Exploring the world of Knightmare with Oculus Rift
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Wow, these are fantastic! Thanks for posting.
Although this doesn’t necessarily have to ‘lead to’ anything (it’s a joyous piece of fandom in its own right) it does get me very excited about VR and the possible future of Knightmare.
The buzz coming out of E3 seems to say that VR which actually works (as opposed to the awful 90s version) has arrived on the high-street and is going to revolutionise gaming and story-telling. As KM straddles both these strands surely there’s some kind of future application?
As far as gaming is concerned, being able to be a dungeoneer in a fully immersive 3d world would be the ultimate gaming experience for a KM fan? This moves the brand away from TV but I for one would still be very interested in such an idea. The recent announcement that the Crystal Maze is coming back as a live experience suggests that retro shows might have a future that’s more ‘doing’ than ‘viewing’ and a well-written Knightmare VR (!) with great puzzles, stories and characters could be a great success.
That’s not to say consumption of KM has to be so active though. The sort of 360 degree film-making that Google have been exploring – whereby action happens all around and the viewer chooses where/when to look – could also be used by the Watchers as a quest is in progress. No two viewers would have the exact same experience and quests could be viewed repeatedly from different angles (this is far more interesting than the viewer simply following the dungeoneer’s POV exactly as this actually removes the drama of seeing them in relation to hazards – which is what creates tension in the KM viewing experience).
I think that considering this technology as a ‘sight’ potion equivalent misses the point slightly. Aside from the fact this breaks a core gameplay mechanic, this headset isn’t for the dungeoneer – it’s for the player/viewer!
If I had time I’d think about all this in a bit more depth – it’s exciting!
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Indeed Hobgoblin the way I like to see it is the more inspiration there is the more that something new can be possible. Knightmare was a huge hit back then we all know that, and to see it on an HMV/GAME shelf would be absolutely radical and (IMHO) a killer of a sell.
Yes I know the likelihood is rather slim to none, but it does give me some kind of enlightenment that we can kickstart something special even if it is a one off
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There's an article over at VRFocus which discusses the theoretical mechanics of a Knightmare VR game as well as a bit of history of Knightmare and briefly touches on the VR element of the Knightmare VR pilot.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12922/make-virtual-reality-knightmare/
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Thanks
Though we're now well beyond the pilot. We actually ended up moving to a new engine after the pilot, which is might higher quality. We've got (at last count) about 55 different dungeon rooms/puzzles all designed and modelled. I'm now just scripting them and am coming up to about half way on that.
Then it just needs testing and it's done!
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Was supposed to have this posted back on the 18th June but my GTX 480 literally died on me just as I was about to upload it to Youtube. Anyone familiar with the winning quest of Series 6 will recognise this
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9zo7ICBHM
HD Images
http://i.imgur.com/TVmfIVd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/47UsgOO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/D9djlJW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dxjTUzf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iNlsrBT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UGVlsRI.jpg
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Been a while since I touched this so I thought I'd cook something up during the Bank Holiday break. The Elements Causeway from Series 5.
More screenshots + fullres versions here:
Video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YAJRqmraA
The irregular aspect ratios of the images/video are down to the new implementation that the rift outputs when it's mirrored to the main screen. It looks perfectly fine in the Rift itself.
Unlike the great causeway which was one animation, I split this one into several animations which allowed for easier control of the room. This one will respond appropriately to the player walking on the incorrect hexagons
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Another thing I've been working on today. A basic recreation of Castle Ghastly from Broadswords Virtually Impossible. Very much WIP right now. Not sure how far it's going to get due to a lack of reference material to work with.
High res images:
Video:
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Now have the Play Your Cards Right puzzle from Series 7-8 in place. I have a basic implementation of the puzzle in place now so you press a button on the control pad to touch the appropriate card to make the next platform come out. I can't implement Leap Motion support into it right now as the particular implementation of the Rift I'm using right now doesn't support Leap Motions "Image Hands" at the moment. Really hoping to actually have reach out and touch the cards in the future.
I can't figure out how to assign multiple animations to script functions right now so touching the wrong card removes the block beneathe you at the moment and I can't get animation of the blocks to move in as you progress through the puzzle. Not following suite will send you tumbling into the darkness below along with a complimentary "oooh nasty".
Full resolution images:
Video:
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Great stuff once again! The play your cards right room is very daunting from the perspective you get. It looks a long way down!
Loved the bit incorporating Simon's team. When the wrong card was touched, the view from when falling down was immense!
Keep up the great work James.
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And now we have the coridoors of what I think is Castle Linghorn from Series 8. The sense of scale when you're wearing the rift is amazing:
High resolution images:
The images/colours are brighter to compensate for the darkness of the screen in the rift. The brightness in the video is closer to how it looks in the rift.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4lq2ujuBW8
The lighting could probably do with a bit of fine tuning. Difficult to do with Rift development right now as dark areas are very prone to smearing on the Rift.
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And now the Level 3 Clue Room from Series 8 along with an animated fireball flying across the room with the original 2D sprite and sound. . Could quite easily have used unitys particle system for the fireball but 95% of the charm would be lost. The corridors of Linghorn lead into this room like the original which provides a nice sense of authenticity.
High resolution images:
Video:
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Basic exterior area of Palace Linghorn (series 8 ) pretty much done. Not much to say here really. Approaching the portcullis makes it open along with the original sound effect.
High resolution images:
Video:
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And now the most infamous of Knightmares areas..... The Corridor of Blades! Looks darker in the rift. Updating to the latest version of unity now allows me to take screenshots/movies with proper widescreen aspect ratios which is nice. The only downside right now is it introduced an oddity where the mirrored view on the monitor shows horrendus ghosting. Thankfully, the ghosting isn't present in the rift. With the HTC Vive and its room scale tracking, I imagine that it'll eventually be possible to physically move left and right to avoid the blades.
High resolution images:
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54gjdWmEJY
And the Golden Galleon exterior from Series 8. For some reason, they appear to have used two different models for this so I essentially made a hybrid to combine the pair of them together.
High resolution images:
Video:
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And now onto the Quest Object Chamber as it appeared in Series 7. Featuring a basic Brollachan that says dialogue from the end of Julies quest . Brollachan model is a bit limited in terms of functionality as my modelling skills are literally barebones. . The eyes actually follow you around the room and track you as you lean left and right. Considering purchasing a dialogue tree Unity asset in the future so it can be fed with knowledge
High resolution images:
Video:
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Onwards to the Level 3 clue room from Series 7. (AKA Level 2's clueroom from Series 8 )
And now for a special guest from Series 4-5. A fully animated skull ghost along with sound effects
High resolution images:
Video:
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