Tagged: Virtual Reality

Pocket Games Connect @ Helsinki!

This is a little overdue – I went to Helsinki for the first time just over a month ago – but I thought I would type out my experience as it was one of many firsts. Not only was I doing my first Indie pitch, but it was also the first time I’d taken a plane by myself and the first time I’d been to Finland!

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First of all, everyone was exceedingly helpful. It doesn’t take much for me to get lost in London – a place I’ve lived in for 30 years – so you can imagine the amount of times I found myself looking around aimlessly on my phone. The taxi system was great – it was easy to identify your car by the bright yellow cabs with giant numbers on top! The app was really straightforward to – perfect to get from my room to the venue.

Once I got in, it was time to get my badge, get set up and get chatting!

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What’s especially great about these events is the feeling of connecting over something you’ve created, especially when you’ve been locked away in a vacuum of your own thoughts for so long whilst making it. It was awesome to see Coming Home playing across the screens too!

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I loved the fact that many people had been gamebook enthusiasts in their youth and liked the idea of adding something new to its table. The judges were also friendly and full of wisdom – it wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be to pitch and explain the game to them (the fear was out of potential technical difficulties with the AR to be honest!)

The feedback I got was invaluable, especially for someone who hasn’t been in the game that long (pardon the pun) – I’ve been working on it a lot since I landed back in London and can’t wait to take part again!

Thank you to Simon Aubrey Drake for this awesome event and all of the organisers, judges, attendees and speakers!

Suzie

Update: VRUK: Fest!

 

First of all – hope you all are well!

From the 6th-7th July, I exhibited Coming Home at VRUK Fest – the very first time exhibiting! It was a whole cocktail of emotions – but the sweetness was the overwhelming flavour.

My background has been in theatre – and something that always worried me was whether I dropped props. I was a little secure when it was myself and gravity – throw other things into the mix and the fear of me messing up would go up a degree!

I realised it was definitely the case when displaying something I had written and coded!

However, it worked – not 100% accurate, but workable for a demo – which I was so happy about! Everyone was so understanding, attentive and I met some incredible people who taught me so much and gave me food for present and future thought!

The feedback was great too – and it was definitely to work on presentation and the way the book is laid out. My mind has been fully entrenched with language and words – but not necessarily where they lie or where they could be positioned to bring out the full potential of the AR extension. I’ve been sketching up some ideas since then – and I can’t wait to show them to you!

The people, demos and talks gave me so much inspiration and motivation in a relatively new field of opportunities – there’s a lot of things to prove and a lot of things to develop. It seems the most exciting time for this technology to develop on its own merit as well as to rejuvenate and/or transform existing media. I feel very privileged to be a part of it.

Thank you to RaveInnovate and VRUmbrella for giving me this opportunity!

Suzie

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