Escape Room VR Game Design

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Brainstorm

Initial Idea

For my VR game I decided to design an escape room. The entire game will revolve around the general environment of two islands. So I decided to call him the “Island Escape Simulator. In this game, the player play the role of a person who has experienced a shipwreck and accidentally drifted to the island. The game has in total of two islands. Players need to find props and crack clues to figure out how to get to the other island. On the other island there would be a boat where the player could win this game by reaching it.

(Changed my idea to making an abandoned old house as the environment)

(Change name to “Room Escape”)

Storyboard

In my storyboard I drew out the player’s general gameplay process in first-person perspective throughout the entire game.

Form Follows Function

In the first week we discussed Form Follows Function, an idea that states how an object’s shape or form should primarily correspond to its intended use or function. As I am building an escape room game. Creating an enclosed space with one or two obvious doors can be considered as a representation of this type of game. For example, the game ‘Escape Room Simulator’ is about deciphering and finding items in a confined space. The door is always the key to escape. I will try to maintain the interactivity and variety of the game items to add in the playability of the game. The appearance of the items is also specified according to the content of the puzzle. For example, the key needed to open the door. The player can clearly know what they have to find is a key to unlock the door. The missing four pieces of the puzzle also allow the player to know that the present goal is to find all the remaining pieces of the puzzle.

Amusement

This escape room game tends to simulate a real-life escape room experience, with the physics engine and first-person application at its core. To add interest, individual objects in the scene can be picked up and observed, although most of them are simply “useless objects”. Considering that the player may use these objects as clues, it is also considered to add difficulty to the decryption process.

Research

Recently, an escape room game called “Escape Simulator” came popular, and I used it as a reference for my game. It is based on clues to decipher and crack various codes and find keys to enter another level. Players will pick up and observe the surrounding environment or objects through first-person.

I plan to refer the player’s first-person perspective into my game. And also, the decryption and searching for keys would appear in my game play.

The environment of this game is based on island and ocean which made me think of the game “Raft”. it is a game where players battle to survive a perilous voyage across the sea. on the way of the adventure, players would reach to many small islands where my game would be referring to.

(Did not follow this idea)

I also searched for elements should be included in an escape room. Also some example of a real-life escape room experience. (I’ve been to a few so I had a brief understanding of how it should look like).

I also watched a Chinese TV show called “密室大逃脱”. Inside the mechanism design， scene and sound design are very innovative and gave me a lot of inspiration.

Why VR?

I chose to use VR for my game is because VR would bring a more immersive experience to players especially this kind of game that requires a long stay in a single scene, which easily makes player feel bored and tedious. The VR immersive experience allows players to continuously explore different view of the space.

What standout in the form of VR?

Also, VR can bring a very special point of view to the game where players can pick up items by using the controller and take closer observation of objects and environment. This is an immersive experience that can’t be achieve by a normal display. VR allows players to observe the items in their hands more realistically. And when the player is in the VR environment, they can truly feel the size of the space and feel like they are really in the game.

Game Genre

• Puzzle adventure games
• First-Person
• Number of Participant：1

Space

In order to reflect the sense of oppression and confined experience. I designed the space to be relatively small and enclosed to give the player a tense atmosphere. In the placement of items, I try to hide the main clues from the obvious spots, such as tables, open areas, and places that can be seen as soon as you enter the door. This adds in difficulties for the player. In the last level I set to unlock the last door with all three previous keys that have been used. If the player unlocked the door in the previous level after randomly throwing away the key, then he will need to return to the previous space and find the discarded key. This also allows the game to maximize the use of space.

Animation

I only have a few simple animations in my game. For example, adding an animation to the door opening and closing. Gramophone and key box also have some simple opening and rotation animation.

Sound

Sound effects I used three different background music to represent the three levels are switched. Whenever the door of a level is opened the music will switch. The soundtrack source I set in each level are played with different record players showing in the scenes.

Narrative

Story

The story of this game is about a player who was kidnapped to a house and trapped in a bedroom. The player wakes up when the kidnapper happens to be away from the house. The player is given ten minutes to crack clues and escape from the house before the kidnapper returns. The house is designed to be located in a remote and unpopulated area. Player is unable to ask for help but save themselves.

Time-Line

The time of the game is set in the evening. Player needs to unlock all the rooms and leave the house within ten minutes to win. On the other hand, if the game is not completed, the player fails and the game ends.

Background

The story is set in a suburban bungalow in the 1990s. The ageing decoration and poorly used furniture also indicate that this is not a cozy family living place but a abandoned house. It is also a perfect place to be held captive.

Theme

Environment

For the environment I used low poly model sets from sketchfab. This create a sense of discomfort and unused. The general environment I use are suitable for the story and the period of furniture and plain old style to create a sense of discomfort and unused. In terms of lighting, I kept the scene in a dim light to create a tense atmosphere. I also added some environment interaction with the player such as lamp that can be switched on and off with a lighter, cabinet that can be opened and items able to pick up.

Character

There will be only two characters in my game. One is the player-controlled protagonist and the other is the “kidnapper”. The kidnapper will only appear in the UI to tell the player the background of the story and will not appear in the game play process.

Colour

I chose the color palette of greyish tones and also the wooden tones. This is more to restore a cold and deserted living environment.

Movement

This mechanic allows player to move around the board, level, and game area.

Snap Turn

In my game I used snap turn allowing the player to consider their moves. I choose snap turn instead of continuous turning is because VR experience have to deal very careful with motion sickness especially for longer period of usage such as game.

Hold & Throw

Player can pick up and throw away objects in order to find key items. Which can trigger the door by plugging the key in the lock.

Pull & Push

When player is search around the room, some of the cabinet and drawer could be pull open or push back. Allowing player to find key items.

Trigger

When Player holds the key to specific door. Door unlocks and player is allowed to enter other level. When player holds the lighter and touches the lamp, lights appear.

Code

This script is used when player transfer from main menu scene to game scene. Also, when player win the game and transfer back to the main menu scene or when game time reached 600s player fail the game and transfer back to the main menu scene.

This script is to trigger the back to main menu button when player win the game. I am not using the one up front is because when player is playing the game, I removed the red laser from the controller. so, player is no longer able to trigger the button by laser. instead, player is able to trigger the button by entering the button area which has the same function as the above script.

By adding tags to keys and setup door type for doors. Player is able to trigger specific door animation with the matching key. Which also represents the enter of the next level.

This script is to activate the animation for the box in order to get the yellow key. By adding number count (4 puzzle pieces) to trigger the animation active. Also, when missing piece reaches the collider (completing puzzle) the puzzle piece on player’s hand disappears (destroy) and same piece on the completed puzzle appears (set active).

When the lighter (tag Lighter) touches the lamp (Lamp Point Light), light spears (Set Active).

I add a box collider for three different soundtracks. When player enter the area, it triggered the music to play. When player leave the area music stops. This also help differentiate different levels of the game.

When players game play time reaches 600s and still have not crack all the clues game end (time over). Player would be brought to another scene with description of game over. Player can choose to go back the main menu scene to start over the game.

During the game play, there would be a timer on the top left corner reminding the player how long have they been playing.

What are stages and steps you do in this interactive experience?

Game Cycle

Platform

• PC
• VR Headset

Rules (Restriction, Boundary)

Player will have some restrictions when playing this game. For example, the space restriction. The player cannot enter the next space until he finds the key to the door. The time limit of playing. Players only have ten minutes to find all the keys and solve all the clues. Once the time is up, the game will be over. Restrictions on operation. Players will not have any other actions except picking up & putting down, opening & closing.

Level

Level Design

There are four levels in my escape room. Each level increases the difficulty and playability. The first and second level is a simple and straightforward play test level by search for a key and open a door to the next level. In the third level, players need to find the remaining puzzle pieces and open a box to find the key to the last level. In the final level players need to figure out the clue is to use all three keys used before to open the last door.

• Dark Green colour: keys
• Light Green colour: locked door
• Pink colour: missing puzzle pieces
• White colour: player explore zone
• Yellow colour: Audio Source

Obstacles and Challenges

1. The door is locked. Players need to find the key to open this door access to the next level.
2. Players need to find the four missing pieces of the puzzle and open the box to get the key to the next level.
3. Players need to realize and collect the previous three keys to unlock the last door.

Each level will have interfering items and items of no substantial use as challenges for the player.

Goal

The player’s goal is to unlock all the rooms and escape from the space to achieve victory in the game.

UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience)

When the player first enters the game, they will see a UI interface that says Start and Intro. Tap into the Intro will be a short paragraph of text explaining the story of the game and the goal for the player’s. Click start to enter the game then the player will enter the first level which is also a teaching level. Player will see a written operation of the UI. follow the instructions above to complete the basic operation and player can start playing the game. When the player successfully win the game after opening the last door, a UI written with Victory and a button back to the main menu will appear in front of the player. Click the button, player will return to the beginning of the Start and Intro interface as a game cycle.

Teach Test Challenge

After clicking start button, player will appear in a locked bedroom. As the first level of the game is also a teaching level, I will tell the player all the available operations of the game through the form of UI Text and let the player try to operate. After a simple testing player can start the challenge.

In the teaching UI player can try to use the lighter to light up the lamp and try to open and close the drawer. After a simple operation then player can start the challenge of the game.

At the beginning of the playtest, the player’s perspective was very tall making it very difficult to pick things up after dropping them on the ground. By adjusting the height of the player, this issue was solved. Besides, the size and placement of the objects that I expected at the beginning were not the same as the actual playtest. Some items are much larger than expected and the placement of some furniture causes the player to move very difficult. Later, after adjusting, I enlarged the interactive items and reduced some unnecessary furniture allowing player to move more fluently. I even removed some of the furniture’s collider so that players can directly pass through barriers. During the process of playing I placed the yellow key in a box. My design is when the puzzle is completed the box open then player can reach the yellow key. But in the playtest, controller will accidentally knock the yellow key out. Later I added a collider to the box so that player will not accidentally knock out the key. Sometimes when I am opening cabinets or holding items close to the player’s own body. Objects will collide with the player, and player will be bumped off. Later I narrowed down the player’s body, but if the items are taken very closely, then there will still be a collision, and the collision with the cabinet is also difficult to avoid.

After letting others playtest my game, they felt that there were few items to interact with, so I added more items that players could pick up and cabinet that could be interact with.

External resources used, including tutorials, code, assets, software

Example of VR Escape Room

Import Models

Audio Source

Key trigger Door

Keypad

UI

Timer

Pull & Push

Main Menu

Difficult & Solution

Weird door animation

At first the animation was normal when I bound it to the door. But when I triggered the door to open with the key Trigger. The door animation became very strange flying around. Later I removed the animation and added a new one to solve the problem.

light source version issue

When I change scene from the Main Menu to the game scene, the light source becomes very different than normal. After checking the sky box and the light source trigger, I found that it may be a version problem. So I created several light sources shining at different angles to regain the look I expected.

white cabinet material problem cannot open door

I imported a white cabinet from sketchfab. After I added the hinge joint and everything else needed, the cabinet door still could not be pulled open. Then I did the same with another model, but the other model could be opened. The only difference between the two models is that the materials are different. So, I think it was the material that caused the problem. Later, I directly changed a set of models, and the problem was solved.

Keypad cannot use

I was intended to add a Keypad to one of the doors for players to search for the number code needed to unlock the door. Since I followed the online tutorial step by step, the Keypad was working after I finished it. But later when I added many other operations and models into the scene, I don’t know if it was because I mistakenly triggered something, the keypad couldn’t be used anymore. But I didn’t know how to check the problem. So I then can only abolish the keypad.

Objects collide with player

When I pick up the items with the controller, the collision will happen when the collider of the item hits the body of the character. Sometimes the player will be knocked out of the scene. Later I reduced the character’s body, although the collision will still occur if the items are too close. But the probability has become much lower. As long as it is taken a little farther generally will not be a problem anymore.

pass through the wall

In the playtest I found that I could go straight through the wall to the other level. Later I added a collider to the entire wall and the problem was solved. But it also stopped me from entering other spaces through doors. So I added two colliders separately and left the door blank so that the player would not be blocked from entering another space.

The drawer can be ripped out directly with the controller or pushed out of the map

At first, when the player grasps the drawer, the entire drawer will be pulled out with the player’s hand. Later, after adding a collider to the table and limiting the xyz motion of the drawer, it will not be pulled out by the player anymore. But as the player pushes the drawer back, there is no restriction at the back and it will directly fly out. So I added a collider behind to confine the drawer to the space it should be.

Cabinet without collider items placed on top fall to the ground

After I import the model from sketchfab into the scene, the model does not contain a collider. This also means that the player could pass through the model without restrictions, including items with added gravity fall directly. So I added a collider to each floor of the cabinet to ensure that the items do not fall through the cabinet directly to the floor after the game starts.

washing machine box collider can not rotate

The box collider is tilted when I added the box collider to the door of the washing machine. But because the box collider doesn’t have the option to rotate, I was unable to fit the collider to the door of the washing machine. Later I created an empty object and dragged the door into this empty object. So, when the player pushes and pulls the empty object, it is like pushing and pulling the door.

victory back to main menu not working

I turned off the laser ray of the controller as the player was playing the game. Therefore, the player is unable to switch scenes by clicking the main menu button. Therefore, I added a box collider to the button and wrote the code of OnTriggerEnter.

In the beginning I followed my initial idea of building an island scene, but I spent way too much time working on the scene modelling. Besides, all parts of the model were connected together and could not be unpacked. Therefore, I decided to start over a new scene.

Later, I built another scene but the textures became very different after being imported into unity, so I didn’t use this scene at last.

Learn

In this project, I tried to understand the basics of building a game in Unity and got a rough understanding of coding logic. Also, I found out that Unity is a process that focuses on practical operation and requires more experience from theory to practice, and the only way to truly master it is to be able to put in more effort to make the effect I want. I think I’m still at a beginning stage and there are still a whole lot of things that require plenty of practice and understanding before I can create a game I am satisfied.

Bring Further

I think the playtest is relatively lack of challenge and too straightforward with the levels. If I can push this project further, I will spend more time on increasing the variety of puzzles and giving players more interaction and thinking. Also, try to reduce the repetitiveness of puzzles. It won’t be as easy for players to find the key. Also, I would add a “backpack” function so that players can pick up objects and put in the backpack at any time to use. I will also spend more time polishing the scene. In addition, adding sound effects is also an important part of the game experience that I neglected to mention in this project. I will also add more convenient VR interactions, such as fast running, flashing.