{"id":490,"date":"2026-04-17T03:44:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/?p=490"},"modified":"2026-04-17T18:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T18:30:09","slug":"week13-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/week13-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 13 &#8211; Apr. 17"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This week, our focus was split between two core pillars: integrating our redesigned narrative system to deepen immersion and tackling the persistent optimization challenges inherent in a multi-user networked environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Narrative Redesign: Less is More !!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have restructured the entire narrative to bridge the gap between storytelling and interaction. Based on previous playtesting data, we realized that users often suffer from &#8220;information overload&#8221; once they put on the headset. To combat this, we have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Simplified Audio:<\/strong> Streamlined scripts and adjusted vocal tones to help users focus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Visual Reinforcement:<\/strong> Implemented custom subtitle VFX to aid comprehension through reading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Micro-Narratives:<\/strong> Broken the story into smaller &#8220;bites.&#8221; We\u2019ve added dialogue for our NPCs that triggers based on player progress, providing both immediate feedback and narrative depth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Multiplayer Challenge<\/strong>: Playtests consistently show that the social aspect is the highlight of our experience. However, maintaining that &#8220;magic&#8221; requires intense optimization. We\u2019ve been troubleshooting latency issues and synchronization errors. Specifically, we spent significant time resolving &#8220;drift&#8221; issues where one headset would experience visual glitches or spatial offsets when working in tandem with another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crafting the Details<\/strong>: To ensure the world feels alive, we\u2019ve polished our interaction design by adding haptic-aligned sound effects and bespoke VFX. These visual effects are now more physically accurate, ensuring that digital feedback aligns perfectly with the shape and feel of virtual objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Progress Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Interaction Design:<\/strong> Completed and optimized plant interactions; finalized window interaction placement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Audio\/Narrative:<\/strong> Re-wrote and recorded new dialogue for three NPCs; integrated the new narrative flow into the build.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\"><strong>Final Prep:<\/strong> Commenced production on final videos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s Next<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\">Refining physics-based props within the plant interactions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\">Structuring the final presentation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-base-font-size\" style=\"line-height:1.6\">Preparing for next week\u2019s Open House.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"868\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4-1024x868.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-498\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4-1024x868.png 1024w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4-300x254.png 300w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4-768x651.png 768w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4-1536x1302.png 1536w, https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-4.png 1871w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, our focus was split between two core pillars: integrating our redesigned narrative system to deepen immersion and tackling the persistent optimization challenges inherent in a multi-user networked environment. Narrative Redesign: Less is More !!! We have restructured the entire narrative to bridge the gap between storytelling and interaction. Based on previous playtesting data, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-transparent-header":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-report"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":500,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/aktis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}