Inspiration
I grew up in a village without a park, a place where families, friends, and pets gather to enjoy nature and each other’s company. To experience the joy of a park, I had to travel to nearby villages or cities. This sparked my love for parks and inspired my midterm project: creating a virtual park. My goal is to recreate the sense of community and fun found in a park, from children playing on swings to people walking their dogs and old friends catching up. This project is my way of bringing the park experience to those who, like me, have always admired it from afar.
Concept
Building on the foundational inspiration, the core idea of my midterm project is to craft an immersive user experience that mimics the tranquility and community feel of a real park. To achieve this, I’ve begun by setting up a serene background image that serves as the canvas for the park’s life. Central to the scene are two swings, each with a figure that moves in harmony with the swing’s motion. To ensure these movements are as natural as possible, I’ve implemented the lerp() function, which allows for smooth transitions and adds a lifelike quality to the animations.
Adding another layer of interaction to the park, I’ve introduced a jukebox feature. This allows users to engage with the environment actively by selecting and controlling the music to suit their mood, enhancing the personal experience of the park. While the music feature is currently in development, with plans to enable song changes and stops, it promises to be a significant aspect of user engagement.
Looking ahead, I plan to enrich the park’s atmosphere with spritesheets for various people movements, creating a dynamic and bustling park scene. This will include groups of people sitting on the grass or on carpets, adding to the communal vibe. Additionally, to further the immersion, I intend to incorporate ambient sounds, such as birds chirping, which will be a constant backdrop to the park experience, not subject to user control. This sound layer aims to deepen the user’s connection with the virtual environment, making it feel alive and vibrant. Moreover, diversifying the playground equipment, especially with different swings, will offer a variety of interactions for the user, simulating the choice and freedom one finds in a real park. This expansion not only adds visual appeal but also invites users to explore and find their favorite corner of the virtual park.
Challenging Aspects
Drawing Complexities: The first significant challenge is the detailed drawing of park structures and objects using p5.js. Every element, from swings to human-structure, requires time-consuming manual drawing. This process demands a high level of precision and artistic skill to ensure the park’s visual appeal and thematic consistency.
Interactive Features: Introducing interactivity, such as clickable buttons and objects that respond to mouse hover, adds another layer of complexity. For example, making the jukebox highlight when hovered over involves sophisticated input detection and dynamic response coding, enhancing user engagement but also increasing development complexity.
Animating Characters with Spritesheet: Utilizing spritesheets for character movement presents a formidable challenge. Ensuring these animated figures navigate the park without colliding with objects or wandering off the grass involves intricate collision detection and boundary management.
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