Welcome to MazeWorld, this project has evolved over time but the goal is still the exploration of how to evaluate team preformance. The idea is to have participants solve a maze where they are given different roles and tasks to complete. The roles consist of an explorer, collector, and tactical which have different interdependant roles. The explorer is responsible for navigating the maze, the collector is responsible for collecting coins, and the tactical is responsible for directing the explorer and collector. There is still quite a bit to be done on the project so hopefully this document will help explain the current state of the project as well as future goals.
Here is the current publication from the initial work on this project: View Publication
All copyrights are reserved by Cornell University and Iowa State University. Licensed under Attribution-Noncommercial-Sharelike 4.0. Developers and contributors are listed in the CREDITS.md file.
- How to Play
- Multiplayer Networking with Normcore
- Bugs and Improvements
- Installation Guide
- Script Overview
- Enhancements & Bug Fixes
Three players work together to collect as many coins as possible in a limited time. The coin are placed acros a maze, and represented gray crosses. To collect the coins, the players have to activated them. The activated coins have each color and shape, and only the target shape coin can be collected. The three players have different roles: Explorer, Collector, and Tactical.
        
- Explorer: Walk around the maze and find items. They activate the coins using battery power. The battery can be recharged by a dropped battery by the collector.
        
- Collector: Carry items to/from the start room. Carrying many items makes their movement slow. They collect the coins and bring it to the start room and pick up batteries from the battery box and bring them to the explorer.
        
- Tactical: Observe from a birdeye view and guide the other players. They control their drone cameras to adjust observing area and detailness. They can not access any items in the maze and non-activated coins cannot be
        
- Common functions:
- Information panel is shown and hidden with the A button.
- Players learn how to play through a tutorial session before entering the maze.
We implemented two locomotino methods: Joystick and Teleportation. The main branch uses the joystich method, and the teleportation branch uses the teleporation method.
Players can control the avatar's body direction with the the joystick on the right-hand controller and the avata's movement with thejoystick on the left-hand controller.
Players point where they want to go using the left-hand controller and teleport there with the side trigger on the left-hand controller. They can teleport to where their pointing line is green.
    
MazeWorld uses Normcore networking framework to deliver a seamless and interactive multiplayer Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Normcore is central to our ability to synchronize player actions in real-time, ensuring that every participant in the virtual environment experiences the same dynamic world simultaneously.
- Create a Normal cccount in Normcore website
- Click "Create ana application" or "Applications" in the dashboard.
- Enter any name and create an application.
- Note an App Key.
- In MazeWorld, select the "NormcoreAppSettings" under the "Assets/Normal/Resources/" and enter the App Key.
    
- Select the "Realtime + VR Playeryer" under the "utility" from the hierarchy.
- Enter your App Key.
- Enter any room name.
- Players who want to play together must use the same App Key and room name.
    
- Real-time Data Synchronization: Normcore's real-time data synchronization is used to ensure that all interactive elements within the maze, including puzzles, obstacles, and collectibles, are consistently updated across all connected clients.
- Voice Chat: The built-in voice chat functionality of Normcore has been integrated to facilitate communication among players. This feature enhances teamwork and strategy as players navigate the mazes together.
- Player Presence: With Normcore's
RealtimeAvatarsystem, the project supports dynamic player avatars that represent each participant in the virtual space, further enriching the sense of presence and immersion.
- Coin Placement: Place coins within the current maze and configure them correctly.
- Functions Transfer: Setup the new start area and import the scripts from the old one. [Spring, 2024]
- Avatar Features: Allow players to change between the two robot avatars and change color.
- Wall Peeking: Fix head and hands (OVRPlayerController) go through the walls. [Summer, 2024]
- Logging System: Add in logging functionality. [Spring, 2024]
- Avatat Size: Adjust the avatar size or players' viewpoint depending on each player's height.
- Tutorial: Make tutorial sessions. [Fall, 2024]
- End of the Game: The time-up sign is not shown. [Fall, 2024]
- Increased Maze Complexity: Enlarged the maze size to offer a greater challenge and encourage more strategic navigation. Add an automatic maze generation function.
- Added Navigational Cues: Implemented visible landmarks, such as a mountain peak outside the maze, to aid in orientation and team communication. [Fall, 2024]
If you find any bugs or points to be improved, please contact to Miki Matsumuro (mm3398[at]cornell.edu).
This section outlines the steps needed to download the MazeWorld project, install Unity, and open the project in Unity Hub.
- Git must be installed on your computer. If Git is not installed, please download and install it from git-scm.com.
- Unity Hub and Unity Editor are required. Download Unity Hub from the Unity Download Page, which facilitates the installation of the Unity Editor.
- Open your terminal or command prompt.
- Navigate to the directory where you wish to download the MazeWorld project.
- Clone the project repository by running the following command:
git clone https://github.com/virtual-embodiment-lab/teamwork.git- If not already installed, download and install Unity Hub from the Unity Download Page.
- Open Unity Hub and go to the 'Installs' tab to install the Unity Editor. If unsure of which version to install, the required Unity version is typically specified in the project's README or the Unity project settings file (ProjectSettings/ProjectVersion.txt).
- After installing the Unity Editor, navigate to the 'Projects' tab in Unity Hub. Opening the Project in Unity Hub
- In the 'Projects' tab of Unity Hub, click the 'Add' button.
- Browse to the directory where you cloned the MazeWorld project.
- Select the project folder and click 'Open', adding it to Unity Hub's project list.
- To open the project, click on it in Unity Hub, which will launch it in the specified Unity Editor version.
MazeWorld uses Normcore networking framework to deliver a seamless and interactive multiplayer Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Normcore is central to our ability to synchronize player actions in real-time, ensuring that every participant in the virtual environment experiences the same dynamic world simultaneously.
- Real-time Data Synchronization: Normcore's real-time data synchronization is used to ensure that all interactive elements within the maze, including puzzles, obstacles, and collectibles, are consistently updated across all connected clients.
- Voice Chat: The built-in voice chat functionality of Normcore has been integrated to facilitate communication among players. This feature enhances teamwork and strategy as players navigate the mazes together.
- Player Presence: With Normcore's
RealtimeAvatarsystem, the project supports dynamic player avatars that represent each participant in the virtual space, further enriching the sense of presence and immersion.
MazeWorld includes a set of scripts that controll the game's mechanics, player interactions, environment behaviors, and networking aspects. Below is a summary of key scripts and their roles within the system:
Player.cs: Manages individual player states, including movement and interactions within the virtual environment.PlayerManager.cs: Oversees all players in the game, handling tasks such as spawning and player-specific events.PlayerRoles.cs: Assigns and manages roles for each player, influencing their abilities and objectives within the game.PlayerRootSpawnPoint.cs,SpawnPoint.cs: Define spawn points for players and objects within the game world.Logger_new.cs: Record inputs and the avatar's body (parts) position and rotation.
AvatarManager.cs: Handles the creation and management of player avatars, ensuring accurate representation in the virtual space.CustomAvatarSpawnManager.cs: Specializes in spawning custom avatars, allowing for personalized appearances.LocalAvatarController.cs: Manages the local player's avatar, integrating with VR input for movement and actions.
AutomaticDoors.cs: Controls the behavior of automatic doors within the maze, responding to player proximity.Billboard.cs: Ensures certain UI elements always face the player, enhancing readability and interaction.Coin.cs,CoinParticles.cs,Battery.cs: Define collectible items within the game and their visual effects upon collection.BatteryBox.cs,CoinBox.cs: Define the coin-drop and battery pick-up functions.Flag.cs: Define landmarks on the maze and their removal.InstructionPanel.cs: Provide a tutorial session before starting the task.VRNoPeeking.cs: Prevent players' heads from going through the walls.
TacticalControl.cs: Provides functionality for tactical roles, including overview maps and strategic planning tools.RoleTrigger.cs,TacticalControlTrigger.cs: Triggers that activate or modify player roles and tactical features upon interaction.
GameManager.cs: Central management script for game states, transitions between levels, and session control.
Utility.cs,Utils.cs: Provide general utility functions and helpers used across various scripts.Logger.cs,StandardLogging.cs: Facilitate logging for debugging and development purposes.ValueMap.cs,KVPair.cs: Used for mapping values and key-value pair management, supporting flexible data handling.
- Check Meta XR All-in-One SDK and OVRPlayerController for the Joystick version.
- Check XR Interaction Toolkit and XR Origin for the Teleportation version.
UIManager.cs: Manages the game's user interface, including menus, in-game indicators, and interactive elements.RoleSelect.cs: Interface for players to select their roles at the beginning of the game or upon respawning.
To enhance the stability and performance of MazeWorld, we have integrated UltimateXR, a powerful XR framework designed for Unity.
- Performance Optimization: UltimateXR's efficient handling of VR-specific tasks has allowed us to enhance the performance of the MazeWorld application, reducing latency and improving frame rates even in complex maze environments.
- Improved User Experience: With UltimateXR's sophisticated input system, we've refined how players interact with the virtual world, offering more intuitive controls and interactions. This has directly contributed to a more immersive and engaging VR experience.
- Tactical Visibility Improvement: Updated the game to allow the tactical player to see the colors/shapes of activated coins, enhancing their contribution to the team's strategy.
- Synchronization Fixes: Resolved issues with the coin counter and session clock not updating correctly for all players, particularly affecting the tactical role.
- Starting Area and Role Selection: Fixed a bug where early role selection by one player could disrupt the roles and character colors for others joining the session.
- Environmental Adjustment: Removed an incorrectly placed "strawberry" object to prevent player confusion and maintain immersion.
- Spawn Mechanics: Corrected a spawn point issue to prevent players from falling off the map upon joining the game.
- Increased Maze Complexity: Enlarged the maze size to offer a greater challenge and encourage more strategic navigation.
- Enhanced Coin Diversity: Introduced a wider variety of coin colors and shapes, along with increased randomness in their sequence, to avoid predictable patterns and promote exploration.
- Added Navigational Cues: Implemented visible landmarks, such as a mountain peak outside the maze, to aid in orientation and team communication.
- **Opt
Ultimate XR: v0.9.7
Unity: 2020.3.15f1
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