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Deleted's avatar
Deleted
Sep 21, 2020

HoloLens 2 Game Dev Project: Terrace

 

Super cool that there's finally a forum for MR developers and enthusiasts!

I'm an indie game developer working on a boardgame called Terrace for HoloLens, PC, and Xbox. 

 

The PC and Xbox versions will have a minimal mode (45° isometric view of the board in a black void) and a "full" 3D mode set in a swanky sci-fi / modern lounge of sorts on a space station.

 

On HoloLens, minimal mode is just the board... which you can place on any surface or leave floating in the air. The menu system is a Near Interactions menu panel which will be dynamically placed at roughly eye level on the closest wall. Instead of a "full" mode, there will be a "mixed" mode on HoloLens, where set pieces from the aforementioned sci-fi scene are dynamically placed in your space (a viewport into space on the wall, the table pinned to the floor with the board on top of it, etc.)

 

Controls will use hand tracking (as shown in the GIF), although I'd love to use gaze and voice at some point for accessibility.

 

Ultimate stretch goal is to eventually add cross-platform shared space multiplayer. If I created an iOS and Android version of the game, those clients could join the same game as someone wearing HoloLens... with up to four players in the same physical space. The host would position the gameboard and the other players would find it (either via adhoc sharing of the world anchor or by the host game creating a very short lived Azure Spatial Anchor).

The game has the official blessing of the original IP creator/owner and (if I ever finish it) will be available for free, no advertisements or in-app purchases, and the source code will be published on GitHub.

 

Toryn Farr
https://www.linkedin.com/in/torynfarr/

 

 

  • Deleted I'm a huuuge believer in board and table-top games for AR! I hadn't heard of Terrace before this moment, but I looked it up and now I'm super intrigued! Apparently it showed up as a prop in Star Trek: TNG, and that is the most ridiculously appropriate thing for an AR board game.

    Very cool!

    • Deleted's avatar
      Deleted

      koujaku Thanks! Yep, it was on TNG and at least one episode of Voyager. It's really fun to play! It's easier to learn than Chess, but (IMO) a bit more complex due to the multi-level board and vertical capture mechanic.

      The game was available as an actual physical / purchasable boardgame from '91 to '97 before it was discontinued. You can find it on eBay for fairly cheap though.


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