Progress
This week, our environments reached a higher level of completion.
Lobby
Park (space for conversations)
Playground (still in progress to add textures)
Quasi Icons (easter-eggs in playground)
Challenges
We encountered a number of issues while working with Rec Room, especially around asset uploading, platform restrictions, and technical stability.
- Uploading custom wearable assets requires access to Avatar Studio, which is currently closed for application and involves a long review process
- Uploading materials (such as posters) is restricted by strict content policies. One of our BVW T-shirts was flagged as a sensitive asset, which prevented the room from being public, so we had to remove it. We are trying to make it works via adjusting the image.
- Audio implementation is limited. Sound needs to be recorded in-game using external tools called Soundpad.
- Limited hardware access — only two PCs in our team can run Rec Room, so we need to take turns working in the game.
- Room publishing limitations — making a room public is currently the only way to duplicate it, which means anyone can access it.
- Technical instability — sometimes scenes fail to upload, and occasionally room changes cannot be saved, possibly due to server issues.
Because of these issues, we started to rethink whether Rec Room is an appropriate platform for developing our concept. The platform’s limitations and restrictions are significantly affecting what we can build and how we implement our ideas.
At this point, Rec Room no longer fully supports our intended design direction. However, given the project timeline, we will continue developing within the platform and try to make the best out of the current setup.
Plan for Next Week
This Saturday (March 28th) is the Playtest Day. We are looking forward to observing guest reactions and gathering feedback. This will help us evaluate our current direction and decide how to move forward.