Crunch Time!

So now that the SCAD Pad setup is coming together, it's time to fix our game.

This whole time our has been shown and played in a landscape orientation. Our mirror at SCAD Pad however, is going to be portrait. This means we must change our game to portrait layout to properly show the game.

For this change we are choosing the monkey/climbing game because it has vertical gameplay and would be perfect to transfer to portrait view.

 Here's the current view of the game:

The new layout will be 720x1280 and displayed like this:

But to do this, there is a list of things that need to be accomplished.

First, one of our animators, Jalysa, will be editing this GIF that you see to the right. Because it's switching from landscape to portrait, there is less room horizontally. Jalysa is going to strip the background, move the foreground objects closer together, and then create a new background that will fill the negative space leftover from the new portrait layout!

As for the gameplay animations, Savannah will be editing the monkey to be more of an orange color so it will pop more on the tree. She will also be adding the second climbing animation because at the moment we only have one. This is essential just as it is with the rabbit game. We need to visually show the difference of climbing fast and climbing slow to create better user feedback!

Alice will be reshaping the background images to the fit the new vertical height. Basically she will creating tileable background images sized at 720x640. She will also be working on the win condition screen. At the moment we are thinking it will be a sign or ribbon that the monkey reaches that will tell the user that the won!

And lastly, Matt will be programming all of these new graphics into the game while also implementing the leap motion and selection screen before starting the game. 

It's been and will continue to be a very busy time for us leading up to the SCAD Pad event.

The future of Oasis

So in my last post I talked about our platform being a part of SCAD Pad in April.

Because our setup in SCAD Pad has a more personal feel to it, we have decided to add widgets to our setup; not just games.

What does this mean?

This means that instead of just having video games available to play behind the mirror, we will also have widgets for the user to view while they do their daily routines. 

In the home environment, we want to add the Leap Motion to our setup allowing them to swipe their finger through the air to choose what widget or game they want to enjoy.

Below are a couple of examples of widgets we could have behind the mirror. 

So just imagine yourself waking up, going to the bathroom and browsing the weather and stocks while you brush your teeth! Sounds awesome right? I agree.

We have a lot of work ahead of us and I'll keep the blog updated with what's happening! Seeya soon!

We are going to be featured at SCAD Pad!

We found out recently that our project is going to be featured at SCAD Pad.

What is SCAD Pad?

According to the website, it's "An interdisciplinary group of SCAD students and alumni that design every facet of a SCAD Pad (dorm room) from its architectural footprint, to the 3-D printed toilet, ALL to fit in a single parking space."

Basically, it's a micro-room for living comfortably in a small space.

During spring break, we are going to be working with the constructors in assuring that our installation is set up properly. They have already run us through the list of items they are purchasing for our installation and we can't wait to see the result!

Check out their website by clicking the image below!

Sneak peak of our animators work!

Here are some mockups from our awesome animators! As you can see, the rabbit and monkey are being completely redesigned to perfection.

They are already kicking ass. Check it out!

Gameplay video!

This is a quick iPhone video of Matt playing the game! Hope you enjoy!

We have animators!

Yep, we finally have actual animators working on the project...and they are very talented. We recruited them during a playtest at SCAD and they have now become a part of the family!

Beyond their amazing talent, they have awesome personalities!

Here they are:

Savannah Alexandra 

Animation Major 

SCAD Atlanta

Savannah's website!

Jalysa Leva 

Animation Major 

SCAD Atlanta

Jalysa's website!

So we bought a sink...

Yep, we bought a sink.

During our playtests up to now we have had problems with our playtesting hardware (tupperware container/webcam setup) not being convincing enough to people.

We need people to feel like they are washing their hands in a real sink to get the full experience of our platform and game.

So this was a long due upgrade of our hardware to give playtesters what they deserve. This will ultimately give us more accurate information from the playtests we observed.

We chose this particular vanity sink setup because the sink itself has a hole underneath the faucet which would be a perfect place for our camera to go, as shown to the left.

This vanity also has room underneath the sink for our storage needs. We will have the cords running behind it and have a place for the laptop to sit inside the cabinet so users never see the inner workings.

Matt had to drill a hole right behind the one you see to the left in order for us to get a camera to fit and face outward from the front hole. That wasn't easy but the result was perfect. Now all we need to do is hook everything up!

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