Why choose an Autoethnographic approach
Described by Holt, N. L. as “a genre of writing and research that connects the personal to the cultural, placing the self within a social context” (2003), an autoethnographic approach allows an author to give their own opinion on a subject, with the aim of describing and
systemically analysing personal experience (Ellis, C., Adams, T.E., & Bochner, A. 2011). They have their benefits, Carolyn Ellis in her book “Revision”, describes them as “flexible”,
“reflexive” and have “the potential to expand scholarship” (2009).
In their journal of Virtual Worlds Research, Dumitrica, D., & Gaden, G. (2009) used an autoethnographic to “experience and performance of gender online in Second Life”. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, both Dumitrica & Gaden were able to experience the virtual world themselves, doing this enabled them to give a detailed journal entry that benefited from their own personal experience. In reflection upon the autoethnographic approach,
Dumitrica & Gaden wrote that they “have a lot to offer to understanding online environments in general, and gender online in particular”. Although the project is not concentrating upon online environments, this reflection is evidence that autoethnographic approaches are a viable way of researching a subject.
Autoethnographic introduction
As an avid player of RTS games myself, I will make predictions on how a VR RTS game would work. For the example of how an RTS could work in VR. I will theorise how the game
‘Company of Heroes 2’ could be remade into a VR environment. This will be drawing on my personal experience of ‘Company of Heroes 2’, RTS games in general and the researched VR games/experiences.
Figure 88. Company of Heroes 2 Logo. (SEGA. 2013)
Equipment
The predictions will be made presuming that a user will be using the HTC Vive. The reason behind this is that the VIVE gives the user a fuller VR experience, with the full headset, sensor and controller combination, the player fully tracked, allowing more dynamic use of VR and its capabilities. It is also because controllers are standard with the HTC VIVE, whereas on the oculus rift they are not.
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Figure 89. HTC Vive logo (HTC, 2016).
Presentation of the 3D environment/play space
Released in 2010 the video game ‘R.U.S.E’ was an RTS success. The game was based in World War 2 and had the player command one of the nations from the war. What was interesting about the game was how the 3D environment was presented to the player. The 3D world was put on a table in front of the player, and in the background, you could see an almost war office like environment (Figure 90). The game then featured a normal RTS camera and movement, but in VR I believe that this approach could be used. Having the ‘Company of Heroes 2’, 3D
environments in front of the player on a table, it would allow them to look down at it and allow the player to move around it.
Figure 90. Ruse Table (Eugen Systems, 2010).
Below is a mock-up of what it could look like
Figure 91. VR strategy game table mock-up.
What Impact Do VR Controllers Have on the Traditional Strategy Game Genre 116 Cursor
The research identified using a laser to replace the cursor. Using a laser cursor will allow the player to rapidly look and select the units they want exactly. The image below is a mock-up of a laser cursor.
Figure 92. VR Cursor mock-up.
Controls mechanisms
With the possible game using VR controllers like the ones found on the HTC Vive, a VR Strategy game would have to adapt existing controls of Strategy games (such as the ones found in the contextual review) to VR, below are my predictions of how this would work.
Camera movements (Such as camera move Forward, Back, Left, Right)
Because the HTC Vive features full-body tracking, the player will be able to walk around the environment as if it was physically there. The table with the environment will be placed in a virtual environment, for the player to move around this environment they must physically walk around in the real world, where it will then be translated into the VR world. If the player had
Units on the other side of the environment, they would walk over to interact with them. The table in the environment won’t have any collider applied to it, essentially allowing the player to walk through the table. Allowing them to navigate not only around the table but also through it. The reasoning behind this is that it allows players to quickly see other parts of the environment if they need to.
Moving beyond the size of the physical play space
If the player's physical play space is smaller than the VR world, the player will need a way of moving about it. To counter this, I would recommend using an optional teleport system.
The player would press a button on the controller to activate the teleport mode, then point it where they would want to go. This movement system would be very much like the one found in
‘Valve’s’ ‘The Lab’.
Rotating the Camera
For camera rotation, the player needs to turn their head and/or body in the real world to see the 3D environment from a different perspective.
Zoom the camera
To zoom the camera, the player moves closer to the place they wish to see. Physically moving their head and body as required to get closer.
What Impact Do VR Controllers Have on the Traditional Strategy Game Genre 118 Moving the Cursor
To move the cursor, the player will need to move their hands in the real world. The movement detected in the Vive controllers will then be translated into the VR world. This includes every direction and rotation of the controller.
Select a Single Unit
To select a unit, the player will point the laser at the unit they wish to select and then presses the trigger once. The player presses the trigger on the controller that the selecting laser is originating from. For example, if the player points the laser originating from the right-hand controller, then they will have to press the trigger on the right-hand controller.
Select Multiple Units
To select multiple Units, the player will draw a lasso around the Units they wish to select.
This will be like how players on PC draw a box around the Units they wish to select. To draw the lasso, the player holds down the trigger on the controller they wish to use for selection. Once the trigger is held down, the player aims the laser at the ground that the Units are on, then proceed to draw around all the Units they wish to select. Once all the Units the player wishes to select are inside this lasso, the player lets go of the trigger, and those Units become “selected”.
Ordering a Unit to Move
With the Units the player wants to move selected, the player needs to point the laser at the location they wish to order the Units to move to, and then press the controller trigger in once.
This is not controller contextual, for example, if the player was to select the units with the right controller, they could then order the move with the left controller
Ordering a Unit to attack
The same as ordering a move but the player puts the laser over the enemy instead of open ground. Once the laser is over the Unit they wish to attack; the player presses the controller trigger in.
UI
Identified in the contextual research, Spatial UI is where the UI is in the game world but can only be seen by the player. Using a Spatial UI would be an effective way of showing the required UI. Identified in the application Google’s ‘Tilt Brush’, the application uses a box like spatial UI that hovers above the player’s controller, it can be rotated by the player. The player rotates the box to see its different sides of the box, and each side of the box shows different information. This approach to a UI would be appropriate for a VR version of ‘Company of Heroes’.
In the desktop version of ‘Company of Heroes’, it uses a Non-Diegetic UI, this means that it is always available to the player no matter where the camera is pointing, but in VR this will not be possible due to Non-Diegetic UI being hard to focus on. The game should try and keep this approach of the UI always being available to the player because how much the UI is used by the player. To counter this issue, the UI will be available to the player whenever wants it;
the UI will have to be summoned by pressing the grip button on the controller. Although the UI
What Impact Do VR Controllers Have on the Traditional Strategy Game Genre 120 isn’t on the screen all the time like the PC version of the game, it does mean that the player can summon it instantly keeping their play space clean and efficient.
The UI itself would take influence from both ‘Google Sketch-up’ and Google’s ‘Tilt Brush’, using the box style UI that allows the player to interact with different UIs rapidly.
Below is a mock-up of how the UI would look in game.
Figure 93. VR game UI mockup
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Figure 94. VR UI Mockup 2.
Above are the three sides of the UI.
UI Split
The UI on every page/side is split into two different halves; the top half would be called the constant UI section. This constant is featured on every part of the UI. If the player rotates the UI to a different side, this would still be shown.
Figure 95. VR Mockup 3
The lower section would be the contextual UI. What the lower section would show is dependent on which side of the “box” the player is on. For example, the 3rd side of the box would show the menus of the game.
What Impact Do VR Controllers Have on the Traditional Strategy Game Genre 124 Upper Section- ‘Constant UI’
This part of the UI is what will always be available for the player to view, even if the player rotates the box to another side, this will still be found at the top of the UI. These UI elements have been chosen for the constant section as they have been identified as important, these are the sorts of commands that the player will always need available to them
Victory points/ Victory progression Date/Season Details/ Time
Resources Quick select
Lower Section- Contextual Selected unit
Special orders Spatial UI elements
Lower section – Contextual UI
The lower section is contextual to which side it is on.
Side 1
Side 1 features the currently selected unit, map and orders for that selected Unit.
Side 2
Side 2 features the player list. The player list shows which players are in the game. Here the player would be able to send messages also.
Side 3
Side 3 is the menu. The player can click on any of the menus for it to expand. Showing more options.
Interacting with the UI Elements
To interact with the UI Elements, the player will have to press the grip button on the controller. For example, if the player presses the grip button on the left controller, a UI will appear above the left controller, if the player presses it on the right controller, it would appear above the right controller. This allows the player to pick which controller they want to use.
Figure 96. VR Mockup Interacting with UI.
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While the UI is active, the player will then use the opposite hand, to guide the laser over the UI dominant hand, and use the trigger for selection and any needed navigation.
Highlight around 3D model to show selected Unit
This will work much like how it works in a non-VR game. The selected Unit shall have a highlight around them to identify them. The research identified that non-VR Strategy games had a highlight around the 3D models which have been selected by the player. This would be easy to replicate in a VR Strategy game and would be able to act the exact same.
Autoethnographic Controls Table
Table 10 is a table of the controls for a theorized VR RTS game.
Camera move
Select unit Multi-select Order move Order attack
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