Concept:
For my midterm project, I knew I wanted to create an interactive game, something creative, original, and fun, while also incorporating everything required for this project. I came across multiple ideas but ended up choosing a 3D Maze Capturing game, where players walk around a maze holding a camera and must find objects placed within and capture them within a set duration. Each captured object increases their score, and the earlier they capture it, the higher the points.
While developing and improving my idea, I wanted a specific theme to add a personal touch. I was inspired by an escape room I visited this year at Qasr Al Hosn, which reminded me of a maze, as well as the new Sheikh Zayed Museum, with its many Emirati historical artworks and objects. I decided to go with a Historical Emirati Theme, where players first choose their character, either an Emirati girl or boy, and the maze will feature modern walls and decorations, while the objects the player needs to capture are Emirati cultural items, such as traditional clothing, historical artworks, and objects used in the past.
I used AI to generate sample images to illustrate my idea and show what I want my game to look like, not exactly, but to convey the concept:
Design:
My initial plan is to have an introductory page displaying the game title, Maze of History, along with instructions on how to play. For interactivity, the player will click a start button, then select their preferred character, and the game will begin with a camera lens displayed on the screen, as if held in their hands.
Players navigate the maze using the arrow keys, moving through hallways and spaces. When they spot an object, they center it in the camera lens and press the Enter key to capture it, accompanied by sound effects of the camera. Each captured object increases the player’s score, with higher points awarded for capturing objects earlier. When the 40-second timer ends, the game stops, the score is displayed in the center of the screen, and players can press the Space bar to return to the main menu and start a new session.
I planned out the structure of my code to ensure it would be manageable and easy to work with. My game will use Object-Oriented Programming, with classes for the characters to track their positions and movements, classes for the objects placed around the maze that can be captured by the characters to manage their placement and display captured state, and a class for the maze structure itself, including walls and decorations. I will also include functions for the game to handle the start screen, gameplay interactions such as clicking and key pressing, and the score screen after the game ends.
For the visual design, I would like to create a modern museum aesthetic, with clean white walls and subtle decorations, along with objects such as traditional Emirati clothing, historical artworks, and artifacts placed throughout the maze. From the first-person perspective, the camera lens simulates the player holding a camera, adding immersion to the exploration experience. Sound effects for capturing objects and potentially background music will further enhance interactivity.
Frightening Parts and Plan to Reduce Risks:
In this project, I’m going with a more advanced idea compared to what I already did, and I have identified some parts that could be challenging while working on this project to make it work. I am concerned about the whole “3D” aspect, since everything I have done so far is 2D, and I’ll need a 3D setting with hands and a camera. To reduce this risk, I have already started going through different tutorials on YouTube by The Coding Train about how to create and work with 3D objects in p5.js, and I have started experimenting by creating some simple shapes.
Another risk I am considering is ensuring that the players can move smoothly within the maze without walking through walls or objects. To reduce this risk, I plan to start by testing a small maze prototype with a few walls and one character, while also watching tutorials before expanding the maze.
Moreover, I am also concerned about implementing the score system, where points increase based on how quickly the player captures objects. Calculating and updating the score dynamically while the timer counts down could be tricky to get right. To reduce this risk, I plan to prototype the timer and score separately first, testing that the points update correctly for each capture before integrating it into the full maze.