(en: Ena wasawasa levu. On the Open Sea)
A VR project of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz in the context of museum4punkt0 for the Ethnological Museum of Berlin in the Humboldt Forum.
In the VR experience, the player learns about the different ways people in the Pacific navigate the sea using the signs of nature. The game is structured in four levels, which need to be solved to win the game: Players have to navigate with the help of the sun, the stars, clouds and the birds.
The players start on a traditional canoe near an island in the Pacific. They meet a navigator that explains the task they are up to: reach the next island by using the natural signs around them. To select objects in the game the players have to look at it and place the cursor on it. The movement of the boat is controlled by the controller the players have in their hand and using the rudder on the boat.
This VR exhibit is part of the project museum4punkt0 - Digital Strategies for the Museum of the Future. Further information: www.museum4punkt0.de/en/.
The project museum4punkt0 is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in accordance with a resolution issued by the German Bundestag (Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany).
The project produces a Windows application contained in an installer that enables setting up the application for auto-start after booting the PC.
This file documents the Ena wasawasa levu. On the Open Sea project for developers and system administrators. It is not a manual for end users or museum hosts.
For end users or museum hosts, see the manual.
- A Windows 10 PC with a powerful, VR-capable graphics card.
- HTC Vive Pro with base stations, and one controller.
In the installation at the museum, two dedicated PCs will be used: Dell Precision 5820 Tower XCTO Base
- Intel Core i7-7800X 3,5GHz, 4GHz Turbo, 6C 8,25MB Cache, HT, (140W) DDR4-2400
- 32GB (4x8GB) 2666MHz DDR4 UDIMM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
Two Vive Pro headsets will use the same two base stations. Additionally in the museum, each PC will have a small screen built into the set, and an Elgato Stream Deck Mini that will serve as a keyboard replacement for some shortcuts.
- Steam and SteamVR need to be installed on the PC (minimum version 1.7.15)
- When using the Stream Deck Mini, install the Stream Deck application.
Check that the version of the SteamVR application is 1.7.15 or higher.
Click the menu button (the hamburger icon in the top left of the window) to open the Settings window of the SteamVR application, and select the Developer section.
-
Uncheck the setting called Enable VR Dashboard. This will prevent the user quitting the VR experience by pressing the system button on the Vive controller.
Note that in version 1.9 of SteamVR this setting is moved to the General section, renamed to VR Dashboard on System Button, and is only visible when the Advanced Settings are set to Show:
-
Check the setting called Do not fade to grid when app hangs. This will prevent SteamVR from displaying an abstract world when the VR application is loading a new scene.
Note that in version 1.9 of SteamVR this setting is moved to the Video section, and is now called Fade to Grid on app hang:
The installer puts a Stream Deck Profile file on the desktop, for importing into the Stream Deck software.
The profile is set to be the default profile. This means it is always active.
You may want to change it to only be active when the application is running.
More information on configuring the Stream Deck is available in the Stream Deck Quick Start Guide.
The profile contains keyboard shortcuts for changing languages, restarting the game and skipping to the end sequence.
These work exactly the same as the normal keyboard shortcuts mentioned below, but will only work if the application is also playing.
There's also two buttons to restart the computer, or shut it down.
These always work, whether the application is playing or not.
Note that the batch files that are called by the restart and shutdown buttons were provided by the client. IJsfontein has implemented these into the configuration, but cannot offer support, if they don't work as expected.
Settings are stored in a JSON file called settings.json in the user's Documents folder, in a folder with the name of the application. For the release version of the application, that is C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\VR-Wasawasa-release.
Settings are read once, right after launching the application. When the settings file does not exist, it is created with default values. Change settings by quitting the application, locating the settings file, editing and saving it. If the file has become unparseable after editing, a new one with default values will be created and used at the next application launch. Deleting the settings file will make the application revert to defaults at the next launch.
Settings that can be changed are:
- Game Duration (in minutes) Defines play time before end sequence is triggered, not counting the time spent choosing language. Default value: 15.0
- End Screen Duration (in minutes) Defines how long the end screen stays after the player reached the end island. Default value: 1.0
Both values are floating point variables, but integer values will work too.
{
"gameDurationMinutes": 15.0,
"endScreenDurationMinutes": 1.0
}
These keyboard shortcuts are only useful for system administrators or maintenance.
For normal use, the Stream Deck provides some of the shortcuts listed here, marked with a *.
- alt+F4 quit
- F2 open settings file
- 1 (on the alphanumeric keyboard) choose German and start the game *
- 2 choose English and start the game *
- F5 check for update availability of the game (internet connection required)
Note that this doesn't check for possible updates in other required software like Steam and Steam VR - shift+F5 download and install update (when available)
- esc go back to the language selection screen *
- = trigger timeout (skip to end scene with "too late" ending) *
- 1 (on the alphanumeric keyboard) switch to German *
- 2 switch to English *
The project can only be edited and built with Unity 2019.2.x (x: 15f1 or higher), because we use a version of the Crest Ocean System that was not compatible with Unity 2019.3 or higher at the time we imported it.
Updating Crest to a newer version will undo some of the small adjustments we made, and other changes in the Crest package cause things to behave differently.
For this reason, don't update the Crest source unless you are prepared to adjust or refactor the Boat and Ocean components.
The game is separated in two scenes: Intro and Main. They are located in the project folder under Assets/VR-Navigation/Scenes.
This is the Language Selection scene. It is where new users start when they put on the headset.
This scene contains
- the Language Selection menu,
- the Player prefab that contains the VR camera controlled by the player through the Steam VR system, and a Gaze Input component that enables the player to look at GazeButton/GazeTimer objects and select them,
- an Ocean component,
- a Soundscape background music object,
- an Updater component that checks for available updates,
- a Dashboard Canvas that displays version info and lists connected VR controllers,
- the Main component that handles loading of the Main scene, fading sound and VR image in and out, upon selection of the user's preferred language.
This is the main game. It starts with a tutorial phase in which the purpose of the game and the controls are explained. After that, the player starts sailing to the first assignment.
This scene contains
- the Main component that handles state changes of the game, activates and deactivates the relevant GameObjects in the level, resets some shader values;
- the LanguageSwitcher that handles in-game language switching by handling the keyboard presses;
- the ADS GameObject that holds global settings for the Advanced Dynamic Shaders materials and shaders used in the game;
- the Transitions/DayToNight GameObject that controls the transition of the day into night, by animating (using the DayToNight Timeline asset) the position of the sun, the visibility of the clouds and stars and the wind particle system;
- the FeedbackProgress Gameobject that controls the feedback on the player's progress in the game: it animates (using the Achievements Timeline asset) the visibility of stamps on the boat's sail, and particles when an assignment was completed;
- the Sun GameObject that contains the Directional Light that is the sun; it is rotated via the DayToNight Timeline;
- the Ocean GameObject that represents the sea;
- the Ocean Inputs GameObject that defines the Ocean component's behaviour;
- the Boat + Player Gameobject that represents the player's sail boat, containing the rudder that steers the boat, and the same Player prefab as in the Intro scene;
- The GameObject Boat + Player/Paddle Origin/Dragger is the object that is grabbed by the SteamVR Controller, and when moved controls the steering of the boat;
- The boat also contains a number of GameObjects that hold the Turtle's help animation Timelines and the Timelines for the Navigator's poems. These are switched on and off depending on the state of the game;
- The boat contains a number of AudioSources that play different sounds, such as when the boat collides with reefs, the sound of the sea and the sail;
- the Level Transform holds all relevant objects for the different assignments, as well as the Start and Finish island models;
- the Audio Transform contains a number of audio sources that are triggered througout the game, for the sea and wind soundscapes, the sound when doing an assignment, and calls to action ("Now sail west!").
Where necessary, comments on relevant functionalities and their interfaces to other program parts are in the relevant places in the code.
All code specific to the game is located in the directory Assets/VR-Navigation/Scripts.
The main entry points of the Intro and Main scenes are the Main classes in Scripts/Intro/Main.cs and Scripts/Main/Main.cs respectively.
Game state is managed with the classes located in Scripts/GameStates.
All Game States have a reference to the GameContext instance.
The GameContext class has a reference to the GameStateMachine instance that is in the Assets/IJsfontein/Runtime/GameStates folder.
The first Game State (GameStateInit) is created by the Main Script Component attached to the Main GameObject in the Main scene.
GameStateInit initializes the game and progresses to the next states listed here in order of appearance in the game:
GameStateNavigatorIntroGameStateTurtleIntroGameStateSailToAssignment(withMain.LayerName.Startparameter)GameStateSunAssignmentGameStateSailToAssignment(withMain.LayerName.SailWestparameter)GameStateStarsAssignmentGameStateSailToAssignment(withMain.LayerName.SailSouthparameter)GameStateCloudsAssignmentGameStateSailToAssignment(withMain.LayerName.SailToBirdsparameter)GameStateBirdsAssignmentGameStateSailToAssignment(withMain.LayerName.SailToIslandparameter)GameStateParty
The last Game State (GameStateParty) loads the Intro scene when it is done (either by time out or when the user takes off the headset).
All Game States activate the neccessary GameObjects for their part of the game through the ElementsLayerSwitcher instance that is referenced via the GameContext class.
The ElementsLayerSwitcher Script Component is attached to the Main GameObject in the Main scene.
This Component holds lists of GameObjects organised in the Layers array, where each ElementsLayer contains a list of GameObjects that will be switched on when the layer is activated.
All GameObjects in other layers that are not also present in the layer that will be activated, will be switched off.
All GameObjects that are in the scene but not in any ElementsLayer list, will not be switched on or off.
The flow of the game, after the introduction, consists of sailing to an Assignment, and then playing the Assignment. When an Assignment is completed, this triggers the next sailing trip.
Assignments typically consist of a Poem read by the Navigator's voice, accompanied by a Timeline animation. When the Poem's Timeline is finished, the assignment is activated.
Completing an assignment is done by looking at one or more elements in the surroundings, through the GazeInput Component in the Player prefab that triggers GazeTimer GameObjects in the scene.
The currently active GameStateAssignment instance listens for these Gaze Timer events. It handles feedback on the player's actions, by checking if the triggered GazeTimer component is a correct or incorrect one.
When all required Gaze Timer objects have been triggered, the Assignment State starts the feedback routine, after which the next phase of the game starts:
The GameContext class handles the sequence of Assignments and each Assignment state, upon completion, triggers the SetSailToAssignmentState method of the Game Context with an incremented assignment index.
Sailing to an Assignment is completed when the Boat+Player GameObject collides with the active NavLocationTrigger Component in the scene. This is also true for the last sailing stretch to the final island.
The process of building both the application and the installer can be started in the Unity Editor by opening the project, choosing "Build Windows exe and Installer" from the Tools > Humboldt-Forum menu.
Alternatively, it can be started from the command line, as below:
${UNITY} -logFile build.log -projectPath "${PROJECT_PATH}" -quit -batchmode -executeMethod HumboldtForum.Build.Windows.BuildExeAndInstaller -build ${BUILD_NUMBER} -version ${APP_VERSION} -branch "${CHANNEL}" -setupName "VR-Wasawasa-setup-${CHANNEL}" -forgetProjectPath
Change the items between ${ } for the values needed:
UNITYis the full path to the Unity Editor applicationPROJECT_PATHis where the Unity project is located: the folder containing the Assets directory; a full path or relative to your current directoryBUILD_NUMBERandAPP_VERSIONdefine the version and build numbers to be usedCHANNELis typically used to separate alpha, beta and release versions. It controls which channel the updater in the application uses to check for updates.
Both options require Inno Setup 5.5.9 (see below) to be installed in its default location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 5\ISCC.exe
Building the installer can only be done on a Windows computer.
- Crest Ocean System (MIT License)
This is used for the ocean simulation, boats and waves. - SteamVR Unity plugin (BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License)
Used for VR support - DOTween (Free to distribute without modifications, see License)
Used for coded animations - Playable Shader Globals (MIT License)
Used to animate certain shader values - Stylized Procedural Skybox (Part of Amplify Shader Editor Community Extras, MIT License)
Used to make the sky look better
These packages are available in the Unity Asset Store, and are licensed under the standard Unity Asset Store End User License Agreement.
- Amplify Shader Editor
Used to edit shaders, not needed for compiling the final product - Bird Flock Seagull
Provides the base behaviour for the birds in the gameOnce downloaded, install this package in the
Assets/Bird Flocksplaceholder directory - Boxophobic Advanced Dynamic Shaders
Shader system for the sail and flagsOnce downloaded, install this package in the
Assets/BOXOPHOBICplaceholder directory - Curvy Splines
Provides the base for spline path animationsOnce downloaded, install this package in the
Assets/Curvy Splinesplaceholder directory
- Unity 2019.2.x
- Inno Setup 5.5.9 (License)
Only necessary to make the installer
Contracting entity: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Authorship: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Wegesrand Interactive GmbH
Design and Programming: IJsfontein
MIT License
Copyright © 2020, museum4punkt0 - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Wegesrand Interactive GmbH in co-operation with IJsfontein BV
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.