handle the technical expense, so I acquired one afterward.
Team Picture After Presentation