Orb Odyssey

Overview

Orb Odyssey is a VR puzzle platformer using a 4 degree of freedom (4DOF) motion platform to simulate realistic ball movement. You play as Hammy the hamster who ventures across tropical islands in his high tech hamster ball. 

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Use your traversal skills to carefully navigate the ball across treacherous terrain by maintaining your balance and speed and precisely launching the ball across gaps and ravines. The player must race against time to collect all of the carrots in the level (Hammy's favourite food!) in the fastest time possible, whilst uncovering hidden secrets and powerups to save precious seconds.

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Roles and Responsibilities

This project was a group project for my final year of university. My role on the project was as one of two designers. I was responsible for designing two of the game's levels; the tutorial and the final level. This was the first time using Unity's terrain tool to prototype and edit the level's geometry.

 

Additionally, I helped design the game's controls (namely the movement physics of the 4DOF and the use of the Valve Index controllers for navigation and the activation of powerups). Furthermore, I designed the effects of two of the game's powerups (speed boost and freeze) and their placement in the levels.

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Challenges

We wanted to show off the capabilities of the 4DOF and how it could improve the player's immersion in the game. This meant that the user experience of moving around in the 4DOF was our highest priority. Designing how responsive the ball should feel and what control scheme would feel most intuitive proved challenging. Additionally, designing the levels so that the player intuitively knew the right path was also tricky. Lots of iterative testing and feedback from playtesters was crucial for refining these aspects.

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Outcome

We managed to get an 81 for the finished project. This project was also a key piece of work shown off at the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) Graduate Showcase. It was located near the entrance and had lots of participants who loved the experience.