[G5] - Echoes of Summer

https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/1febfpb/story_trailer_for_echoes_of_summer_emotional/

How to play - requirements

Players need a room with a table and window, using a Meta Quest 3.

Inspiration

Echoes of Summer is inspired by the narrative experiences of What remains of Edith Finch and Empereur

What it does

It's about telling a story using MR and specifically scene understanding. Using the meta SDK we tell a story using the user's own door, own window, own table and couch. It is used to enhance immersion and identication of the user in the story by spawning objects and interaction using his own physical space by leveraging the scene understanding from Meta. Interactive Objects are placed on the players table and a different view replaces his window view.

About the game: The game provides a storytelling experience in a hybrid form of mixed reality and virtual reality. Set in a semi-realistic environment with a retro feel, players interact with familiar items to unlock memories. The narrative for Echoes of Summer is driven by audio. The main character hears „echoes“ from past memories. Conversations and sounds help to transport the meaning. Additionally the game is supported by a soundtrack that helps to set a nostalgic and emotional mood for the whole experience.

How we built it

Built with Unity and the Meta Presence Platform, primarily the Meta Interaction SDK and Building Blocks. The soundtrack is composed and produced in Reaper. Audio monologue and sound design are both recorded live and edited or developed digitally.

Challenges we ran into

Picking a story direction was time consuming, because of all the ideas we had in mind. We had many objects in mind that tell the story, but had to narrow it down to just a few. The decision on the combination of mixed reality and virtual reality was made later during the project, but we found a good way so that we could start creating assets and 3D models already without making unnecessary work. We are curious about the potential of that in increasing immersion and identification or other unexplored effects of this merging of the virtual and physical for story telling.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We think that placing narrative as the core of the game project creates a beautiful world that you want to stay in. The player communicates through hand-made visual assets. We introduced an innovative mechanic where interacting with objects creates an auditory feedback and musical experience. When the player grabs an object, a note plays, and releasing the object triggers another note. These notes seamlessly blend into the game's soundtrack and harmonic structure, enhancing the overall ambiance, where music and interactions are harmoniously combined. Intuitive XR interactions make the experience dynamic and intuitive.

What we learned

Meta Presence Platform, Semi-realistic environments, Scene Understanding, Passthrough, Spatial Anchors, Sound Implementation, Interactive Storytelling, Spatial Sound

What's next for Echoes of Summer

The next part of the story, going deeper into the family's history. Implement ducking techniques and auto-fade to the game audio.

Soundtrack Demo

Echoes of Summer: Main Titles (Demo)

Built With

• c#
• metapresenceplatform
• unity