Project Coffee Table

Experimental game design. Exploring the themes of tranquility, cooperation and simplicity. Created in Unity and programmed in C#.

Using realistic water simulation provided by NVIDIA Flex technology, the player uses non-traditional input to guide the water around each plane of an architectural stack. When the player reaches the goal on each table a new table replaces it, creating perpetual motion and randomly shuffled game spaces.

Demo playthrough with audio:

Fully customisable in editor

The code for the fluid, natural movement and table level offset has been written with design iteration in mind. The number and scale of tables created, animation offset speed/delay and distance from one another is set in the engine editor. The dynamic code is built to allow for constant tweaking and refinement.

Wwise Audio Integration

I have integrated Wwise middleware into the project. Combined with audio from a sound designer and accessible parameters such as volume and state changes; in this case it is used to play the audio from different flutes depending where the water travels through. The particle velocity is tracked, stored as a variable and fed into a Wwise Real time parameter control, increasing the splashing noise when water is running quickly.

Natural, smooth animations

Using spherical linear interpolation and animation curves - accessible in the editor - in code, the table stack has completely fluid motion. By continually tracking the top table’s rotation over the last ‘x’ number of seconds, I have created a rotation delay down the stack that creates a wave effect. The table ‘shuffle’ triggered by completing a table loops through the logical list and reorders based on current and target position, allowing for an endless loop.

Installation Concept

From the early stages of the project we have concepted it to operate as an installation in a public space that people can interact with at will, picking up where others have left off. When idle, the table comes alive and animates itself; slowly swaying.