Play Theseus and the Labyrinth
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This game was created for the course ISLT7308 – Game Engine Skills. Theseus and the Labyrinth is a puzzle-focused 3D game loosely based on the ancient myth of Theseus. Players must pass a series of trials (puzzles) in order to progress through the game and solve the maze. 3D models were sourced through the Unity Asset Store. The Fungus plugin for Unity was used to develop the interactions with the NPCs. Music and custom interactions were created by me.
Goals
Goal 1: To provide students with experiences to develop theory-grounded and research-based competencies for the innovative, aesthetic, effective and sustainable design/development and management of technologies for learning opportunities and systems.
- Objective 1.3: Students are able to conduct project management activities for both design/development, and implementation of learning opportunities and systems.
- Competencies: Design and Development of learning systems – (student) I am able to design and develop innovative, aesthetic, effective and sustainable learning technologies based on theory-grounded research.
The final project for the Game Engine Skills course involved creating a 3D game in the Unity game engine. This project was a large undertaking and involved intense project management skills from individual students. Students were tasked with conceiving their own game idea and starting that project. As a basis of the game, I researched the myth of the Ancient Greek Hero Theseus and his seven labors. While the assignment had clear definitions from the instructor, the instructor did not provide a project outline and structure that the game needed to follow. Some elements of the scope were defined by the assignment (assets that needed to be included, minimum number of interactions required), but the scope and structure of the project was up to the individual. After defining the structure of the game based on the seven labors as interactions and the maze as a both literal frame and metaphorical framework, the development, quality, and testing onus was on the student. I created the game and unit-tested repeatedly while checking off boxes after completing milestones like environment setup, interactions with NPCs, walking functionality, and more. Lastly, I reflected on the finished project while submitting the assignment.
Process
The game was created solely by me using CC0 licensed assets from the Unity store and developed in the Unity game engine. After reading a few articles on Theseus, I translated the seven labors into NPC interactions and objectives within the game itself. I placed assets within the game and mapped out the maze itself. I created a low-difficulty maze, but included challenges based on the seven labors and a walking mechanism in the large 3D maze to make the game more interesting. Lastly, I set parameters for passing the interactions or “labors” with each NPC.
Reflection
The aesthetic of the game works quite while to invoke an ancient maze. I think the assets that were sourced and included really shape out the game to look more professional. The choppiness of the mouse controlling the player’s view does detract from the professionalism projected by the assets and the walls can look quite kludgy. Along with this, while the NPC interactions are reasonably compelling for such a simple game, some interactions require extra clicks or navigating that is no-value add just to pass the objective. While it would likely not be considered a bug, the extra clicks do not provide for a solid user interaction. I would try to limit player movement and control the NPC interaction more if I was to remake or update the game.