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Posted on May 5, 2013 by norwigi · Leave a comment
It’s Sunday evening, and I’ve just returned from Exile Game Jam at Vallekilde Højskole. It’s been an exiting week/weekend, to say the least, with new technology, lovely weather and amazing people. Within this bubble of creativity, people spent the last 5 days making games, experimenting with technology, having fun and being social. It was truly an experience I’ll remember.
Simon Cutajar (@scutajar) and I spent most of the jam working on a digital version of our NGJ 2012 board game Mussades. Although we had some start-up problems we have most of the basic functionality down. We are still missing the game play, but it’s a project I’m looking forward to continuing with. Beside Mussades, I’ve started work on a music/color-toy I’ve been playing around in my head with for while. It didn’t get as far as I had hoped either, but it’s a work in process. I’ve used the opportunity to get a little bit familiar with some new software, so I’m content with the result from that perspective. Most of what remains is actually just server side. I won’t bore you with the details, but I think it’s something that could turn out interesting.
I mentioned some new technology, and there were two things in particular that stood out. First was the Leap Motion, which is a motion controller for the computer. It gives the user a new way of interacting with the software, as illustrated by this example by Marius Jigoreanu and Alina Constantin from the jam. (Picture courtesy of Unicorn7) Although they experienced a few compatibility issues, it shows how the controller can be used to interact with different elements on the screen. (To try it out without the Leap, click here)
The main gadget of the event, however, wasn’t the Leap Motion. It was something with the potential to add a whole new aspect to gaming, namely the Oculus Rift. (Picture courtesy of Nina Croitoru) The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that reacts to the movement of the players head in a 3D environment. It lets the player explore the environment in a new and unique way. And although you look quite silly while using it, it’s really quite impressive.
One of the groups at the Jam immediately jumped towards the more grotesque uses of the Oculus Rift, and made an “Execution by decapitation”-simulator. The player would play the game on their knees, leaning over a box. When looking around, the player will see the masses that have gathered around, and by looking upwards one could see the blade of the giljotin suspended above. Eventually, the blade would fall downwards towards the player, who could do noting but await the fate. The group took it even further, and actually softly hit the back of the neck of the unsuspecting player. Quite the freaky experience, I’m sure, although I never had the opportunity to try it myself.
I’m working on a more detailed write-up on some of the games from the Jam, and it should be out in a few days.
On an unrelated side note, things are happening with Kvasir Games, and you should be expecting more activity from us within the near future. So stay tuned!