The trigger volumes with their debug names. Players don’t see these.
Modular Interaction System
Geometrica SituJanuary 2024 - February 2024
Built with Unreal Engine
Brief
Each artist in Geometrica Situ wanted a different interaction. Some played a Sequencer, some a Timeline, some audio. None of the artists used Unreal, so they would ask us whether an idea was possible and we worked out how to build it. Only two designers worked in the environment, and they needed to set up every one of these interactions the same way. Some pieces could only be seen properly from a specific angle in VR.
Approach
I programmed a base Blueprint class that every interaction runs through. An interaction starts when the player walks into its volume. All the lights dim and run through a set animation, then the zone plays the content the designers picked for it. When that content ends, everything reverts to how it was. Players can press a button to skip an interaction, which jumps straight to the end and brings the dimmed lights back up. Designers can set a viewing angle by placing a target point that faces the direction they want. When the interaction starts, the player moves smoothly from wherever they are to that angle, and when it ends they move back to where they were. Players never see the volumes, since they're just exploring the space. So each interaction has its own spotlight, pointing straight down at where the player can interact. The class checks the player's position and brightens that spotlight as they get closer, as a signal to come over and look. I built the class so it could take child classes, but the interactions were similar enough that we never made any. Designers could test interactions in the editor without a headset, using a separate editor pawn we made.
