A downloadable VR Game for Android

步摇 BÙ YÁO

Oriental Style VR Horror Game

This is the final VR project of CC: Unity

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Please download the APK file at the end. Launch with Oculus Quest 2 or other compatible VR headsets

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Team: 

M.F.A. Design & Technology students at Parsons 

Junru Xu, Chenwei ZhuJinyun Li

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Concept:

Referenced from and influenced by the idea of ghost marriage* (see below), we create BÙ YÁO as a horror escape-room game that fuses an oriental theme. The concept is a game within a game. "BU YAO" is the name of a game that the main character (player) is trying to play in reality, but then the player got pulled into the game world accidentally. The goal is to find clues while exploring the haunted house and get back to reality. We also feature 3 endings (one is still in development) to the gameplay in which player's choices along the way will influence the result. 

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Gameplay Highlights (minor spoiler):

  • Reality vs. Game:

Player starts off in his/her own room (reality), trying to play a computer game named "BUYAO". However, player falls into the world of that game and he/she needs to get out.

  • Lighting & Candle: 

We deliberately set the room to be dark at first. The only way for players to see clearly of the surroundings is to light up the candles along the way. We employ this interaction to let players explore the areas on their own pace and to create an uncanny feeling.

  • Dialogue: 

Along the way, players will sometimes hear a disturbing voice talking to them, telling them what to expect (only hints, not direct orders) Players can interact with certain objects to trigger the dialogue. And luckily, players will also meet the "person" of the voice at the end.

  • Reflection & Mirror:

Mirror is the first major interaction players encounter. And the interaction is mandatory in order to proceed to next area and to get an important clue for the ending. We want to use the mirror reflection to create a shocking and reveling moment.

  • Fulu (cursed papers): 

Fulu 符咒 is the cursed paper that often used to seal ominous object/signs. The interaction with Fulu is another important part of the game because they are set to seal the key object to escape the world from player's reach. And player needs to figure out a method to get rid of the Fulus.

  • Bu Yao (hairpin): 

As implied by the main title, Bu Yao 步摇 is the key to this game. Bu Yao is a common hairpin used by ancient Chinese. Especially for brides, they often wear a significant amount of beautiful hairpins for decoration purpose. At the very end of the game, player needs to make a bold move to interact with the ghost bride and get the Bu Yao (pay attention to what the voice says :)

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Background on Ghost Marriage (冥婚):

Ghost Marriage is a marriage in which one or both parties are deceased. It is usually set up by the family of the deceased and performed for various reasons, including: the death of an engaged person before the wedding, to integrate an unmarried woman into a patrilineage. 

Similar ideas have been seen in other works like the US animation movie Corpse Bride in 2005. BÙ YÁO referenced from this ancient story and the bride character is exactly a victim of ghost marriage. 

(These information are also available inside a guiding book in the game. See if you can find it!) 

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Documentation:

Development & Postmortem log

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External Credits:

Link to Credit List of 3D models used in this game.

Player movement referenced from OVR Toolkit.

All Gameplay, UX, Programming are original.

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Directions for Oculus Quest Input:

Left thumbstick for moving orientation / Right for facing angle

Rear R hand trigger for picking up object

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(Full gameplay / walkthrough video available upon request!)

Download

Download
步摇BÙ YÁO.apk 241 MB

Install instructions

Please download the APK file below. Launch with Oculus Quest 2 or other compatible VR headsets. Thank you for supporting our project! Cheers!

Development log

Comments

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You guys did a great job with the lighting and sound design to create an eerie atmosphere building up to the jump scare. I love the gameplay and solving the puzzles to get out of the room. I think the only area that could use some improvement is the UI. Some more visual effects could be added to make jumpscare moments scarier and the burning of the fulu looks more realistic.

What a game. The backstory and the narrative is fascinating. The environment design is on point. I am not a huge fan of horror games but this makes me wanna play again. I would agree with some comments that the UI can be improved since the rest of the game feels so polished.

I love horror games. This is a fantastic horror VR experience. Everything about this is just splendid. The tone, the sound, the lighting, the jump scares! Wow, I loved it so much. It was a joy to playtest the different versions. It's polished and works so well. It's very immersive too. Congrats!

- Kevin

As a person who did the playtest, this game is super scary and really goes well with the theme! Although I don't like horror games, I think it will be interesting to add more elements like that. Great work!

The game narrative and environmental design is pretty good. Personally, I never played any scary theme game, but this game do provide an attraction for me to explorer further. The jump scary still pretty freaking me out. Last but not least, I really enjoy the candle lighting process, and I would love to learn how you guys did it.

First of all, the game's narrative is so appealing that it makes me want to play this even though I can't play horror games. I really appreciate your depth thoughts on blending the puzzles into the narrative as well as the setting up of the environmental level design. So good, and keep up with your 

This is so thorough and definitely scary! I could totally see this being played by youtube horror gamers. The polish makes the game super intriguing and I'm sure the VR makes it even scarier than any other medium.

The narrative and storytelling give this horror game so much depth and it's very well thought out. You made it super successful in sound design and the whole setting is so realistic that makes the horror game really immersive! I like that you even made different endings. In the future, you can improve the UI design to be more merged with the whole theme. Congrats!

You did a good job setting the tone. Not only because of the jump scares, but the audio in general, which I would say is the most important trait of a horror game.  Also, you've mentioned different endings which I think is interesting even though I couldn't play more than once - too scared for that ahahha.  For future iterations, I guess the UI and font could be polished but I think the game is good! Congrats.

Thanks Beatriz! We also want to improve the lighting and rendering when we have more time!

Such a scary horror game! I love the overall storytelling so much. Using a modern scene as the start can really bring me into the world you created. Also, sound and visual style are working very well together. One possible improvement could be adding spacial sounds, which can help with building the atmosphere. But you did a good job!

Thanks Zhicun! We also wanted to add environmental audio like floor creaking sounds. That will be our next step!

I want to scream again! The oriental horror-style VR game is a very attractive thing for horror game lovers.  The background story is wonderful and familiar because I come from China, and Ghost Marriage is a very interesting(I'm not sure if this is the right word) topic to work on, because this really happens in our lives and that's scary enough for me. Good work!

- Yii

Thanks Yii! Ghost marriage is correct~ and thank you for participating in the play test XD

The aesthetic of this game is perfect for the theme. The lighting is controlled very well to enhance the spooky atmosphere. The sound that you used is also spot-on. A very scary game for sure!

Thank you!

WOW! this was such a realistically visualized game, I had so much fun and jitters playing it. The highlight for me was the playtest video. The soundscape felt like a complete work of art by itself. The game has been narrativized very well, and the hand movements seem to work impeccably. Great job! One suggestion is that the message at the game end can be shown on the laptop screen in the room.

Thanks Bhuvan! Great suggestion on the last message! We will look into that later