Bachelor Project
Blot (short for Block Out Tool) is a tool designed for level designers to quickly create and test a level blockout completly in VR. The designer can seemlessly transition between playing and editing the level at any point. The whole tool works in runtime and can therefore be included in builds.
This project was the main part of my bachelor thesis with the topic: “Native VR Prototyping: Designing and Evaluating the use of a custom runtime Block-Out Tool for Designing Levels in VR“
Design Background
Many applications can already be used or are fully designed for VR, like Unreal, Unity and Maquett. However none of these are optimized for a fast and iterative level design workflow in VR.
To design a tool like this I first analysed the demands of the level design workflow. Based on this information I analysed existing VR tools and created a design guideline for VR level design tools. I then applied these to a practical example: Blot. An early version of the tool was used to create the level design for Perspektiva, the game I also worked on in my bachelor semester.
Base Functionality
Debug menu to access game mechanics while in play mode.
In Edit mode: Crawl locomotion and rotating and scaling with both hands. Rotation center as well as current scale are shown.
Inventory attached to the non-dominant hand. Includes selection of custom props and the CSG walls. Objects can be placed with normal grid and smart snapping, which removes small involuntarily movements.
Selection sphere size can be adjusted. Can also select items in inventory for scale placement. More on this in the video.
All selected objects can be scaled with the bounding box. While objects are selected the action buttons are shown. These can be clicked on or activated using a shortcut with the joystick and direction indicated on the button.