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Erin Hao
Description
Bubo is a fantasy-themed VR adventure game where players embody an owl tasked with mail delivery. While navigating environmental hazards (storms and volcanoes) with intuitive flight mechanics and dynamic challenges, players must balance speed and precision to ensure safe package delivery and maximize rewards.
Design
Player Control
Unlike traditional teleportation navigation in VR games, players control the main character by simulating bird behaviors. Players flap their wings to ascend and perform other actions such as gliding, tilting, and descending with intuitive wing movements.
Like this!
(just kidding)
Game Flow
Environmental Hazards
Rain: Increases weight, causing a speed debuff and potential damage to packages.
Lightning: Strikes during storms, leading to loss of control and a 2–4 second fall, damaging certain packages.
Fence Railheads: Player instantly return to nearest spawn point.
Geyser & Volcanic Eruptions: Create turbulence within range, potentially damaging packages.
Updrafts: Provide a constant upward force, reducing weight and increasing speed.
Electricity Towers: Cause instant mission failure upon collision.
Electromagnetic Interference: Leads to a 10-second disorientation, disabling the directional guide after falling to the ground.
Delivery System
Sender: The origin of a package.
Receiver: The recipient of a package, which can vary based on the narrative and include multiple recipients.
Talk to characters about quests
Pick up package items
Quest: Each package is tied to a quest, guiding players and driving narrative progression.
Rough Routes
Inventory & Packages: Players store packages in an inventory, each with attributes such as weight, time sensitivity or fragility. A package's condition is affected by time and hazards, ultimately influencing the reward.
Map / Regional Level Design
⬤ Easy Area I: Windy & Drizzling – Slows player flight speed.
⬤ Easy Area II: Fences, Railheads & Electric Wires – Obstacles to navigate.
⬤ Medium Area I: Geysers – Risk of being lifted above clouds, harmful to live animal packages.
⬤ Medium Area II: Lightning Storms – Requires dodging lightning strikes.
⬤ Hard Area I: Oceanic Storms – Heavy rain, strong wind, and lightning, hazardous for flight and packages.
⬤ Hard Area II: Volcanic Lava – Severe threat to package safety.
Design Process
Art & Environment
Art Decisions
Stylization
A stylized 3D fantasy theme with vibrant and immersive visuals for the magical & dreamy narrative.
3D Scenes
Seamless fantasy world featuring castles and villages with detailed indoor design, forests, volcanoes, beaches, mountains, and other diverse landscapes.
Magical Academy & interiors
Town & approximity
Treetop Island
River Cave & Poacher's Hut
Grassy Field & Ancient Forests
3D Characters
The player model consists of a first-person rigged wing system, with movement mapped to the wings for realistic and expressive gestures. NPCs are fantasy-themed and include detailed animations.
Player Wings
Chain IK constraints are utilized to achieve realistic wing movements for the player model.
Quest Characters
Reflect & Learn
What went wrong?
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In progress!
What I learned
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In progress!
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