There are two main parts that I focus on when doing the case study- multiplayer game and cross-platform game.
Case Study – Multiplayer Game
There are many different genres of VR multiplayer games. In most multiplayer games, players would need to be co-located in order to talk to each other.
VR chat offers multiple ways to let players interact and communicate with each other, including text bar, emoji, and verbal communication. Meadow is a PC-based game where players could only communicate through animal sounds and icons to express their mood.
Case Study – Cross-platform
The award-winning game ‘Keep talking and nobody explodes’ is recognized as the most popular asymmetric cross-platform puzzle-solving collaborative game. Two players are required to participate in the game at the same time, while both have different abilities, information, and limitations, which makes them need to cooperate to achieve the goals. One of the players needs to participate in the game through the VR or PC interface and conduct bomb disposal operations relying on the description of the other player who has access to the instruction manual outside the game world.
It requires players to exchange the information they have obtained, communicate, and discuss methods to defuse the bomb. This game is intended to be played with others in the same room, so it heavily depends on direct verbal communication. However, players can still play the game remotely through external communication channels.
‘Black hat cooperative’ is a local two-player cross-platform game. One player is in VR collecting treasure without being spotted by the enemies, while the other player is monitoring the map through PC and has the ability to hack and open the door for the VR player. Because the locations of traps, hazards, and doors are only visible for PC players, they should guide VR players through the maze. In addition, PC players could hack into the system and offer the assist in sneaking.
Two-way communication is an essential element of this game. PC players need to tell VR players to avoid certain dangerous spots and guide them to the door, whilst VR players need to find the code hidden in the VR environment so that PC players can key in and unlock the door. Unlike most of the multiplayer games only relies on verbal communication, Black Hat Cooperative offers another type of communication-text messaging. When PC players enter the password to unlock the door, it will also be displayed in the VR player’s field of view, letting VR players know what the other party is doing. Although the texting function is only designed for the hacking function in the game, it does attempt to provide a variety of communication channels, which is conducive to the players to convey passwords and messages more accurately.