Inspiration

We were inspired by the StrikerVR presentation of the Mavrik-Pro blaster and wanted to utilize it's unique controls and haptics to create a fun game with a minimal barrier of entry but also that challenges the player both mentally and physically, with a light-hearted tone and free of violence. Throughout the pandemic, we found much value in playing casual games with our friends, improving our mental well-being as well as strengthening our social connections and bonds with others.

What it does

In our game, the player attempts to navigate a ball through a series of obstacles by shooting various targets that impart unique influences on the ball and its environment.

How we built it

We built our project with Unreal Engine 5, programming exclusively with the engine's visual scripting language called Blueprints. The Meta Quest 3 was our target HMD, and we interface with the StrikerVR SDK to register button actions from the Mavrik-Pro and send haptic events to the device for physical feedback. For collaboration, our team leveraged GitHub so we could easily share modified files while working concurrently.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the project, we encountered quite a few technical difficulties with Meta Quest Link that limited only one of our team members to test with the Quest 3. In addition, the documentation for the Mavrik-Pro was minimal, and not all the features worked as expected.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're really pleased with the polish we were able to accomplish, despite the technical difficulties we encountered, and were able to incorporate almost every feature we planned from the start of the hackathon.

What we learned

We learned how to interface with unique external devices in VR, and also strengthed our team collaboration skills in an intense working environment.

What's next for Super Gadget Blaster

We would love to add local multiplayer functionality, as well as a means for users to develop their own puzzles and share with their friends and the Super Gadget Blaster community!