Ethereal Overlay Design Document

Ethereal Overlay Design Document IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

By Agel Abundo Mike Hardie Justin Loranger-Ahluwalia Dylan Wallace

Date 14-01-17

Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

What Is Ethereal Overlay?

Ethereal Overlay is an augmented reality game platform aimed at turning any surface into an video game screen. Using surface detection and 2D projection mapping technology, walls, drawings, and structures can become fully functional gameplay elements.

How Does It Work?

Once a surface is selected, a Playstation Eye camera is positioned towards it. The camera reads the surface and, detecting the colour and texture variations of the surface, generates a video game level using the variations to produce in-game elements like walls or platforms. The game interface is then projected on that surface, turning the wall into a fully functioning game screen ready for play.

What Games Can Be Played?

Ethereal Overlay is conceptually designed to play a variety of games, but in the preliminary scope of the project one game shall be made playable: a top-down perspective shooter that will convert the dark lines on the scanned surface to walls and obstacles players must navigate in order to shoot each other. The interpretation of the surface with the dark lines will be designed for whiteboards with felt tip markers, allowing the levels to be highly customizable.

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Technical Requirements

Hardware - Projector - Playstation Eye camera - Laptop/Desktop - i3, 4GB RAM, Nvidia/AMD graphics card, 2-5 USB ports - Console or USB controller (Minimum: 1, Maximum: 4) - Alternate controllers - Type may vary on high scope; see Technical Features section - Projectable surface/whiteboard - Speakers

Software - Open Frameworks - Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux - Photoshop - Illustrator - Visual Studio - GitHub - Adobe Audition/Fruity Loops

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

User Features Basic features are the critical elements of the project required for it’s simplest form of completion. High scope features are included as optional additions to the project that may be included upon completion of the basic scope. The number of high scope features included and which ones are included is dependent on the progress made on the basic scope of the project and the assessed difficulty of each additional feature in context of the project’s status.

Basic Scope The user(s) can play a simple top-down shooter - Up to four users can play the game simultaneously in local free-for-all competitive multiplayer - The users can control an on-screen avatar to move and shoot independently - The detected outlines are treated as walls in the game that block bullets and player movement - The users win or lose the game by killing opponents and not being killed in a specified amount of time; scoring is determined by the kill/death ratio once the time limit is reached - The users can see their score projected on the game surface

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

User Features - Cont.

High Scope The user(s) can play a complex top-down shooter - The users can walk over power-ups that randomly appear in the game space and alter the player’s abilities (weapon type, movement speed, etc.)

- The users can select from uniquely designed avatars - The users can adjust game settings such as time limit and/or score limit, or select team-based matches from a pre-game menu - The users can save and view their score on a persistent local leaderboard - The user can select to have simple AI players to replace human players The user can select from multiple games - The users can view a menu from which they can select from a number of games The user(s) can play a simple platformer - The users can move and jump around the game area, using detected outlines as walls and platforms - The users can jump on randomly spawning enemies to kill them and earn points - The users can win by killing the largest number of enemies in a specified time The user(s) can play a racing game - The users can mark start, end, and checkpoints around the game area - The users can race each other by trying to reach the end mark by traversing the map and passing through checkpoints - The users cannot traverse through the detected outlines - The users win by reaching the end goal before other users - The users can opt to have the game automatically generate a race path for the users to follow

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Design Features

Basic Scope Graphics - Character icons - Basic 2D characters/avatars - 4 unique characters - Subtitles/pop-up messages - Display speech bubble when characters talk - Display subtitles in animation scenes Environment layout - 4 unique map types (Desert, Plains, Glacier, Urban) In-game Audio - 3 unique background tracks - Sound effects - Walking - Shooting - Activating - Jumping - Dying - Spawning Character Animation - Walking - Shooting - Activate - Jumping - Dying - Spawning Basic Start Menu

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Design Features - Cont.

High Scope Customizeable avatars - Hair - Clothing - Colour scheme Dynamic environment lighting - “Fog of War�

- Flashlight item Intricate start menu - High Score - Options - Multiplayer Weapon options - Different weapons - Ability to switch weapons Randomized environment layout - Visual appearance can change for the same projected surface Shadows and high-resolution textures Cinematic scenes Smart A.I.

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Technical Features

Basic Scope - The camera can read and identify clearly coloured outlines from a flat surface (such as black lines on a whiteboard) - The game can generate playable surfaces and borders from the outlines detected by the camera - The projector can project the game in alignment with the surface identified by the camera - The user can control the game(s) using a standard video game controller (ex: Playstation, Xbox, or PC controller)

High Scope - The camera can read and identify outlines from non-plain surfaces using the colour, texture, and/or depth of the surface - The camera can dynamically read and identify outlines from a surface that has been modified while the game is active - The user can opt to control the game(s) using a classical video game controller, Wii-mote controller, touch surface controller, and/or other complex controllers

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Milestones January 31st - Milestone 1 - Basic scope project design schema complete - Documentation structure setup complete - Common code repository setup complete - Hardware research complete - Basic game structure programming begins - Hardware setup begins - Basic asset development begins - Creation of background assets begins - Creation of characters begins - Menu UI design begins - Audio asset creation begins - Creation of sound effects begins

February 7th - Milestone 2 - Placeholder character and object assets complete - Basic background assets complete - Hardware physical setup complete - Surface scanning and projecting functionality setup begins

February 14th - Milestone 3 - Menu UI design complete - Basic sound effects complete - Picture interpretation software complete - Creation of characters begins - Advanced asset development begins - Interaction software development begins - Preliminary gameplay testing begins

February 28th - Milestone 4 - Character creation complete - Character sound effects complete

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Milestones - Cont.

March 7th - Milestone 5 - Basic game developed with most assets complete - Preliminary testing complete - Advanced technical implementations research begins

March 14th - Milestone 6 - Prototype Demonstration - Basic scope feature list complete - High scope implementation begins

March 21st - Milestone 7 - Hardware and software compatibility confirmation process begins - Quality assurance/debugging begins

April 2nd - Milestone 8 - Feature addition ends - Setup and assembly process of hardware fully realized with instructions - Presentation development begins

April 16th - Final Presentations

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Angel Abundo Artistic Lead, Programming Support

Having past professional experience in graphic design and game development, Angel will be taking on the role of artistic lead. In the past he has created graphical manuals, website template designs, and logos. He will be in charge of the majority of the in-game assets such as backgrounds, characters/avatars, and UI design. He will also assist the programmers as needed.

Mike Hardie Hardware Lead, Programming Support

Originally trained in traditional special effects, Michael made the leap to visual effects when he began working as a 3D scanning technician in the film industry. His experience with building and setting up a wide variety of scanning systems and allowed him to learn the use of a wide variety of projectors, DSLR cameras, lidar systems, and more. His wide variety of hardware skills and the programming they often require makes him a strong choice for handling any hardware the project requires and assisting with development.

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Ethereal Overlay IMD3901 - Design Studio III Project

Justin Loranger-Ahluwalia Creative Lead, Project Management Lead, Artistic Support

Having a wealth of prior experience in project management and conceptual development and design, Justin will be taking the role of creative lead on the project, being responsible for the overall implementation of the project and coordinating the various aspects of development. He will also be responsible for maintaining documentation records for the project and providing some assistance with the creation of graphic art assets.

Dylan Wallace Programming Lead, Project Management Support

Dylan has worked in the games industry for three years, and helped design three published mobile games. His experience with existing development systems will assist the organization of the project, while his primary focus will be developing the software framework for the image processing and game elements of the exhibition.

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