Concept
This was my first foray into a game using a 3D space and controls. This is a game where two players have to rely on each other to solve room puzzles, where one can only rely on their hearing and their teammate, and the other needs to visually look through the room and interact with what they can, communicate what changed and go back and forth with walls moving throughout.
This requires two people, one controller and one smartphone to be played.
Download the Game
Click the link below to download the APK file for the Mixed Ability Game:
Main Goal
Visual Player (P1) activates green walls so P2 can find alarm locations.
Non-Visual Player (P2) finds alarms, activates them and finds their exit.
Main Challenges
- Using the newer unity input system across different interfaces (controller/phone) using only one device.
- Dealing with 3D Spatial Audio.
How To Play
Player 1 uses their finger to move the player avatar to that location (essentially follows the player's finger location), and must be in contact with green walls to activate them, and the sound necessary to proceed appear for Player 2.
Player 2 moves using a single joystick, and hears the 3D audio (being able to repeat the sound and its location at will) when Player 1 activates green walls. By being in an alarm activation area he hears another sound, which he can interact with the press of another button. This will trigger one or more purple walls to move. One alarm can activate multiple walls and one purple wall can be activated by multiple alarms (hence it being a puzzle and not a straight-forward set of actions).
To finish the level the players must head to their exits, and in some maps exits are different for both players and both need to be unlocked to proceed.
The Maps
Although quite simple and not pretty to look at... they were what was essential to showcase our concept.
Maneuvering the Environment Through Audio
For P2, the ability to see the environment is non-existent, so to maneuver, the player must take close attention to the sounds objects make when the player enters in contact with them. To support that each game element has a different sound for when P2 comes into contact with it.
Design Development
The initial concepts were made in paint. Then more thought out and sketched onto paper. And finally being put into unity and into a working game.
For more information on how the game works and a small view on it please check the following video.
Conclusion
This was my first go at using 3D in unity (outside of personal small projects), and my first time using 3D spatial audio and having to determine how to separate the players by inputs and actions. Although it was rudimentary (we did not implement verifications for P1 and P2, being simply based on who logs on first after having a controller and headset/headphones connected to the mobile device), it allowed me to explore creative ways to tackle unique challenges.
Once again, if you are intrigued use the following link to download the apk, and please read the instructions on how to play! Download Mixed Ability Game