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Gameplay and Design Issues in Outdoor Augmented Reality Games. SPEAKERS: Assoc. Prof. Bruce Thomas Director of Wearable Computer Lab, UniSA Chief Technical Officer, a_rage pty ltd Dr. Wayne Piekarski, Assoc Director, WCL Director of Research, a_rage pty ltd Benjamin Avery - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Gameplay and Design Issues
in
Outdoor Augmented Reality Games
SPEAKERS:
Assoc. Prof. Bruce Thomas Director of Wearable Computer Lab, UniSA Chief Technical Officer, a_rage pty ltd
Dr. Wayne Piekarski, Assoc Director, WCLDirector of Research, a_rage pty ltd
Benjamin Avery UniSA Computer and Information Science Honours student, WCLLead Game Programmer, a_rage pty ltd
Joe Velikovsky Creative Director & Game Design Lead, a_rage pty ltd
OVERVIEW: 3 AR Game Case Studies
ARQuake – Assoc Prof Bruce Thomas
3-D Moon Lander & the ARAGE Hardware – Ben Avery
3-D Sky Invaders – Joe Velikovsky
Gameplay & Design Issues
in
Outdoor Augmented Reality Games
Case Study: ARQuake
Assoc. Prof. Bruce Thomas, WCL UniSA
What do people like & dislike about ARQuake?
• What aspects of the game should be highlighted?
• What should be avoided?
ARQuake in a nutshell:
• Built in 2000, first `Outdoor AR GPS’ game• Take a desktop pc First-Person-Shooter game
and modify it - to be used as an indoor/outdoor AR game.
• Track the user’s head orientation and position in an indoor/outdoor setting.
• Player, NPCs (Critters, Monsters), & Game Objects (Health, Guns, Armour, Ammo) are all rendered normally.
• Model physical buildings - and render the game walls black, co-located with physical walls.
• Black will appear transparent in HMD to the user, but the rendered black graphics will occlude monsters, critters and game objects.
• Virtual walls, corridors, pillars, and doors are all still rendered.
• As the user walks around the physical world moving their head, the game will update with this orientation and position information.
ARQuake in a nutshell:
Original/Desktop Quake
Augmented Reality:
Non-AR View:
AR View:
Example Critters:
Quake vs ARQuake
demon
New textures
Old textures
enforcer
soldier
zombie
ARQuake
In-Game Footage:
Video 1
Field of View (FOV)
• FOV of the HMD was 24 degrees horizontal– Necessitated excessive head-turning by the
users. – thought to be “extremely narrow”.
• FOV of 90 degrees – commented that this felt much better. – Registration problems.
• FOV of 120 degrees. – “weird”; difference in parallax:physical virtual - uncomfortable.
Visuals That Worked Well
• Floating objects worked well: – “they looked like they belonged in the
game world.” – Users simply accepted them as part of
the game.
• One effect the users liked was flames: – “the fire in ARQuake looked pretty good”
and “it looked genuinely like fire.”
Walking Around• Users were able to walk through the virtual
walls.– “Walking through walls, while being an interesting
idea….. It looked solid, but I wasn't worried about walking through it because I knew that there was a room on the other side. Strangely enough, I didn't want to go out the other side….”
• One user noticed at one point, they were physically walking up a hill, but the game depicted flat ground. They stated it seemed to feel, while unexpected, easier to walk up because it looked flat.
Interaction
• Users experienced difficulties picking objects up.
– Objects “tantalizingly” within arm’s reach, but could not be picked up.
– This problem became quite frustrating for some of the users.
• Opening and closing doors - not difficult • Flying monsters require the correct
weapon and strategy
Conclusion:• Users overall, enjoyed ARQuake• Issues with Field Of View. • Small orientation errors - quite noticeable. • The standard shape of doors & corridors in
Quake worlds - not well-suited to ARQuake.• The world feels better to the user, if it is
brightly-lit. • Use of skybox/sky colour should be avoided. • Users did not like the use of shadows. • Floating objects work quite well in ARQuake.
A Study of Performance of Consumer Level Hardware
forOutdoor Augmented Reality
Gaming
by Benjamin AverySupervisor: Assoc Prof Bruce
ThomasAssoc. Supervisor: Dr Wayne
Piekarski
This Presentation:
• Background• AR On-The-Cheap• Game Technology• Example AR Game: 3D Moon
Lander• Conclusion
a-rage
• Research for a-rage AR game dev company
• a_rage & ITEK provided scholarship for studies
Background:
• Augmented Reality is: the overlay of computer-generated images onto the real world, using a Head Mounted Display
Other Indoor AR Games
Examples of Indoor AR games:
• AquaGauntlet• AR2Hockey• MIND-WARPING• TouchSpace• etc
Indoor is Easy:• Trackers can be tethered• Very accurate trackers available• Controlled environment
Image courtesy polhemus.com
Outdoor is Harder:
• Unpredictable environments• Lower-accuracy trackers• Limited computer power• Limited power• Mobility and reliability• OST vs VST HMDs
Outdoor AR Games
Only two real examples:– ARQuake– Human Pacman
…I want one at home?
• Expensive systems exist• Accurate tracking(50cm), high-
resolution, compact• Cost: AU$20,000• Too expensive for
kids to play games on!• Need a consumer-
level alternative
The Question:
Can AR games be designed and implemented, in such a way as to make them playable on low-performance level hardware?
AR `On-The-Cheap’
Our consumer-level hardware system:
Possible cost: ~$500
What problems does this cause?
• Cheap GPS is only accurate to 5 meters• Trackers ‘drift’• PAL/NTSC resolution• Limited input
so:• in your backyard
is not yet possible…
Game Design vs AR Technology!
• Make the game fit the hardware limitations– eg. OST - ‘ghosts’ in Ghosts of Sweet Auburn
• GPS ‘snap-to’ grid system, with hysteresis• Picking the correct tracker• Avoid registration with the real world
3-D Moon Lander
• Example AR game - demonstrating the concepts• Based on 1979 Atari game Lunar Lander - and pc
clones
GPS Snap-To:
Video
Conclusion
• Many games can be designed to work on this hardware platform
• Problems do exist, but careful Game Design can work around these
• We have tested the system outdoors and the GPS snapping and tracker work well
• Further play-testing by a_rage will reveal any other problems this system may offer, which we can then improve on.
AR Game Design
• joe velikovsky [Game Design Lead]
game designer former national games market analyst, InformBACS, AFTRS JOETEEVEE.COM10 years in the games industry
HMV PROTOTYPE
Design Elements• 3-D AR `port’ of Space Invaders• 5 m GPS =
– 2 locations 5m apart • (Turret & Bunker)
• Immersive game space = N,W,E,• Flames & floating objects
= UFO FPS! Set in 1950’s
• UI = intuitive = HMV is pointing deviceas per ARQuake
• Content = TV set!• Directional sound• Dev cycle = short
TURRET 5mBUNKER
5m GPS
In-Game Video
AR OUTDOORS/INDOORS
IDG 2003 GAMES INDUSTRYWHITE PAPER "I hope that peripheral companies start to look at opportunities for getting the joystick out of peoples’ hands and doing something different, - or getting us away from the TV screen with something like Head-Mounted Displays. I would love to see someone take on this challenge of establishing a real virtual environment with the power that the new consoles should provide."
Ted Price, CEO, Insomniac GamesSpyro, Ratchet & Clank
from IDG 2003 Games Industry White Paperp. 94-95
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
1) Port `hit’ games over to AR [Space Invaders: Old Games, New Platform]
2) K.I.S. - Keep It Simple! [Games low on Graphics / high on Gameplay]
3) Play-Balance/Flow Theory - `Challenge & Reward’
4) 10 Mini-games (like EyeToy bundle)
5) Risk management - Shorter Dev Cycle! Later: bigger budgets, and longer games
GAME DESIGN
1) USER-FOCUSED GAMES (`Plug & Play’)
2) SIMPLE ADDICTIVE GAMEPLAY = FUN FACTOR
3) HIGH REPLAY VALUE
4) Age: 15+ - for physical co-ordination
5) SAFETY - in goggle view is never `off’
Shoot-em-up: 3-D
Arcade Platform
Adventure Puzzle
Sports Action
RTS
THEME PARKS & ARCADES
WHY A.R. PLATFORM?
1) POSITIVE SOCIAL ASPECT (Multiplayer)
2) ACTIVE GAMING OUTDOORS = Healthy
3) BROAD AGE & GENDER APPEAL = Adults, M & F
4) FOLLOWS MOBILE GAMING TREND (e.g. cell phone games, GBA, N-GAGE PSP)
5) ADVANCES the gaming `State of the Art’
6) Look & Feel = instant appeal/looks awesome
CONSUMER HMV
Q & A