Project VRP is well underway, and we’ve just finished our tech demo milestone. We’ve also prototyped most of the gameplay and are getting ready to push the content, so it seems like a good time for an update.

First up, a series of character illustrations and our initial HUD mockup:

All of the worker images will be present in the game, so they had to be a bit more polished than a typical piece of concept art. The main challenge here was using the original Kelvin design to create a standardized “virtual reality” look, all the while making the workers look distinct.

And now for a couple of in-game screens:

As you can see the HUD has changed quite a bit, and we now have an actual map/model renderer. It was tricky developing the proper shaders to get a look similar to games such as Tron and Darwinia because we’re limited by the eventual iOS port. Still, I’m quite happy with the map’s glow-y, pulsating highlights, and we plan on adding various other visuals in the future to make the virtual world really come to life.

While Tristan is working his magic on Trudy’s Mechanicals, Dave’s been busy finishing up our work-for-hire project The CO2 Connection.

The web version is almost finished, and in the coming weeks we’ll be working on its various ports. During that time Dave will post a series of articles detailing some of our wrangling of Unity3D to handle a 2D-based game, and I’ll post a case study (similar to the one I did for Kelvin’s Space Ranch) once all the work is wrapped up.

In the meantime, here are some screenshots from our “Release Candidate” build:

Our latest work-for-hire is another title in the Kelvin Adventures series entitled “The CO2 Connection.” Developed with Unity3D, The CO2 Connection is an educational kids game that revolves around sequestering CO2, a process by which carbon emissions are safely stored underground.

Throughout the game, the player explores various regions of Alberta and builds a network of pipelines to properly extract, transport and sequester carbon pollution. The gameplay combines exploration and resource management, with a handful of minigames that give a clear, scientific view of the numerous steps involved in the sequestering process.

Below are some of our early concept pieces created by Abel Oroz, as well as a few preliminary in-game screenshots.