When you have completed your journey, you show your discoveries to other adventurers. They will estimate how difficult a journey you faced, how well you have described the taken path in your map, and does your map fit nicely to the catalogue with the other maps of the same region. Defending Certainly the journey and […]
At this point we already have a quite solid picture on what the thesis should be: a narrative, which serves as a map from some fixed starting location to an aimed goal. However, there are a number of key aspects on how to write such a map. In this chapter it is perhaps more clear […]
Because different students have different temperaments and interests, there are also different types of exploration and discovery one might take. They all have their own set of tools and guidelines to achieve successfully. Overall one thesis is probably an amalgamation of different types. As with any journey there can be different obstacles to overcome. Those […]
You might be wondering why do you have to write a thesis. Would it not be sufficient just to create something novel that illustrates your exploration by itself. Why is a Thesis Written? First there are two purposes to write something down: formulation and communication. By formulating your information you create a systematic way to […]
This is a 5-part article series on understanding and writing a thesis. If you are a student and unsure of what even is a thesis, then hopefully you can find some inspiring answers here! When your studies in either BSc or MSc level near an end, you will be faced with a challenge to create […]
In this article series we presented a game design analysis for virtual reality game developers by investigating certain game aspects of a virtual reality game Tribocalypse VR. The given analysis was made possible due to the prior development of Tribocalypse VR by the author and the development team for 6 months. The aspects analysed were level […]
In this article we explore the design choices for different weapons in Tribocalypse VR. We discuss the relation of weapons in regular PC games to weapons in VR games. Again we use immersion and clarity to analyze the different design choices. Items that the player can pick up in TVR are spears, bombs, the bow and […]
In this third part we go through the different interface designs we tried in Tribocalypse VR (TVR) and explain the different levels of immersion and clarity in each of them. The graphical user interface (GUI) in computer games usually consists of informative or interactable elements such as menu screens, score tables, buttons and levers in the […]
In this part we discuss the environment and level design principles. We bring out the rationale game developers should consider when building their levels and positioning the player. The players must feel as if they are part of the created world. Game developers and artists work hard to provoke this feeling in the players. HTC […]
Welcome, reader! This is the first part of a series of articles, which delve into game design for VR platforms. We focus on the HTC Vive platform and room-scale VR. Many of the concepts also apply to other VR platforms and the critical analysis of different game design elements is transferable to other areas as […]
The Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Estonia provides video game development, virtual reality (VR), and computer graphics education both inside and outside the uni and a study place for our students.
We research psychology and computational neuroscience using VR. Learn more.
The University of Tartu Pro Game Jam 2024, held from January 26th to 28th, was a collaborative event catering to both gaming enthusiasts and professional developers. The event encompassed two parallel tracks: the Global Game Jam 2024 for junior participants and an advanced game development challenge for seasoned professionals. Splitting of Juniors and Pros The […]
Video games, virtual reality, and computer graphics enthusiasts gathered on the 26th of January for our yearly expo. Our lab rooms and hallway became a place for the local industry and students to show each other their latest fantastic works. Five local organizations were represented, and ten of our best student projects were available for […]