Upwards Hero Image

Upwards

A virtual reality platforming game developed for the Oculus Rift.

Client

University of Washington

Duration

10 Weeks • Mar - Jun 2014

Role

Game Development, Level Design, Content Design

Tools
Unity
Unity
Maya
Maya
Zbrush
Zbrush
Photoshop
Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Illustrator
01

Overview

Background

In 2014, the University of Washington's School of Design was hosting their annual Bachelor of Design Show, where graduating students present their capstone projects. Students were asked to develop a unique project based on their own interests.

I had recently purchased an Oculus Rift DK1 and spent the year learning 3D animation, so I considered trying something different by making a virtual reality game for my senior capstone project.

Upwards - Start Area
Upwards - Start Area

Challenge

Prior to this project, I had never used Unity, written C#, or done much game development before. I had 10-weeks to learn all of that and produce an interesting game demo. My long nights were fueled by a passion for games and a desire to create something of my own.

🎯The Goal: Produce a playable demo for the Oculus Rift that explores movement and level design in VR.

Upwards - The Village
Upwards - The Village
Upwards - Docks
Upwards - Docks
Upwards - Path to the Bridge
Upwards - Path to the Bridge
Upwards - Platforming Tower
Upwards - Platforming Tower

Objectives

I wanted to create an immersive experience focused on first-person, parkour-like platforming mechanics, that enable you to run around freely and explore the world. I tried to keep my scope in check because I knew game development could be a challenge.

  1. Invest time into character animations and making the locomotion mechanics comfortable and enjoyable.
  2. Develop additional systems that play around with UI, interactions, and item collection in VR.
  3. Construct an environment that looks interesting and entices players to explore it.
02

Process

My Approach

Making Upwards was an iterative process. I used prototyping, online tutorials, and examples from other games to guide my approach.

I spent the first week running through Unity tutorials, learning how to use the Oculus Rift, and figuring what steps I needed to take in order to have something by the deadline.

  1. Learn the basics of Unity, gather references, and start ideating.
  2. Prototype the player controller, and begin blocking out the space.
  3. Polish the environment, add some story and gameplay progression, and fix any bugs.
Research

Inspirations

The initial idea for Upwards came from my obsession with the sky world in Skies of Arcadia and the movement systems in classic 3D platformers.

Skies of Arcadia
Skies of Arcadia
Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge
Windlands
Windlands
Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword
Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky
20,000 Leagues Above the Clouds
20,000 Leagues Above the Clouds
Research

References

I like to gather lots of reference images to help with my ideation process. I think it's a vital step for expanding ideas and envisioning possible outcomes.

Ideation

Sketching helps me figure out which ideas I want to pursue. My early sketches explored what the floating islands could look like.

Sketch #1
Sketch
Sketch #2
Sketch #2
Sketch #3
Sketch #3
Sketch #4
Sketch #4
Sketch #5
Sketch #5
Sketch #6
Sketch #6
Sketch #7
Sketch #7
Sketch #8
Sketch #8
Level Design

Concept Art

Learning from my past mistakes, I tried to improve the islands by designing them to be more vertical and broken up.

Concept Art #1
Concept Art
Concept Art #2
Concept Art #2
Concept Art #3
Concept Art #3
Concept Art #4
Concept Art #4
Concept Art #5
Concept Art #5
Concept Art #6
Concept Art #6
Level Design

The Village

The village became the centerpiece for the game. Most of the player's time is spent searching around the village. I wanted to create an unusual layout that made use of negative space and verticality.

03

Solution

Playthrough

Here's a playthrough of the entire demo experience. It attempts to show off some of the different gameplay systems along the way. Note that back when this was first taken, video capture recorded what both eyes see in VR.

Downloads

Here are the download links for the demo. The game was originally made for the Oculus Rift DK1, so these builds might be incompatible with modern VR headsets (until I find time to update them).

1

Gameplay

Parkour Movement

A lot of time was spent refining the core movement system to better facilitate exploration. I tried to make it parkour-like with an exaggerated degree of freedom.

Platform Spawning

Platform spawning was a last minute addition. I was putting together a platforming focused area and thought that the ability to spawn platforms might be interesting for traversing the space.

Simple Objectives

Item collection seemed like an easy choice for incentivizing exploration. Players must collect several different items to progress through the game.

2

UX / UI

Start Menu Area

The start area was built as a physical embodiment of a UI menu, where text and menus are placed around the space, and walking off the ends will start or exit the game.

Quick Access Menu

I needed UI that could be brought up during the game, so I created a body-locked menu that players can glance down at (rather than have it block their line of sight).

3

Level Flow

The Village

After departing the start area, players arrive at the village, a pleasant environment designed for exploration. The verticality of the space is used to gradually guide the player upwards.

Platforming Tower

The platforming tower was added near the end of the project because I needed a location that could really challenge the player, and give them space to try out the platforming mechanics.

04

Outcome

Results

After 10-weeks of work, I had something that was ready to be presented at the UW Design Show. The event went very well, people crowded around to try VR for the first time, and I made some important connections that eventually led to my job at Microsoft.

I uploaded the game demo online, and received a very positive response from the VR community.

Reflection

Developing Upwards was a difficult, yet rewarding process. The unlimited creative freedom, catharsis of overcoming challenges, and personal growth made the effort worth it.

Ultimately, I'm proud that I was able to create this VR game. It was the most fun I've ever had on a project, and it reaffirmed that game development is the right career path for me.

Takeaways

  1. Allowing players to see their bodies helps them properly orientate themselves in space.
  2. Fast movement can cause motion sickness, so it's helpful to include a number of "safety" options.
  3. It's easier to use your head to look around in VR, rather than using traditional thumbstick controls.

Credits

Developer