Introduction
This is my personal proces and what I think about it. I think I made a lot of progress from where I started and all the feedback I got really helped.
Global learning goal
At the end of this semester I want to use the knowledge I gained to make a game like Elemental Combat.
Learning goals
- As a unity developer, I want to make different types of interactions, so that I can make more experiences.
- As a unity developer, I want to make hand tracking in VR, so that I learn how to use it in different projects to interact in different ways.
- As a unity developer, I want to let people interact with each other, so that I learn how to make different interactions possible.
1st individual coaching
The first individual coaching was a casual conversation about what it is I wanted to learn. A bit about my overarching learning goal and about the experience we had in the class untill now. At the end of the conversation I had to make my overarching learning goal concrete.
Sprint 1
This sprint I was a developer. this meant I was in charge of coding and making handtracking available and gesture recognition. I fully focused on my first learning goal and not on my other learning goals.
2nd individual coaching
This coaching was with Kees. I talked a bit about my three learning goals and how it’s going in the group. At the end I came up with two new learning goals because my first three were a bit too similair.
Sprint 2
My new learning goals:
- I want to learn how to use handtracking and make new interactions with it.
- I want to learn how to use sound to make a more immersive experience.
- I want to learn how to use particles to make a more fun experience.
In the second sprint I was still a developer which is why again I didn’t really focus on my other two learning goals. I want to change this by focusing on my other two learning goals in the next sprint.
Individual learning showcase
We had a individual showcase where you had to present your portfolio to the teachers and they would give you feedback on what you did the last six weeks. I’ve done a little bit of concepting and designing but I did developing the most. That is why I want to focus more on sounds and making particles. So I can focus on more than one learning goal. Feedback that I will take with me to the next sprint will be that I need to set test protocols. Making plans of action for making things, so I don’t jump headfirst into something. Try to broaden my skillset to learn new things, like audio and the particle system.
Sprint 3
This sprint I put sound in the experience and made particles. By doing this I could focus on my other two learning goals. My learning goals were still the same:
- I want to learn how to use handtracking and make new interactions with it.
- I want to learn how to use sound to make a more immersive experience.
- I want to learn how to use particles to make a more fun experience.
This sprint I focused on adding sound to the experience and making particles to make a more immersive experience. This was also the first sprint where we decided to switch over to controllers because of the limited documentation and tutorials about using the oculus integration and handtracking. I already voiced my concerns about the oculus integration and this sprint we decided to try without it. This meant that the handtracking learning goal was on a hold.
After two sprints focussing on only one learning goal was a good thing for learning, but now I also know how to use sounds and make particles in the experience and how much it adds to the immersion.
Sprint 4
Because one learning goal was on hold I wanted another learning goal. One about the user experience for first-time users. This is why I added a new learning goal to my previous learning goals.
- I want to learn how to use handtracking and make new interactions with it.
- I want to learn how to use sound to make a more immersive experience.
- I want to learn how to use particles to make a more fun experience.
- I want to learn how to make an experience enjoyable and safe for first-time users. (new)
This sprint I coded but also looked some more at sounds/background music and did some research on UX for first-time users.
Individual learning showcase 2
Sprint 5
Learning goals:
- I want to learn how to use handtracking and make new interactions with it.
- I want to learn how to use sound to make a more immersive experience.
- I want to learn how to use particles to make a more fun experience.
- I want to learn how to make an experience enjoyable and safe for first-time users.
After three sprints we decided to keep the controllers and skip the handtracking. This meant I couldn’t work on my first learning goal anymore. But I learned how to put it in Unity and a bit about how make things for handtracking. I’m happy about the progress of that learning goal. I will however in my spare time continue to experiment with it!
Using sounds in the experience made it more immersive and relaxing (atleast for me) and that’s also what I found out when testing. This made me proud of what I made and what the team made.
Making particles was a really fun experience and made it so that the environment was more alive. We had a big sakura tree in the middle of the scene and I added falling petals to it that drift on the water. We had a first design of the world where you could walk around and I made birds that fly away from the bushes.
The newest of my learning goals was making an enjoyable/safe experience for first time users and I hope that I achieved it. I’ve done research on designing for first-time users and also advised my group about it. The font size, no sharp points close to someones eyes and many things more.
At the end
After five sprints of working on a VR-experience I’ve learned a lot of things. It’s different than making a game for the pc because of all the new interactions and the 360-view. In my opinion I progressed a lot with coding and learning new things in general. It was a fun experience to make something for a big company and I’m proud of what we’ve made. Using the feedback from the teachers to make the experience we’ve made beter and everytime we had to present something, we had something to be proud of!