DefenesTRAIN

This is a fun one. Over the summer of 2023 I participated in a two week program at Northeastern University about creating games in extended, or virtual reality. As apart of this program I had the opportunity to develop a virtual reality game in Unity for the Oculus Quest 2, and this is the game that my group came up with.

Design and Gameplay

DefenesTRAIN is played from the perspective of a train driver delivering packages to building across the desert. In order to do so, the player must throw packages out the window while maintaining the train's speed by placing coal into the firebox. We chose the setting of a train since we felt that movement in VR games often feels quite clunky, so putting the player on an already-moving vehicle would minimize the need for the player to move themself. The scenery and buildings along the track are randomly positioned and rotated so that they do not become repetitive. The train also contains a radio which leads in to the game's basic storyline of unreasonable working conditions and expectations. We would havel iked to expand the story if we had more time to work on it.

Process

Throughout the program, I worked in a small group, learning about principles of professional game design while developing this game. The most difficult part was dividing up the work in such a way that Unity would not break if multiple people were editing the game at once. We ended up avoiding this problem entirely by each taking different aspects of the game and working on them locally. I did the vast majority of the programming, while the other team members worked on the art, sound, and storyline. It was neat having a proper team for this project rather than doing all aspects of the project myself.

Conclusion

Perhaps more valuable than learning about game development though was the whole campus experience. I went into the program with few expectations, and I came out with a lot more for college. This was my first time living by myself for a longish period of time, and while it was nice to get some freedom for a little while, I did miss home in the end. Overall I enjoyed it and I am hoping for a similar experience from college.