VR Themed Stories in Virtual Reality
I made the original artwork in TiltBrush and then decided it wasn’t appropriate for the rest of the project. I needed higher res 3D model renders from Sketchfab. I like the feel of TiltBrush visually but the environment was too dense to produce in the time frame.
I chose to use story of Avalon because I like the theme of producing VR stories, films and tv shows about VR in VR. It’s more than just adding immersion and presence. For me, it ‘s about exploring the subject, as closely as possible. Exploring privacy of data, lives, what it’s like to live in a simulation, in the way that it has been told. I tend to focus on less well known and obvious stories and although disturbing in places, it’s visually complelling.
I found an Avalon DVD with English dubbing but chose to rewatch it in Polish with English subtitles.
The story of Avalon is actually quite harrowing. It’s a tale of people’s obsession with a virtual reality game that renders them lost to insanity. The film explores what is real as a central theme. It’s probably not the best material for a game. But like the Dream within a Dream, I chose to make the original film’s game within a game.
Tagline: Heaven of Shadows
What makes Avalon VR different
Plot:
Freedom fighters in an illegal virtual reality game.
Take it as a cautionary tale or just a bloody good game.
No blood.
Multiplayer mode (up to 6 players)
Single player mode
Co-operative game
Team
Solo (+ NPC players)
RPG
FPS
Action/Simulation
A simulation within a simulation
Linear timeline missions
Ultimate end goal is accessing Class Real and removing the Unreturned who reset the game too soon
Class Real
Spatial Audio
Play Virtual Reality in Virtual Reality
Tech specs:
Oculus Quest
6DoF
Hand Tracking - keyboard
Ash
Ghost
Set up T***VR gmail, Twitter and Instagram
T***XR gmail, Twitter and Instagram
Game mechanics
Puzzle
What does it mean - who is she
What is her mission
RPG more than FPS
Classes:
Thief
Mage
Warrior
—notion of prestige clases Bishop (Wizardry game reference see wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry
Classic mode had chiptune music and 8 bit
Starfish, the development team behind Wizardry Empire, would later go on to create Elminage, a series of DRPGs that retained the original Gothic aesthetic (and difficulty) of the western Wizardry games. Elminage was notable for using the expanded "kemonojin" races from Wizardry Asterisk, also by Starfish, as well as the summoner class from Wizardry: Summoner -- these included "Were-Beast," "Dragonnewt," "Fairy," and "Devilkin" as well as expanded classes such as "Brawler" (a hand to hand melee specialist), "Alchemist" (a combination crafting class and spellcaster), and "Summoner" (a spellcasting class that can tame and summon monsters from the dungeon). These "expanded" Japanese Wizardry mechanics would be reused in future Elminage games as well as notably Class of Heroes.
Group was called Wizard - Ash’s team
New team has NPCs
There is an appointed time to log in - is this live?
Crogan fails to recognise that they are Freedom Fighters and it’s anti-Imperialistic
Background Notes:
MIRAMAX https://www.miramax.com/movie/avalon/Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EXrB1Djg1k Glitch character - Ghost Wizard team Locked into the game body and brain - can wreck a players brain Imperfect effects - means of storytelling What is reality? What is the ultimate goal of the game? At which point will fiction and reality collide? YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YLb_Iqw4qksee icon 3m07s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmGCywGrsAw [miramax] important visual elements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-QFLxZkC6MGhost glitch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=243OdxIh8AwMurphySpecial Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niAhbdsH48MA Spy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3I11AxHfNI [Miramax] A Lonely Obession Uses a Decahedron as a standby icon The game will start in… Swipe card to gain access https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ib4dt979UcVideo conference - told about Nine Sisters and Morgan le Fey Meets Jill from the Nine Sisters “I don’t expect data for free" "There are lots of ways to make a living in Avalon” Tell me about Special A? The real Nine Sisters are the ones that programme the game Guy dies who has been providing info Ash returns to reality and throws up RESET flashing on screen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPvbUpwRNSsPrologue Load Map data Includes lots of military snips Titles Caption: Log Off Polish Art Director: Barbara Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkYdjS7WCgsOpera Class Real Avalon (2001) Mamoru Oshii Synopsis: In a near future, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. In this scene, She has found Class real, the final level. There She realize she knows comebody... Will She want come back to her world? The streak is why they call her ash Do you want to feel real pain in a real body? Does it have to be this way? When one of us dies and that body doesn’t vanish, the other one will know Ash, Don’t let appearances confuse you, this is the world where you belong. Tilt brush type effects Avalon VR Heaven of Shadows Mamoru Oshii on Death Stranding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFY7_ZFKNl4 Nov 18 2019 Fighting is the easiest to understand and is a good motivator. A player can feel a sense of accomplishment quickly. The backbone of games is knowing how to inspire that motivation. He [Hideo Kojima] changed that. What does it mean to connect? Something so simple that you can get intuitively like this is a big deal. On the other hand, running from a fight is the ultimate form of this idea. There’s nothing more interesting than creating your own world. http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/mamoru-oshii/My beloved Gabriel, my pet basset hound. This movie is about me and my dog. Non-Avalon interview http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/64_/s08_/000982.htmlAir warfare removes the psychological weight generated by direct witnessing of a person killing another. It's a murder that distance and speed deprive of its harshness.More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW0KjagRg8UFilm Website: http://www.avalon-movie.com
Library list study aids for researching the film:
Stray dog of anime: the films of Mamoru Oshii by Brian Ruh (2014)
Simultaneous Worlds: Global Science Fiction Cinema Author: by Mark Azzopardi (2015)
Simulation, history and experience in Oshii’s Avalon and military-entertainment technoculture by Crogan, Patrick (2010)
Media Heterotopia and Transnational Filmmaking: Mapping Real and Virtual Worlds by Hye Jean Chung (2012)
The Cinema of Mamoru Oshii: Fantasy, Technology and Politics Kindle Edition by Dani Cavallaro (2006)
MAMORU OSHII AVALON Making Art Book Movie Construction Class SA (2001)
Building Sci-fi Moviescapes: The Science Behind the Fiction By Matt Hanson (2005)
Adapting philosophy: Jean Baudrillard and The Matrix Trilogy Author: Catherine Constable (2013) Discusson of simulation theory of the Matrix
ARE YOU LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION? by Nick Bostrum [Published in Philosophical Quarterly (2003) Vol. 53, No. 211, pp. 243‐255. (2001)
Your Effort to Remain What You Are is What Limits You: Transhumanism in the Films of Mamoru Ohii by Mathew Pouleter Thesis submitted in Canada (2014)
Polarising Avalon: The European virtuosity and global virtuality of Marmoru Oshii’s filmic imarginary by Susan Ingram and Markus Resisenleitner (2006) in New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film Vo 4 #2
Gameplay Mode: War, Simulation, and Technoculture. From the Military-Industrial to the Military-Entertainment Compex by Patrcik Crogran. Published to Minnesota Scholarship Online (August 2015)
The Many Faces of Popular Culture and Contemporary Processes: Questioning Identity, Humanity and Culture through Japanese Anime by Mateja Kovacic (2014) in The IAFOR Journal of Arts and Humanites Vol II Issue I
Mamoru Oshii’s Exploration of the Potentialities of Consciousness in a Globalist Capitalist Network by Artur Lozano-Mendez (2015)
