Blue Sanctuary

Inspiration

After our team's brainstorming day, we ended up with a Figma file full of images of our favorite movies, engaging Roblox games we used to play, and different sci-fi moon-like bases. We ultimately condensed our main inspirations to include Studio Ghibli's Ponyo and Giant Squid's ABZU, which excited our team of four to dive into a subaquatic setting.

What it does

Blue Sanctuary is a scavenger hunt set in an optimistic future.

It provides the players with a vibrant environment to explore and socialize. The collaborative nature of the gameplay encourages players to work together to learn about the sci-fi nature world we created. Every asset in this world is hand-made by our team.

How we built it

Our 3D artists modeled and UV unwrapped within Maya and Blender3D, hand painted dozens of textures in Adobe Substance Painter, and created Meta Horizons' MESA and BA maps in Adobe Photoshop. Over 47 custom 3D assets were created which included interactable tools for players to use, grass generated from particle systems, and 19 different plants and their variations.

Our one and only programmer created the scanning mechanics in a separate Meta testing world before implementing them in our main world to prevent wasted work in case of shifts in vision during the production. Having to learn the typescript language and the Horizon Worlds API in a few days, our programmer created a scanning system, as well as a cinematic notes system for players to learn about and interact with our world. Custom UI assets, hand-drawn by our artists, were passed to be implemented by our programmer.

Challenges we ran into

Starting late in November and in the middle of our team's University finals season, our team had a significant time constraint placed on us as we worked diligently to produce an immersive experience. We had difficulty coordinating time to work together, resulting in many late nights. In the midst of studying for exams, writing essays, and turning in assignments minutes before due dates, it only made sense that we worked to the final hours of this competition as well. Time was the largest challenge that we had to manage and overcome.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The entire production experience was very difficult but we managed to reach the majority of our main goals for which we are all very proud. Our extensive pre-production process led to a strong plan and an efficient pipeline that catered to the strengths of our different teammates. Following the detailed plan we made in the beginning, we achieved a fleshed-out product without scoping down too much. Apart from our tangible project, we are extremely proud of the seamless collaboration and discipline our team exemplified.

What we learned

This project was a steep learning curve for each member of our team. We came into this project without much experience developing VR games and completely new to Meta Horizon’s game engine. Whether it was the Meta Horizons' desktop editor and custom import tool, optimizing our design and artwork for VR and mobile devices, or just learning how to scope a project with such a tight deadline gave us invaluable experience we will take into our future endeavors.

What's next for Blue Sanctuary

With our time constraints, we knew to limit the scope of our game and limit the experience. This was done to optimize the final project for an enjoyable game experience. However, freed of a deadline, we have many, bigger ideas brewing. Even on the murky sea bed, the future for Blue Sanctuary is bright. With no time constrictions, our team plans to design stronger gameplay loops that encourage a greater sense of exploration and imagination. Whether through increased plant diversity, larger play areas, or presenting players with extra tasks and challenges, we want to reach the fullest potential for Blue Sanctuary as we move onward from the Meta Horizons Creator Competition.

Built With

• adobephotoshop
• blender3d
• maya
• metahorizonapi
• procreate
• substancepainter
• typescript