Tag: Cloudhead Games

/ Environment Constraints

Muffled hearing and blurred vision

recorded by JerichoAFK of The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed

When user’s peek through objects or into walls, they experience muffled hearing and blurred vision. The goal of these subtle uncomfortable cues is to warn the user to move back out of a virtual obstacle.

Strengths:

Prevents user’s from peeking into potential spoilers of the game in a way that not too obtrusive to the gameplay experience

Weaknesses

Some users might consider this to be extremely uncomfortable or sickening. Below is an example of a user’s first time reaction to this treatment

recorded by Kotaku

For More Info

There’s a video by Dan Yager, the creative director at Cloudhead Games, where he explains in-depth some of the complex design mechanisms in this VR experience.

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Environment Constraints

/ Inventories

Backpack inventory

recorded by “let’s STFU and Play of The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed

With a backpack inventory, users add items into their backpack by dropping the items behind their head into the backpack. Accessing the backpack is as easy as pulling it over from behind their head.

Strengths:

Intuitive and natural gestures to perform

Not too obtrusive to the gameplay experience

Similar to real-life – adding items to the backpack is quick, grabbing and searching for things take longer

Weaknesses

Grabbing and searching for items can become tedious and time consuming

Low discoverability – Although it’s easy and natural to perform, the concept itself can be tough to teach a new user

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Inventories

/ Locomotion

Volumetric blink + gaze-based teleportation

recorded by JerichoAFK of The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed

Similar to regular blink teleportation except now the destination pointer is controlled by your gaze direction and it indicates to you the volume of your play area at the destination, also giving you the option to adjust which direction you will be facing using the trackpad.

Strengths:

Because it’s gaze based, it’s less likely for users to get lost with where they are teleporting to

Turn the virtually facing direction without actually turning

Great for users with smaller play areas

Weaknesses

Can be more visually obtrusive compared to regular blink

Not very natural and can take some time to get used to

For More Info

There’s a video by Dan Yager, the creative director at Cloudhead Games, where he explains in-depth the locomotion systems in this game.

More on

Locomotion Methods

/ Locomotion

Precision blink + gaze-based teleportation

recorded by YOGSCAST Hannah of The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed

Similar to regular blink teleportation except now the destination pointer is controlled by your gaze direction and it indicates both where you will be standing and the direction you will be facing.

Strengths:

Because it’s gaze based, it’s less likely for users to get lost with where they are teleporting to

Weaknesses

Can be more visually obtrusive compared to regular blink

See Also

There’s a video by Dan Yager, the creative director at Cloudhead Games where he explains in-depth the locomotion systems in this game.

More on

Locomotion Methods