20 | 20 (VR)

A cooperative VR puzzle game where you investigate what happened aboard a derelict ship...

December 6, 2019

 20 | 20 is a cooperative horror puzzle game, with one person in virtual reality (VR) and one person playing on the desktop computer. Developed with the HTC Vive Pro, the goal of the game is to redirect colored lasers into the correct targets using your hand held mirrors, as you progress through an abandoned spaceship with an unknown presence onboard. This project was created at Carnegie Mellon University, and I served as the main artist and designer; I oversaw the concept art and 3D modeling, and led user testing.

Objectives

• Create an engaging horror-themed puzzle game with simple but deep mechanics.

• Create an immersive atmosphere that was as comfortable to the player as it was unsettling

  • Utilize real space locomotion to create an environment that feels expansive.

Outcomes

• Created complex laser puzzles that only work with co-op play.

  • Created a system that slowly incorporated new puzzle mechanics in each level.

• Created an immersive environment that effectively used the 18 x 18 foot space (through the use of clever hallway transitions)!

  • With the HTC Vive wireless, reduced the number of wires that would have inhibited player movement.

• Focused the team to finish the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and created a timeline to finish the game on time.

Project Goal

Our team was interested in the concept of a cooperative VR experience, where one person was in the VR world and one person was on a desktop computer. We were inspired by other co-op games such as Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Portal 2, as well as We Were Here; we wanted a game where both players had a role, where one person’s actions impacted the world of the other’s. We thus went down the puzzle game route, and for the setting we went with a horror theme (puzzle games and horror pair very well, and many of us were horror game fans).

In addition, we were interested in real world locomotion; instead of using teleportation or having our VR player stand still, we would have our player walk in real life to move around the space.

Theme/Concept Art

For the setting we played around with different options, from a space setting (inspired by Event Horizon) to a house setting (inspired by PT). We wanted to play around with mysteries, where the players needed to rely on each other to uncover the truths of their environment. We ultimately chose a space theme, which didn’t confine our gameplay elements to reality.

Gameplay Ideation

What our puzzles would be was a big question that we tried to tackle early on in development. We had multiple post it note sessions and read numerous blogs or papers about puzzle design and coop VR. Our main challenges were:

• How do we make a compelling cooperative experience? We were afraid that our game would become too unbalanced, as one player would have more to do than the other.

  • We went with the idea of the desktop player using a 2D interface to affect the VR player’s environment. That way, to solve the puzzle, the VR player needed the desktop player, and vice versa.

  • We attached a “body cam” to the VR player, so that the desktop player could see what the VR player was seeing, so that they weren’t just looking at a 2D map the entire time.

• What puzzles should we do? We wanted experiences that would be compelling in VR.

  • We at first experimented with different views; the VR player would be able to see something in the environment that the desktop player saw differently (or didn’t see). This would place heavy emphasis on communication.

  • However, after days of deliberation, we found that the aforementioned gameplay didn’t lend itself to much depth; we couldn’t figure out how to make the puzzles more interesting other than comparing one view to another.

    • We switched to lasers; inspired by the game The Talos Principle, we decided that reflecting/redirecting colored lasers to targets led to more gameplay possibilities. The VR player could reflect, block, mix, or split lasers. The desktop player could also manipulate the environment further to aid in laser manipulation.

  • We tried to avoid death states, monsters, and time limits; we felt that this additional stress would cause a ton of disorientation or motion sickness in VR.

• As if our game wasn’t complicated enough, we wanted real space locomotion; to move around the virtual environment, the VR player would need to physically move in the real world. We felt that this would increase immersion.

  • We preemptively found a location space for our project and made sure our room measurements fit that space. We also made sure to include a 1 foot buffer zone as well within the area to be extra safe.

    • We ended up with an 18 ft x 18 ft space, with a play area of 16 ft x 16 ft.

  • We tested with a wired HTC Vive setup, but the multiple cables that needed to be run hindered movement. We decided to switch to wireless with the Vive Wireless Adapter, which increased our maneuverability.

    • The Wireless setup had its setbacks; it took more effort to set up and sometimes had latency/framerate issues. We were able to remedy this by training ourselves extensively in setup and reducing post processing effects to increase the framerate.

  • We also played with room/hallway spawning; only the room the player is in is active, and whenever they are about to go to a new area, we spawn that segment out of their view, so when they open the door, it looks like that area was always there. Once the door closes, we despawn the area they were in.

Playtesting/Feedback

We made sure to playtest every week, especially given the complexity of our game, from the puzzles to the locomotion to the cooperative gameplay. We noticed a few things:

• Our puzzles were very complex: some of our puzzles were very hard because they combined too many elements. We introduced too many components at once and that confused many players.

  • We created more tutorial levels in response, which played with one puzzle element. We also removed some of the more tedious puzzles.

• Holding the mirrors in VR felt strange: Many players felt that angling the mirrors to reflect the lasers felt awkward (they were holding it with the flat side facing their palm).

  • We played with different mirror placements in the player’s hand. We found that holding it out (parallel with the arm) felt the most comfortable and intuitive.

• There were too many mirrors in the way: The amount of mirrors we gave the player often cluttered their view.

  • By simplifying some of our puzzles, we managed to reduce the number of mirrors required. Also, we created a container that held the mirrors, thus reducing the clutter.

3D/2D Art

Our game takes place in the future, where a ship mysteriously appears, and both players are on a repair ship that decides to investigate; one player boards, whereas the other is a computer hacker who provides support by hacking the unknown ship’s computer. As they go through the level, they unlock different audio transcripts (voiced by Lance LaDuke) which reveals the ship was experimenting with Faster Than Light travel, but warped to a different dimension, where something sinister boards the ship.

I was in charge of the 3D art and the texturing. Although I was experienced in creating environment art, our game was both sci-fi and horror themed, which I haven’t made much art of. In addition, not only was it a VR game, but since it had real world locomotion, how props and rooms were sized and placed was extremely important for immersion, especially to keep the player’s attention away from parts of the world spawning in. Since we were using a wireless setup, we had to be conscious of framerate; too low of a framerate could make the player feel ill. Thus, we had to move away from a High Definition Render Pipeline (which would’ve given more realism to the environment), step away from heavy particle effects (thus limiting what our lasers would look like), and decrease the amount of Post Processing in our scene (relying solely on Color Correction and Bloom).

Based on our story, I used Event Horizon and Alien as inspiration; a lot of familiar elements, like sofas and a drink bar, combined with the steel/chrome look of the future. As the players went further in the level, I added more aspects that alluded to the story, such as blood, or scratches, or posters revealing secret research. We wanted the player to feel unsettled in their environment, to picture in their head what happened on this derelict ship without showing it directly.

For the 2D interface, since a lot of our inspiration came from movies prior to the 2000s, we went with a computer terminal-esque design for the desktop player. They had access to a bodycam on the player (which was their only visual feed into what the VR player was seeing), as well as a mini-map where they could manipulate objects in the room to help the VR player. In addition, they could access a light-mixing diagram, which gave them insight into what colors are created when certain colored lights mix.

Thoughts

This project was a real test of our collective abilities. So many aspects of the game could have gone wrong. Multiplayer asymmetric cooperative gameplay. Complex puzzles. Large-scale exploration volume. Shifting / changing levels. Wireless broadcasting. Sci-fi horror. In many cases it did grow wrong; there are countless stories of disagreements in the game’s direction, nailing a satisfactory coop puzzle design, and deadlines that passed with no definitive decision. It was a true test of how our team could come together and create solutions on the fly. In this team I put on many hats, from art to design to even project management, but for that I’m grateful. I did whatever I could to make sure we remained focused and diligent, and twice a week I met with my teammates to decide implementable game mechanics, task division, as well as feedback review. My skills (especially as a project manager, which I did not have much experience with before) were pushed to the edge, and I became stronger from it.