Knead to Know
A VR baking sim game that allows players to try baking real recipes without having to spend the financial or material resources often needed in real life.
Project Info
My Role:
Technical implementation of UI: C# scripting VR player interactions with diegetic UI elements, HUDs, and systemwide navigation menus in both 3D & 2D
3D modeling support to ensure environment and UI are mechanically & visually compatible with each other
Conceptualize overall art direction and gameplay mechanics to support team's design goals
Design Goals:
Guide users step-by-step with detailed instructions
Maintain realistic interactions and mechanics where possible
Create an environment that transforms baking into a relaxing and fun experience for players
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Overview
Learn how to bring delicious creations to life in a virtual world for new bakers and longtime hobbyists alike!
You are a new baker, and you’re learning the basics of baking. Knead to Know gives players the opportunity to develop their baking skills step-by-step. The player will be performing motions often used in real-world baking such as whisking, cracking an egg, turning a page, and more!
The aim of the project is to teach players how to bake in a virtual reality space. The main user group consists of people who do not know how to bake and would like to learn, or people who currently do not have the physical space or equipment to bake. Knead to Know provides an experience that is comfortable and easy to work in without requiring players to spend the financial or material resources often needed in real life.
Problem & Research
Baking requires ample space, expensive equipment, and procured ingredients that aren't always accessible to aspiring hobby bakers.
I joined the “Knead to Know” team because I could personally resonate with our shared vision for building a virtual space where players can comfortably learn how to bake without worrying about needing ample space or purchasing the required equipment and materials. As someone who is also a hobby baker, I am just like the players “Knead to Know” is built for. Ever since moving into my tiny, ill-equipped NYC apartment, I haven’t been able to bake nearly as often as I used to. I wanted to help create an experience that would allow people like me to still enjoy the joys of baking, even if their current lifestyle no longer supports it.
Our Target Players
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Brainstorm & Ideation
Solution: A virtual reality space that guides players through baking recipes step-by-step in a comfortable, yet realistic, environment.
Step 1: Brainstorm core functionalities
Step 2: Draft art direction & concept
Step 3: Bring the bakery to life in 3D
Step 4: User testing to smooth wrinkles
Core Product Features
Learn baking basics with real recipes and earn real achievements
We mentioned how complicated baking can get, which in turn intimidates interested people who would like to learn. This is why, ‘Knead-to-Know” starts from the absolute basics and teaches its players the simplest of recipes: how to make a box cake. We wanted to slowly ease players into the world of baking so that they can improve their skills and confidence through first-hand experience. Once the player has successfully baked their first cake, they get to showcase it on a dessert tray and get it graded to earn real achievements!
Maximize your learning by performing real-world motions & skills
Baking requires some intricate movement, such as whisking and frosting. Even though we start off with a simple recipe, it's important for players to take their time and learn how to perform real-world motions and skills to complete each baking step. The whisking step requires the players to first add two eggs and then whisk till they reach the desired consistency (which is indicated through an animated progress bar). Players will practice the whisking motion with their VR controllers. The same principle is applied to the frosting stage, where the player will have to pipe frosting in the designated areas that are highlighted on top of the cake.
A balanced 3D-2D UI that supports VR player immersion, rather than disrupts it!
For a VR game, almost nothing is more important than maintaining player immersion. I designed primarily diegetic UIs that appear within the 3D scene itself in order to provide players information in a realistic manner as they are baking. Interactive UIs are purposefully embedded into the surface of objects like a recipe book and the oven control board, while smaller, event-specific UIs temporarily appear near their respective game object for the event duration.
I kept 2D overlay UIs to a minimum to maximize players' sense of realism, because there are no floating screens in real life (yet)! I designed 2D UIs like a HUD that can temporarily display recipe-instruction reminders when needed. Otherwise, players' screens keep a clean, UI-free look that mirrors reality where possible.
Takeaways
A New World of UX/UI Design for VR Development — Although I've previously worked in Unity many times, this was my first time creating specifically a XR interaction project in Unity. I quickly realized that designing and implementing UI that would be compatible for VR systems such as the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro requires many different technicalities from traditional game development. In addition to rewiring my Unity studio for VR development (i.e. downloading multiple XR packages), I also learned that I needed to approach UX/UI Design with a different mindset that specifically targets VR experiences. This meant thinking about how to keep the player experience as immersive and realistic as possible by: 1) opting for diegetic UIs rather than overwhelming the player with floating elements; and 2) creating designs that support direct manipulation rather than rely on UI menus.
Bridging the gap between Unity's UI Toolkit and XR Management Tools — As the one in charge of the UI art and technical implementation, I handled UI Toolkit and writing all related C# scripts to make the UI interactive, both in the 3D world and in the 2D screen overlay. One challenge I encountered while doing so however was that whenever I hit a roadblock (e.g. a bug where the UI wasn’t interacting as planned), it can be difficult finding an effective solution that is compatible with the latest version of Unity and is compatible with VR interaction systems. Most Unity tutorials and resources on the internet aren’t specifically targeting XR experiences, and ones that do are far and few between. By diligently scouring Unity documentation and using my own knowledge of Unity and C#, I was able to come up with solutions and workarounds to solve each of my UI technical issues one-by-one. Although this meant I needed to spend more time troubleshooting, I believe problem-solving each of these technical challenges has also strengthened my skills as a UI Technical Artist and has me feeling well-prepared for tackling similar tasks in my future projects.
Model Credits
Thank you to my lovely team members of Eebit Mondy Studios! I'm so happy this project came to life just as how we first envisioned it, and I'm proud of what our great minds put together can create. Special thank you to Dorsa Charkhian for your regular feedback and critique throughout the duration of this project. :)