::: Ossymar :::

2007-11-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

Ossymar is an interactive virtual world that was built with surrealism in mind. It is a project that evolved out of the P2V (From Physical to Virtual Spaces and Back) class though by Jean-Marc Gauthier at NYU’s ITP program. Ossymar is being created by Maria Mavrakis, Syed Amin Salahuddin and Oscar G. Torres.

The virtual world consists of three different levels or stages that have a very different environment. There is a central character that will allow the user to move about and explore the environment. There are many surprises waiting, such as, a bubble tree, unicorns, a field of animated vines and flying dolphins just to name a few.

The virtual space was put together in Virtools and Maya and uses video and audio feeds as well as various interactive methods to give the user a rich multimedia experience.

This is a brief outline of the project:

Story line

Thousands of years ago there existed a land created by a powerful magician – Osym whose powers were far beyond that of mere mortals. One day he decided to create an island for himself and dubbed it "Ossymar". A place for meditation and reflection, sort of like a magician's retreat.

This "magic kingdom", if you may, consists of a terrain that has earth like features. Filled with beaches, seas, savannas, caves, mountains, and a city in the mountains. It's modeled to be like heaven on earth; kind of like San Francisco but "Os-sy-mar". Though that's where the similarities end between the two. What makes Ossymar so, great, is that it's filled with creatures and herbage that are not found in San Francisco, at all. A place filled with, but not limited to, unicorns, flying dolphins, and emu-corn rexs in addition to waterfalls and caves.

Though, sadly one afternoon Osym tragically died in a freak unicorn riding accident, leaving behind the island and all its inhabitants. Couple of hundred years later some rocket scientists conducting experiments with emission-less rocket fuel happen to stumble upon Ossymar while navigating around some fjords off the Scandinavian coast.
And then the game begins. A Scandinavian rocket scientist wandering a magic kingdom with no clear destination or goal.

A. About the 3D world
We will try to builf the world using OGRE, Open GL and Maya but if that does not work we will substitute OGRE and Maya with Virtools.

Presentation

Ossymar will be modified and produced to be projected on to a half dome projection screen. We will be building this screen from flexible iron rods/ wire and and tensile muslin cloth. The projection will be bounced off from a spherical mirror to adjust the image to the shape of the half dome screen. Here is a rough diagram of the dome:

B. Style
The style will be Surreal for the most part and will have expressionistic textures and abstract character and moving objects.

C. Characters
There will be a character that will allow the user to explore the virtual world and interact with some of the other local inhabitants.

Emucorn Rex:

Dolphin:

D. Levels
There will be three levels that the user can explore. Initially the user will land on the main level and will be able to access the different levels by finding the "doors" allow them to cross to the next level. Current level concepts include main level, cave level and city level.

Main Level:

E. Interface
We are aiming to have the computer's keyboard as the controls for exploration.
There will be no buttons on screen to press or menus. The environment will be simple and intuitive enough for the user to roam around freely and be engulfed into the surreal environment.

F. Goals
To have an ambient game with a surreal environment that contains obscure and abstract characters. The goal is to explore all the worlds and to give the user a dream-like surreal experience and the reward will be a sense of relaxation and freedom. We are hoping that the user looses a sense of time and space for the time they spend on the world exploring.

ossymar

::: Ossymar :::