Here We Go

Hello!

Time for a long overdue update of this VR adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Our planned release date is (unsurprisingly) Bloomsday next year – 16th June 2015. We’ll have an event in Dublin where any funder can come along and try out the experience. We’ll also be sending out the rewards close to this time.

In September I moved to London for a few months with my day job (the development of rotor.ie) so this has delayed things slightly as I have not had access to my Dublin based workstation. I’m back to Dublin early December. I have partnered with artists in Dublin and here in London in order to keep the project moving.

Here are a summary of the milestones reached so far, and I’ll write individual posts on each one in the coming weeks.

Milestones:

Photomapped Sandymount Strand with my trusty DSLR.
I have found the team. I am collaborating on this project with three people, in three different countries – the U.S., U.K. and Ireland. They all have important roles and have already begun work.
Created a playable prototype in Unreal Engine to explore the game mechanics.
Researched the 1904 environment using existing literature, photographic archives, ordnance survey maps and architectural archives.
Received our virtual reality development kit, and finally got it working.
The 3D character model of Stephen Dedalus has been created.

There’s a lot to be done over the next 8 months. Here’s a summary of the major tasks:

Current tasks:

Integrating the VR headset to our existing playable prototype. Looking to have this working by the end of November.
CG Modelling of Sandymount Strand 1904 has begun in earnest, the first iteration deadline is the end of the December.

Future tasks:

Iterate the game mechanic once the DK2 is integrated with the prototype.
Rig Dedalus body for walking in 3D environment.
Lock down game mechanic by March 2015.
Expand episode from demo length (100 words) to finished length (>1000 words).
Record text.
Combine elements and finish first version of the game.
Test, feedback, remake game (we will do this as much as time allows, this is where the quality of the game increases).
Create user interfaces and iterate user experience.
Create “tutorial” for first time users.
Export and master for Windows, MacOS and Android.

A note about this blog…

I’m going to use this opportunity to not just post about the making of In Ulysses but also about the literature and technology surrounding it. Some stuff about Joyce, stuff about VR. I’m reading Finnegans Wake at the moment so I may post some thoughts on that. Okay so I am delving into the text of Ulysses to twist it into a VR form but I am not a great writer so please forgive the inevitable grammatical failures and stuff. Don’t expect to find any kind of scholastic Joycean discovery. I’m not an academic. I’m the type of Joyce fan that likes the magic of the book and the madness of Bloomsday. I’m doing this for fun. I just love this damn book.