Project Kickoff: Lunar Environment Development
Week 0 focused on establishing the core technical foundation for our Global Horizons University VR project, with significant progress on the Lunar Exploration Laboratory environment and physics implementation.
This week marked the beginning of our Global Horizons University VR project, with a focus on establishing the foundational elements of our Lunar Exploration Laboratory environment. Our goal is to create an immersive learning experience that teaches adaptation in unfamiliar physical conditions through a realistic lunar simulation.
Lunar Environment Setup
We made significant progress on building our lunar environment, focusing on creating an authentic representation of the moon's surface:
- Moon Surface Map: Configured detailed lunar surface texturing and materials to match actual lunar regolith properties.
- Moon Surrounding Map: Created the surrounding environment including accurate starfields and an Earth view.
- Moon Heightmap: Implemented a realistic heightmap for accurate terrain rendering and collision.
Physics Implementation
One of the most critical aspects of our lunar simulation is accurate physics modeling:
- Lunar Gravity World Setting: Successfully configured the global physics system to simulate lunar gravity (~1/6 Earth gravity).
- Locomotion System: Implemented joystick-based walking, replacing teleportation for immersion.
- Movement Mechanics Planning: Began design for novel "Spiderman-like" traversal mechanics suited for low gravity.
- Simulated Astronaut Hopping: Introduced head movement simulation for realistic low-G walking.
Technical Platform
Selected Unreal Engine 5.3.2, leveraging Nanite and Lumen for detailed visuals while maintaining VR performance.
Next Steps
Future work includes interactive equipment, refining VR interaction systems, and developing initial learning scenarios.
Project Details
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