Apollo ArenaCMGT
Project Management & Experience Design
Creating a First Person Shooter (FPS) game in Virtual Reality (VR) during an 8 week interdisciplinary team project for my study Creative Media and Game Technologies at Saxion University of Applied Sciences.
2022
Project Description
Apollo Arena is a competitive first-person multiplayer bow shooter game in VR. Play with up to 4 players within VR. Use bows to shoot each other and to propel yourself forward in the gravity less environment. Be quick, be smart, Become the last one standing!
The game features three distinct arrow types; Normal, Explosion, and Grapple, within a Team Deathmatch format. Specifically optimized for PC-VR, it maintains excellent performance while supporting up to eight players in a single session.
Project Management
Our game development team consisted of eight members. My primary focus within the project was project management, planning, and product ownership. Below you can find two overviews of the team projects planning in Trello.
The left image shows our final project phase planning. While we typically employed Scrum methodology, we adapted our approach by creating role-specific lists in Trello to better accommodate our team's workflow and maintain clarity across disciplines.
On the right side, there's an overview of the planning used after the initial completion of the project. The primary aim of this additional phase was to optimize and prepare the game for the WirWar Gaming Festival 2022, in which we had the opportunity to participate. This phase had a more spread because we had to complete these tasks during our free time.
Experience Design
Beyond project management, I contributed to web development and user experience design, including level design, UI design, and user testing. The game takes place in an octagonal arena featuring a central pillar connected to an outer ring via strategic bridges, creating dynamic gameplay opportunities. Our art direction blends fantasy and science fiction elements within a fully 3D environment where physical movements directly influence gameplay, enhancing player immersion. The project website remains functional and can be accessed here.
The right image displays our post-completion planning phase, focused on optimizing and preparing the game for the WirWar Gaming Festival 2022. This extended development phase required a more flexible timeline as we balanced festival preparation with other commitments.
Festival
At the conclusion of our team project, our game was chosen as the best, and we were invited by the WIRWAR to showcase it at their gaming festival. WIRWAR gaming festival is a combination of traditional LAN party, competitions and arcade's that caters to both businesses and students in the region. Our game received an overwhelmingly positive response from both VR enthusiasts and newcomers. You can watch our event's own aftermovie below, as well as WIRWAR Festival's official aftermovie by following this link at 01:08.