KIT208 Assignment 3

Introduction

The application is designed to help market the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game by using augmented reality to bring the various game cards to life.

Description of Application

The user plays a game of Yu-Gi-Oh that is observed by a camera. The application then shows 3D models of the cards that are in-view of the camera. The application also detects “battles” between cards and keeps track of players’ life points as the game progresses.

These features of having Yu-Gi-Oh monsters appear above their cards and battle each other would be great for marketing to a younger audience that would find the 3D gimmick exciting. The target audience would also extend to people that have seen the Yu-Gi-Oh cartoon and people that play and have previously played Yu-Gi-Oh.

After potential players have initially become interested in the game, there is a steep learning curve that often discourages people to continue trying to play. There also isn’t a good way to learn Yu-Gi-Oh without help from a third party that already knows how to play the game (Rothschild, 2023). As part of marketing Yu-Gi-Oh, the application would also aim to educate people about the basics of the game.

While people that already play Yu-Gi-Oh might be interested in this type of application in a casual setting, the application wouldn’t be useful or wanted in tournament settings. Elements of the application such as automated life point tracking could lead to misrepresentation of the game state and slow down the game. “It is important to note that, even though the information provided by Augmented Reality is often really useful, it may occasionally be offered in the wrong place and/or at the wrong time” (Ariso, 2017, p. 6).

The application’s main purpose is to entice new and returning player to the game.

Interaction Design

As cards come into the view of the camera the model of the Yu-Gi-Oh monster is displayed above the card. This emphasises the difference in the power of cards, with larger looking monsters generally being more powerful, adding an extra layer of depth to the game. “Augmented Reality enhances a user's perception of an interaction with the real world” (Azuma, 1997, p. 3).

While there are multiple monsters in view of the camera, moving them together will have them “battle”. When this happens the attack (the left number shown south of the bottom of the card) of each monster is compared. If the attack values are equal both models are removed to show that those cards are “destroyed”. If the attack of one card if higher than the other, the one with lower attack is “destroyed” and has its model removed. Then, the life points associated with the monster with the lower attack are decreased by the difference in attack of those monsters. Life points for the application are displayed at the top left and right of the screen.

Possible way that the application could sell the game:

Technical Development

The application was made using the Unity game engine, and the Vuforia add-on used to add the augmented reality functionality to the project.

To use the interactions of the application, move the image targets (Yu-Gi-Oh cards) into the view of the camera to display the models. To have cards “battle”, move them close to each other.

Description of 3D Models

For this proof-of-concept type application, two of the three models are grey boxed. A cube and sphere have been used in place of custom models being made.

This sphere is the default unity sphere. It has been used as the avatar for the card Greed Jar.

This is the default unity cube. It has been used as the avatar for the card Mysterious Puppeteer.

This is a custom-made model of the card Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The model is incomplete however. It has been used as the avatar for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.

The intention was for there to be three custom models for the project, but that that wasn’t feasible for the application project.

Image Targets

Yu-Gi-Oh cards used for the application:

References for Report

Ariso, José María (2017) ‘Is Critical Thinking Particularly Necessary when Using Augmented Reality in Knowledge Society? An Introductory Paradox’, in J. M. Ariso (ed), Augmented Reality: Reflections on Its Contribution to Knowledge Formation, De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, pp 3-21.

Azuma, Ronald. T. (1997) ‘A Survey of Augmented Reality’. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 355-385.

Rothschild, Joseph. (2023) Time to Epically Own a Cringe Yugiboomer Once Again (except He’s Completely Right about Everything). Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMwOmKzaFc (Accessed: 22 September 2023).

No ChatGPT or other generative text AI has been used while making the application.

References for Application

PTC Vuforia (2022), add-vuforia-package-10-15-4 [Computer Software], https://developer.vuforia.com/downloads/SDK

Unity Technologies (2022), Unity 2022.3.3f1 [Computer Software], https://unity.com