Project 78Eternal Reality
Creative Producer & Business Development
Creating an environmental physics-based puzzle exploration Virtual Reality (VR) game during an 18 week interdisciplinary team project for my study Creative Media and Game Technologies at Saxion University of Applied Sciences.
2023/2024
Project Description
Creating the game was only part of our project goals. We also sought to formally establish our eight-person team of talented creators as a company, Eternal Reality. While we didn't complete official registration, we prepared all necessary documentation and frameworks. Due to the project's complexity and scope, I took on responsibilities beyond traditional product management, spanning development and content creation. You can explore our development journey, prototypes, and project blog on the Eternal Reality website.
Targeting dedicated VR gamers and physics-based puzzle enthusiasts, Project 78 offers players the opportunity to explore alien galaxies in an immersive VR experience. This story-driven environmental puzzle game incorporates proven bow shooting mechanics from our earlier project, Apollo Arena, creating a physics-based gameplay foundation enriched with narrative elements.
-MANAGEMENT-
Product Management
I focused on product management and business development, utilizing Jira for project planning. Beyond planning, I organized team-building activities including bow shooting, cinema outings, and holiday celebrations to strengthen team cohesion. During the project, I completed the "Product Management Professional Certificate" course from Aha! on LinkedIn Learning, earning 5.5 PDUs.
To maintain team engagement, I facilitated daily stand-ups and weekly discussions, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. When conflicts arose, I mediated between team members, ensuring every voice was heard and acknowledged. To monitor team satisfaction with my management approach, I conducted bi-monthly surveys to capture feedback and identify areas for improvement, documenting and implementing changes in subsequent months.
Business Development
Establishing a business foundation was crucial to our project goals, and I led these efforts. I researched and developed a legal framework for co-founders, connected with a local notary through my professional network, and sought guidance from experienced business owners at events like Immersive Tech Week 2023 and the Entrepreneurial Market at Saxion. Additionally, I joined Saxion Centre of Entrepreneurship's YOSHI program, which provided valuable guidance for launching a business venture.
Throughout the business development process, I conducted comprehensive market research including trend analysis, target audience assessment, competitor evaluation, cost calculations, post-project roadmap planning, marketing strategy development, and fundraising preparation. I synthesized this research into a compelling pitch deck, collaborating with our Visual Designer, Vy Nguyen, to create fitting visuals and professional layouts.
-DEVELOPMENT-
Unreal Engine
This project marked my first experience with Unreal Engine 5, where I undertook various design responsibilities. I created level blockouts using Unreal's grid tool, facilitated level design brainstorming sessions with the team, and used foliage painting techniques to bring environments to life while integrating our custom assets. Beyond the engine work, I developed behavior trees to communicate arrow interaction mechanics to our programmers. Throughout development, I regularly built lighting and game versions, conducting extensive VR testing to identify and document bugs.
Wordbuilding & Game Writing
To strengthen my writing and worldbuilding skills, I studied online literature and tutorials, exploring real-world concepts like microbiology and space exploration to create a more authentic narrative foundation. A presentation by the Moss VR development team about their narrative process proved particularly valuable in shaping our approach.
I delivered a comprehensive story encompassing alien races, player background, human civilization, and the game's central mystery to enrich the worldbuilding. However, due to time and resource constraints, we streamlined the narrative scope while preserving the core storyline elements that enhanced gameplay.
Concept Art
While visual art isn't my primary specialty, I created concept artwork to guide our 3D artists in developing environmental assets. Through this process, I discovered that conceptualizing natural elements like flora and vegetation came more intuitively than technical subjects like architecture and vehicles. My contributions included temple designs and vegetation showcases that established scale relationships with character models.
Motion Capture
Recognizing motion capture's growing importance across industries, I participated in a Movella Xsens course hosted by Saxion XRlab. Our team immediately applied this knowledge, integrating recorded motion capture animations into our game to achieve more realistic and professional character movements for various enemy types.
"From filmmakers to physiotherapists, Xsens motion capture systems are helping professionals around the world to digitize movement. Either to gain the insight to improve well-being or performance, or to create the characters and VFX that bring content producers’ visions to life. "
-CONTENT-
Creation of a Trailer
I led the creation of our project trailer, handling research, scripting, animated storyboarding, and the complete editing process, while teammate Teun de Vries managed audio production.
During research, I analyzed various trailer formats including announcement, gameplay, and cinematic styles. Given our unique project context, I developed a hybrid approach combining elements from multiple trailer types. The editing process drew inspiration from Subnautica's announcement trailer, which guided our approach to transitions and footage utilization.
The left video showcases the animated storyboard using prototype game footage.
Social Media Acting
Collaborating with our Visual Designer, I created educational content about VR usage and best practices. Despite having no prior acting experience, I delivered engaging performances for YouTube shorts covering topics like VR maintenance, motion sickness reduction, and VR applications beyond gaming. These videos accumulated over 5,000 views, successfully building brand awareness and delivering practical VR guidance to the community.
Want to learn more? Connect with Eternal Reality on our social media channels or contact us at info.eternalreality@gmail.com/p>
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