Hey there friends, I added this blog to my website as a place to share a bit about what i am working on. I started putting more time into my own projects again recently, and i’d love to tell you about what’s been growing from that.
Earlier in 2020, i picked up a VR headset (an Oculus Quest), and just felt a really strong compulsion to incorporate VR tools in my game development workflow. I may write some more about what i am dreaming about here, but after some experiments, i settled on a goal that felt realistically achievable and wrote a design document for a tool centered around arranging 3D models. The idea is essentially for a 3D modelling tool, except the models are created out of existing pieces. The pieces themselves would need to be created beforehand, with another 3D modelling tool. Though this concept is simple, it is surprising how creative people can get just combining objects. I’m not trying to create a modelling tool that competes with existing ones, but one that leverages the advantages of VR, for a small set of uses (that can help me create games).
After getting some main features working for this VR object placement tool, i wanted to put it to use (really to look for what’s missing, or not working), and picked an old project that is a simple game that i could make new levels for. This project also had a set of environment models already, which was perfect to start with. In August 2014, i joined Ludum Dare 30 and made a game i called Cloud Connected.
I’ve started making new level layouts from existing pieces, and the results are promising: when it’s intuitive to arrange the pieces, level design is playful and easy.
Working on these two projects together is certainly not faster than focusing on just one, but the feedback between them seems worth it.