Today marks one week since I started prototyping in Unity on the Vive.

My current project is to create a networked multi-player VR experience inspired by the playground game “Red Light/Green Light.” In my version— “Red Knight Green Knight” —one player takes on the role of the Knight, defending a magical treasure, and one or more other players control Sprites, mischievous pixies bent on stealing the treasure. I’m in the process of creating a prototype that will enable me to test crucial aspects of the gameplay experience locally (to see if the mechanics I have in mind are actually any fun!) before I delve into figuring out all the networking stuff. I’m hopeful that the SteamVR Network Essentials package will give me a head start whenever I do move on to wrapping my head around networked multiplayer.

In the meantime I’ve been having fun learning more about particle effects and audio… check this out!

I’ve replaced the left Vive controller with a particle effect. The effect is altered by a script that changes some of the particles’ color from red to blue depending on whether or not the controller is in motion. I’ve also got it generating a sparkly, chiming sound as it’s moved. That sound is made of of 15 different sound samples—right now a random sample plays every update tick that the controller is in motion, but soon I’ll tie that to particle generation instead. Ultimately I want the Sprite to appear dim, quiet, and vague when it’s being moved slowly and to become brighter, louder and more distinct as its movements speed up. I’m also detecting whether or not my head is moving through space—you can see that the lighting of the scene turns green when my head is moving and red whenever it pauses in one spot. The overall effect is terribly ugly but I’m proud of having gotten these things working. =D

I’m attending tonight’s Unity VFX Crash Course, which by wonderful coincidence is happening right as I’m starting to play with shaders and explore the Shuriken particle system. I feel lucky to have access to so many awesome resources!