Why we decided to go with the Oculus Rift
Brunelleschi is a game of strategy, of deep planning and long term consideration of actions, so why on earth should it be brought to an Immersive platform like VR? What does a Webgame revolving around math and timers gain from Wrap-Around immersion or 3-d graphics?
The simple answer is UI depth. Our goal is to create a new type of User Interface to contain the excessive amounts of data being produced by the game's engine. We understand that the amount of information being produced by the game can be overwhelming, so beyond the simple ability to dwell within the structures and experience the grandeur of Renaissance Art, we want to create an environment that is 'bursting' with information that can be easily categorized and managed by players.
As our ability to work with the options inherent in 3d Space expand, we'll be able to place information in unusual places, such as 'above' or 'below' the usual plane of view. The Arrow depicted here indicates player facing and can only generally be seen by looking down. It should be a simple matter to replace this with some 'Feet' and from there additional 'lower plane' information could be added like Quest/Pathfinding arrows, or information about game Plots (Building Spaces).
The insides of Buildings become a potential information bonanza in this environment, with each surface and object a potentially expansive source of detail.
The 'Desk' interface is the soul of the Brunelleschi VR / PC client, and can be enhanced in a variety of ways with 3d content. Pop-Up details can be displayed by looking at objects, like this detailed map of the Fields district which can be activated by looking at the Paper on the fairly modest 'Minister of Agriculture' desk located there.
Here's a quick 101 second video with some of these features.
Thanks for reading, if you're interested in playing the game it's always available free of charge at BruneGame.com , and the downloadable clients can be found on IndieDB. Indiedb.com
Please check out our CrowdFunding Support Page Aesopgames.com
