The Jasper: Week 2 Update

Our haunted hotel is slowly emerging from the ether. New this week:

Natalie: I have begun the design of the bedrooms, and decided to go with just two different layouts because of time. I am trying to implement an old, dingy feeling with the use of multiple patterns in fabric, wallpaper, and rugs. I also found some old toilets and a very dirty looking tub that I used to go along with this idea. I still have a ways to go on the model to make it a bit more freaky and scary, but I have a good start.

I also found this skeleton on a bicycle in the 3D Sketchup Warehouse (weird I know), but I thought it would be cool if the skeleton could ride the bike towards the user when they open the door to the bedroom, do you think this is possible? If anything the group could just move forward toward the door, it wouldn’t have to look like the skeleton was peddling or anything.

Bedroom model-April 14-1

Bedroom model as of April 14 (1)

Bedroom model-April 14-2

Bedroom model (2) as of April 14

Bedroom model-April 14-3

Bedroom model (3) as of April 14

Jerry H: With trouble accessing the lab via VPN, I have started writing up an overall design with the game engine.

  • A singleton class HouseEngine keeps track of overall game status (time elapsed; array of Ghost objects; number of ghosts caught; other stats related to game playing).
  • A Paranormal class serves as the base class to all instances of ghosts/monsters/creepy-crawlies to provide similar behavior.
    • At initialization, Paranormal class stores the OBJ file of the paranormal before and after capture.
    • For animation during capture, Paranormal class will either play an FBX file or perform animation programmatically. For paranormals that use programmatic animation, I may create a subclass to provide animation. E.g. A Ghost class provides the animation of a bedsheet-like ghost enlarging from its original position toward the user.
    • Paranormal class will detect user entity by implementing OnProximity().
    • Paranormal class will also keep track of whether it has already been caught.
    • Programmers: Your input appreciated here… To simplify the interactive process, I may consider the ghost and the object with which it is associated to be modeled in the same obj and handled logically within the same Paranormal class. For example, a Paranormal instance may hold both a ghost and the bed it’s hiding under; this way instead of having a separate class to handle the bed’s interaction/view state, it’ll just be one object to code.
  • Door class to provide interaction of opening and closing.
    • Implement OnProximity() to detect the user entity, and automatically plays the open animation when user approaches.

To do for this week: gain access through VPN; flesh out pseudocode.

Hasti: I have done modeling the lobby so far and will continue to add more materials, wall paper, fire and details.

The Jasper-Lobby 1

The Jasper-Lobby 2

Jerry C: This week, I did some modelings of our restaurant. I will comtinue to do more about materials, details and ghosts.

The Jasper-Restaurant 1

The Jasper-Restaurant 2

The Jasper: A Haunted Hotel

The Jasper-A Haunted Hotel

The Jasper-A Haunted Hotel

The terrible sight of a haunted hotel; photo by George Pau.

Team Jasper

Jerry Chen
Natalie Flunker
Jerry Hui
Hasti Mirkia

How would you like to be the paranormal hero, who will rid an old hotel of all its unwelcomed ghostly guests?

We are building The Jasper, a haunted hotel. There will be at least four rooms plus a front garden in which players can freely explore. Different architectural and period designs are featured in the rooms–initial choices are Gothic, Victorian, Baroque, and neo-Classical. Ghosts are hiding in different rooms. To win the game, players will have to find all the ghosts and catch them all.

To begin conceptualizing the Jasper, bubble diagrams help us visualize the relationships between various environments of the Jasper such as lobby, restaurant and rooms and also explore multiple alternatives of layouts.

The Jasper- 1/F

Bobble diagram of the first floor by Hasti

The Jasper- 2/F

Bobble diagram of the second floor by Hasti

User experience

The Jasper can accommodate more than one player. Only one player will be navigating movements, and have the proper head tracking.

Players will begin in the front garden of The Jasper. They can freely explore the environment, using the direction button on the Wii-mote or nunchuck. They will see a counter on top of the screen, indicating the number of ghosts that are caught, and the total number of ghosts in the hotel.

Ghosts will occupy different rooms, and are mostly hidden until provoked. For example, a ghost will be hiding under the bed in one of the bedrooms upstairs; maybe a corner of the ghost or the glowing eyes of the ghost will give it away, and the players (any one of the players) can then use a voice command such as “check under the bed” to drive the ghost out of its hiding place. If users try to check places that have no ghost, a narrator will respond to indicate there are no ghost (“I don’t think there’s anything there.”; there will be at least 3 different responses to provide variety). Then the players can catch the ghost, either by a voice command (“CATCH THAT GHOST!”) or by clicking a button on the Wii-mote/nunchuck.

Here are some ghosts modeled by Jerry C:

Ghost models by Jerry C

Due to time constraints, we don’t have a fixed way to bring the game to a close. However, if development time allows, we may introduce extra challenges such as a time limit to find all ghosts.

Equipment

The Jasper will use head tracker, Wii-mote (and/or nunchuck), and Kinect (for voice recognition).

Timeline and contingency

For contingency, we may reduce the number of rooms in the hotel. We may also simplify animations (for example, less detailed animation for the ghosts). We may also simplify interaction from voice recognition to only button clicks on Wiimote.

Our project planning:

By 4/12: Floor plan complete, basic animation scripting
By 4/19: Most rooms modeled, begin modeling interactive objects, Kinect and Wii control scripts
By 4/26: Combine all rooms into a single model, house exterior, preliminary testing on single wall
By 5/3: Testing in CAVE
By 5/10: Calibration, presentation

Our optimistic estimation of tasks and progress. Definitely subject to change.
Keys:
Purple: Natalie
Green: Hasti
Brown: Jerry C
Blue: Jerry H
Yellow: All