Desert Puzzler is a simple virtual reality game for Google Cardboard inspired by the classic memory game "Simon".
The player discovers an abandoned ruin in the desert and needs to solve a memory puzzle to escape.
The puzzle is composed of five colorful floating orbs that begin to glow in a certain logical pattern. The player must interact with the orbs by selecting each orb in the correct sequence to complete the game.
A video of the ultimate Desert Puzzler experience can be seen here: https://youtu.be/JoJ1ZUifYEo
Outcomes
This project was essential for my learning to assimilate the VR design processes, with the iterations through information obtained from usability tests with users in the course of development. With the accomplishment of tests of scale, interface, movement, ambiance and sounding, it was possible to sediment knowledge and to learn to design experiences of VR increasingly assertive.
Story of the process
The statement of purpose
"Desert Puzzler is a VR application for new VR users that challenges them to solve familiar types of puzzles in a different way."
Persona
Sketches
This is my rough sketch of my Puzzler project: inside the pyramid I added a first room with some UI to show more basic info for the user, and maybe introduce him some kind of storytelling. After that, the second room contains the puzzle and the exit door. I chose later to take out the pyramid shape first idea, so I kept the dungeon to pass a sense of solitude and mystery.
The UI elements was fixed on the floor instead of floating boards, to be more plausible with the proposed environment. The indications were placed on walls with textures of buildings.
Building in Unity 3D
The application was developed in Unity, which is very friendly to develop VR experiences in a very visual and intuitive way.
For the internal structure of the Desert Puzzle were used basic models simulating a distant and lonely place. The components were assembled so that there was considerable internal space to pass the mood of mystery to the user.
For the illumination few torches with lights in spot were used to generate a certain penumbra, so that it would provide a dark and suggestive atmosphere. The lights contributed to tell an environment of adventure and mystery. the atmosphere of the experience was purposely created to look dark and mysterious, although there are several torches available with medium illumination to soften the natural darkness.
In the external setting the idea would be to show the user the scene of a desolate desert in the night. A skybox with starry sky was inserted, with a directional light to simulate the lunar light, making it possible to see the silhouette of the dunes. For the relief was created a terrain around the main structure with some moderate elevations. To complete the scene was inserted into the terrain a sand dune texture with wind action.
User Testing outcomes and iteration
To make the experience truly immersive to the user, several usability tests were often applied during the application building steps. Each series of tests addressed different aspects of the development process.
The tests were applied to 3 people of different age groups, all with little VR experience. These users were instructed to 'think loudly' and describe orally each action they were doing at the moment, which greatly aided in understanding the exact points that should be improved. At each test, a series of pre-determined questions were applied to each user while they experimented with the application. All user response information and relevant points were annotated to be documented and analyzed after each test.
User testing 1 - Scale
The first user test was a scale test, to validate if the size of the objects in the scene were appropriate according to the user's view. Attention had to be paid to minimal detail: users could feel taller or lower than their actual height. This depends on the placement of the camera, which is the view of the users within the application. After a first test the users realized that they were a little high. The height of the camera has been decreased to the extent of a person of average height. In the second test the feedback was that the view from the height was already with a more realistic reference.
Questions about how to describe the scene where he was was helped to get a sense of whether the setting was really immersive. When asked to think loud, users felt comfortable saying anything they were feeling at that first contact with the game environment, and these descriptions contained valuable information. Everything pointed out that the mood of mystery and suspense was really working as planned, and in that direction were made fine improvements during the tests.
User testing 2 - User Interface
In the interface test users need to read and interact with the buttons and boards without difficulty to advance in the game. For the indication plates, later a more adequate serifed source with the theme of the game was chosen and that at the same time had a good readability. Short and obvious texts were used. In the first test the users reported that the camera was very close to the interfaces. The space between the cameras and the elders were standardized at the entrance, at the orbs and at the exit. After this iteration users have already been able to see the boards at a good distance and read the messages much more easily.
User testing 3 - Movement Mechanics
The movement mechanics test needed to ensure users did not have motion sickness during the game, a negative reaction perceived mainly by people with high sensitivity to sudden movements in VR. Users noticed that the speed of movement of the camera from one point to another was a little too fast. The rate of speed of these movements was diminished, and feedback from the users was an immediate comfort in the movement of the camera from one point to another of the game.
User testing 4 - Audio, Game Mechanics, and Feedback
With the game complete and already possible to be played, more user tests were done to check the mechanics of the game, the ambient sound and general feedback of the set.
After a first test, it took some iterations with the mechanics of the game. The five spheres were virtually identical, and users had some difficulty completing the click sequence. To facilitate memorizing the sequence of beads by the user, different colors have been set for each of the orbs. A pitch variation in the sound of each orb was also defined so that the difference between them was in a distinct muscical note on a musical scale. A new test was performed with users of smaller age groups, and this change was essential to improve memorization of the bead sequence, which made the experience more fluid. Thus, it was noticeable that the difficulty level decreased and the gameplay became more accessible and enjoyable.
In addition to setting a musical tone for each sphere, for the desing of sound was added a background sound of wind that simulates the activity of the desert dunes. For the interface buttons a click sound was added on the stone surface.
Another improvement was to regroup the spheres to the center of the comfort zone vision. With the orbs repositioned just ahead, users no longer had to move their heads to the sides trying to see all the spheres at once.
Breakdown of the final piece
Conclusion
The Desert Puzzler project shows how it is possible to evolve a VR project through iterations and user feedbacks, an indispensable process for the development, and hence the success of an application with its audience. With these changes applied, I realized that the Desert Puzzler was more inviting, more intuitive, easy to play, and even fun.
Next Steps
With the Desert Puzzler application finished, the final feedback from the users was very positive and with several suggestions of new ideas for the game such as: insertion of a progression in the sequence of the spheres, new levels with different scenarios and until the creation of customized animations for some elements. Some ideas will be applied in the future in a new version of Desert Puzzler.
Link to aditional work
Desert Puzzler experience video: https://youtu.be/JoJ1ZUifYEo