El Pasante Elementalista
El Pasante Elementalista is a VR escape room game in which the player plays a magic intern looking to graduate, for this he has to go into the ancient crypt to return the golden scroll through the use of his powers. The player can extract the elements of the environment to cast his spells, interact with them with the scenario and also combine these spells to generate new ones. The game is based on my university research: “The Creative Impact of Virtual Reality Video Games”. Check it out below!
Engine: Unity
Platform: PC and Meta Quest 2
Role: Lead game designer and programmer
Team: Claudio Pastenes (Game Designer), Gabriel Ferrer (3D artist), Suriana Ibañez (3D artist), Javier Cots (Voice actor)
My contribution to the project
Lead game designer
- Coordinated the team, assigning tasks to each member
- Co-created and directed the design of the levels, tutorials and mechanics.
- Researched the relationship of creativity and VR video games to get a better insight into the development and iterations of game puzzles.
- Directed and supported the art team to achieve the desired look and feel of the game.
- Organized several playtesting sessions and iterated the prototype based on the result of the tests.
Programmer
- Programmed and implemented all the systems required, such as character movement, element extraction, combine elements, elements cast, puzzle interaction and more.
- Adapted systems for both PC and VR experiences.
- Integrated all assets in Unity while prioritizing optimization for a lightweight project.
- Programmed two versions of the videogame, one with hand tracking technology and the second with the use of controllers.
Postmortem of the project
What went well
- We launched our game on Steam and reached +8000 players in less than a week.
- Thanks to the effective communication with the artists we were able to obtain a result of a game with a magical and creative atmosphere, which are the graphic pillars of the game.
- The players enjoyed our game!
What went wrong
- We had problems with the first version of the game using Hand Tracking, because players were not used to this technology and could not advance in the game. We tried several times with the use of this technology but in the end we opted for the use of physical controls.
What I learned
- As a designer and programmer, I learned a lot about Unity, 3D and VR development usign both UnityXR and Meta SDKs.
- Learned the great importance of continuous playtesting as without it we would not have made the decision to change the controls of the project for the better as well as quality of life changes so that players would not get lost solving the puzzles.
The Creative Impact of Virtual Reality Video Games
Summary
This research work corresponds to a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, which focuses on the search for a relationship between virtual reality video games and the creativity of their users. After an exhaustive review of background and theoretical foundations, several key concepts such as creativity, video games, virtual reality, design, among others, were defined. The methodology incorporated interviews to professionals in psychology and video game design with the purpose of ratifying the specific objectives, allowing to conclude if the hypothesis of the specific objective is correct or not.
The main objective was to describe the interaction between virtual reality video games and the manifestation of creativity. While the specific objectives were to describe the phenomenon of creativity from a modern psychological perspective, to describe video game mechanics and dynamics that affect creativity, to describe audiovisual elements associated with creativity, and to identify distinctive characteristics of virtual reality.
The target audience for this study is designers, psychologists, and educators with an interest in fostering creativity through innovative methods. The research contributes significantly to the understanding and influence of virtual reality on creativity, constituting a relevant contribution to the contemporary field of video games.