Alex | Devpost

Inspiration

The idea for the project came on the day the meta quest 3 was presented. The new AR technology created a new infrastructure for new kinds of experiences. The revolution for our opinion is similar to the time when the first iPhone came out.

While thinking about the exciting new capabilities of the Quest 3 and the resemblance to the Iphone, it was inevitable to think about the “Icopter”. Therefore, we thought that creating a 3D planes game for the Quest 3 is the best way to harness the AR capabilities and create a fun, exciting and retaining experience that enables players to enjoy an exciting game without the hustle of the usual XR games that requires high cognitive and physical effort.

What it does

In our game, there is a plane in the user’s space which is being controlled by the controllers.

Instructions: Left stick: Roll & Pitch Right Stick: Yaw A Button: Doge / Aim for the Doughnut

The player is playing against the clock and is required to go through the doughnuts to gain more time.

How we built it

We looked for many illustrations of flying mechanics and made (and continue) to examine and used special made assets alongside pre-made assets which went through adjustments.

Challenges we ran into

In the beginning, we tried to use “XR Origin” – The usual suspect for VR development. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well. Then, we discovered the All in One SDK and building blocks, it turned out to be the best choice and made many processes short, especially the setup.

The greatest challenge we have ran into and still facing is the plane control system. Making it smooth, intuitive, and on a decent level of difficulty is VERY HARD. We still did not manage to nail it yet and we still working on it.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are very proud of what we achieved so far – a functioning game that is fun to play. Even if it is still far from being a game that is ready to be released to the quest store, we believe the current version demonstrates our concept and hints at the great potential of the new kind of games that AR tech enables – Real Casual games.

What we learned

How hard it is to make plane physics
Learned the Meta SDK

So far, most of our projects were within the utility areas, we learned a lot about designing games, game mechanics, and creating an engaging experience.

The use of AR Capabilities

Even though turning your everyday environment into a sky where a plane hovers is an exciting experience on its own, the potential capabilities is far from being fulfilled.

We look to examine new ways to use the space: Making the plane bounce when hitting furniture/wall, opening a portal from the wall, making enemies pop from furniture, using the floor for landing and re-equip, and much more!

What's next for Alex

There is a long way ahead of us and Alex. We need to improve SIGNICANTLY the flying mechanics, implementing Alex the squirrel, its enemies, coins, and prizing system, looking into expanding our game into a multiplayer game and so many more improvements in order to make our game a complete, comprehensive, consistent, and most importantly - fun product to use.