Team VT Newsletter
3/13/2012
This past week we held a team spring break as Siddhesh and I were away in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference from Tuesday until Sunday. With half of the team gone we were left with Sun-Moon, our artist, and Cintia, one of our programmers. Despite our team’s decision to take a spring bring I was elated to return and see the progress that had been made while on the west coast.
Some of the things we touched on before the break were solidifying the interior design, UI design and functionality as well as streamlining the Web-player and Facebook application pages. Our goal for these is to make the accessibility to the simulation, regardless of where it is being hosted, as simplistic and efficient as possible. This will allow guests to enjoy the simulation and enable our team to gather as much data regarding their experiences as we can.
Cintia finished the design and functionality of the Facebook application by adding the option of inviting friends to explore the simulation quickly and easily. The website that plays host to the web-player has a new look and feel to match the style of our project which is reverberated in all promotional material. We’ve added a sponsor area where we will include the logo and website link for all participating members of this large endeavor. One main addition we will be adding to both the website and Facebook apps is real-time commenting coming from guests who have completed the simulation and shared their experience.
Sun-Moon did work on the finer details of the experience starting with the all-important user interface. He adjusted the color scheme and 3D animation of opening and closing the menu for a more dynamic appearance. He met with Dan to discuss the look and feel of the interior design schemes and has made excellent progress in that area as well.
As we move towards halves we will have a myriad of new additions for the simulation which will allow us to add functionality to the UI that Sun-Moon created. Guests will be able to start a guided tour from anywhere within the building and be shown through one floor at a time or taken through the entire space with ease. Teleportation from room to room and floor to floor will also become available to guests by the end of this week. I will be editing the introduction sequence to give a movie-like feel with opening credits to applaud the appropriate individuals and groups.
Next Friday, the 23rd of March, at 2:30p.m. we will be giving our halves presentation to the faculty, staff and students of the ETC that will be live streamed allowing any one to view in and see for themselves the progress being made. As soon as this link is made live we will be sharing it via Facebook, Twitter and our main Website. Until next week, enjoy the beautiful weather.