For my first transition room, I’m planning on using the
trans experiences from my Trans Experience Survey to create harrowing messages
that the player has to listen to while traversing a black corridor. The player's only navigation through the corridor will be words from phrases of
harassment. When the player reaches the word, a memory of that harassment will
play audibly. The player will be literally wading through messages in the
darkness to find the light at the end of the tunnel. I decided I wanted to
depict those messages audibly and physically.
For the physical portion of this room, I decided that I’d like to model key words from the experienced lines. The lines I had chosen were: “Godless heathens like you are an abomination to our Lord.”, “Ew, look at that man in a dress!”, and “Do you think it is a man or a woman?” I chose “abomination”, “it”, and “man” as the key words that’d be depicted physically. I thought they would share a common theme of the player being referred to as something they’re not (As the player character is assuming the role of a trans woman). Each line is a mixture of an answer from a survey and my own experience.
For the physical portion of this room, I decided that I’d like to model key words from the experienced lines. The lines I had chosen were: “Godless heathens like you are an abomination to our Lord.”, “Ew, look at that man in a dress!”, and “Do you think it is a man or a woman?” I chose “abomination”, “it”, and “man” as the key words that’d be depicted physically. I thought they would share a common theme of the player being referred to as something they’re not (As the player character is assuming the role of a trans woman). Each line is a mixture of an answer from a survey and my own experience.
For modelling the words, I considered using Maya’s Word Art
feature, however, the feature required a new download of either a 2016
Extension or a newer version of Maya. My student license allowed me access to
these versions, but I was running into many frustrations in installing the new
versions. Not only that, but the word art I was seeing looked generic and not
quite what I wanted to go for. I could model the words by hand in Maya, but
this seemed like it would be a timely process.
I eventually decided on using Google’s Tilt Brush 3D for the HTC Vive. This was commercial software that I already owned and it allowed me to create the hand-written and scratchy aesthetic to the words I was looking for. The models created with Tilt Brush 3D had a feeling of wrapping around the player due to being made in a virtual reality environment. Using this software gave me a bit of a creative spark after spending so much time with Maya and Unreal.
I eventually decided on using Google’s Tilt Brush 3D for the HTC Vive. This was commercial software that I already owned and it allowed me to create the hand-written and scratchy aesthetic to the words I was looking for. The models created with Tilt Brush 3D had a feeling of wrapping around the player due to being made in a virtual reality environment. Using this software gave me a bit of a creative spark after spending so much time with Maya and Unreal.
Unfortunately, while I could export general FBX files that
worked with Unreal, more specialized tools that allowed the transfer of
particle effects only exist for Unity. While there are some third-party
applications in existence for using these particle effects in Unreal, they
seemed spotty and cost money that I’d rather not spend on such a small part of
the project (Especially not on software that might not work properly). The
particle effects weren’t essential to my project, so I moved on without them.
Other recent work included another attempt at fixing my VR collision issues. I looked into a few potential methods, mostly by scouring forum posts, as again, proper documentation and tutorials are hard to come by. One thing that caught my eye was a VR Expansion Plugin for Unreal. This plugin would seemingly allow me to work in VR with development techniques that I’m more accustomed to. I attempted to install it, but ran into various issues with Microsoft Visual Studio. For whatever reason, it wasn’t generating a code version of the plugin properly. After a few hours of troubleshooting different solutions, I decided to just contact the creator of the plugin.
Other recent work included another attempt at fixing my VR collision issues. I looked into a few potential methods, mostly by scouring forum posts, as again, proper documentation and tutorials are hard to come by. One thing that caught my eye was a VR Expansion Plugin for Unreal. This plugin would seemingly allow me to work in VR with development techniques that I’m more accustomed to. I attempted to install it, but ran into various issues with Microsoft Visual Studio. For whatever reason, it wasn’t generating a code version of the plugin properly. After a few hours of troubleshooting different solutions, I decided to just contact the creator of the plugin.
The creator of the Plugin helped me get it installed on my
copy of Unreal. It took a lot of troubleshooting, but I got there. I was able
to bypass the Visual Studio problem through a different method of installing.
I’m now experimenting with the new VRCharacter options this plugin gives me. As
opposed to using the default VRPawn, I should be able to now use a proper
character Blueprint along with a Capsule Collider. Being stuck with the default
VRPawn meant I didn’t have access to proper colliders. Now I do. However, I now
have to replicate the sophisticated movement of the default VRPawn in this
VRCharacter.
I continue to deal with the harsh realities of developing with VR for a one-person project. I'm especially glad I decided on a simpler art style for my work due to how time consuming creating every asset is. Coming to terms with the lack of MoCap animation for my project has been harder than I thought. I feel a lot of the reasons I chose this project are no longer valid. I still want to make a game that illustrates my experiences as a trans woman, but I also think working with VR is compromising it more than providing an enhanced experience. Also, losing the MoCap aspect is a huge blow since that's one of the few unique skills I feel I've picked up in my university experience.
I continue to deal with the harsh realities of developing with VR for a one-person project. I'm especially glad I decided on a simpler art style for my work due to how time consuming creating every asset is. Coming to terms with the lack of MoCap animation for my project has been harder than I thought. I feel a lot of the reasons I chose this project are no longer valid. I still want to make a game that illustrates my experiences as a trans woman, but I also think working with VR is compromising it more than providing an enhanced experience. Also, losing the MoCap aspect is a huge blow since that's one of the few unique skills I feel I've picked up in my university experience.
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