Summary:

      "What Killed the Butler?" is a live interactive improvisational performance with a digital setpiece. Players play the role of Watson's replacement and must help Sherlock Holmes (played by Casey Ging) in figuring out how the butler died. However, not everything is as it seems in this Cartoon-style Victorian house.

 

Development Time:

     3 weeks - 1 week planning; 2 weeks development

 

Team:

     Rachina Ahuja - Artist

     Gabriel Burgess - Programmer

     Eric Chang - Programmer, Moriarty

     Casey Ging - Artist, Sherlock

     Justin Yong - Sound Designer, Butler

 

Technology:

     CAVE (a multiprojector setup for immersion) and Playstation Move

 

Challenges:

      1) Making the CAVE look like a set - 

    

      The greatest challenge we faced on this project was closing the gap between physical and digital as much as possible. As it turns out, getting a room full of 2-dimensional art assets to look and feel the proper size and scale is surprisingly difficult. Countless hours were spent adjusting the scale and placement of items by hand. The other programmer (Eric Chang) and I were in constant contact with the artists, one of whom has a degree in architecture (Casey Ging), to ensure that things were the proper resolution and had solid enough outlines. From a more technical standpoint, we used orthographic projection to hide the fact that the items were actually arranged in 3-dimensional space within the actual level. Although programming the traps was rather straightforward, getting the rain outside of the windows and the particle systems for the fire and bubbles to work properly took considerable effort.

 

      2) Input -

 

      Also, for the PSMove controller we were unable to use positional data due to the PS Eye Camera's unusual angle and location in the room. As a result, all of the targeting had to be calculated using the orientation data from the controller's gyroscope. Fortunately, our team was able to overcome all of these challenges and the game received widespread acclaim from faculty, students, and 100+ visitors during the Building Virtual Worlds Festival at the end of the semester.