TGA Future Class x Meta
This year, TGA Future Class partnered with Meta’s Horizon Worlds for a fun competition between several groups of Future Class members.
In the end, three teams were chosen to create worlds, games, or experiences inside of Horizon Worlds and each of them had very different concepts and designs. These games will soon become available to play in the Horizon Worlds app in the Oculus.
Here are the games created by our Future Class:
Team Derrick Fields (Waking Oni Games)
Serve orders and bonk aliens!
Aliens! At the Drive-in? In this team-based management sim, you must work together to serve orders to your seven noble drive-in enthusiasts while defending the station from aliens who have crash-landed to shut down your services.
Work inside the diner to dispense and fulfill the various food orders in the parking lot. Use your trusty Bonk Tool to combat aliens and restore power to the generators they attempt to shut down.
Team Randy Fitzgerald
Hi, Randy “N0M4D” Fitzgerald here, lead designer of the project and we want to welcome you to Meta Valley! It was such an honor and privilege to work on this awesome project. My team did a fantastic job. Shout out to Harjot (Harry) Singh, our lead programmer, and Ismael “Smiley” Guzman, lead artist. Being quadriplegic, I wanted to give an additional shout out to Chase McDermott for being my “hands” and helping me navigate the VR space. This project really helped my self esteem as a game designer. I’ve always questioned if I was good enough, but wat we were able to pull off within the limitations of the software is a testament of how amazing my team is. We were able to follow through with our vision to the very end. We are so humbled and proud to be one of the top 3.
Meta Valley is our take on a full Wild West adventure. You’re trapped in a small western town after a major landslide. There’s dynamite for purchase in Joe’s General Store to clear the boulders blocking the path, but there’s one problem — store owner, Joe, sees this as an opportunity to get filthy rich!
The object and goal of Meta Valley is simple: play one of the 5 mini games throughout the valley to earn in-game cash to buy the dynamite to escape. Currency is stored for each unique player, so even if you leave, the servers keep track of your character’s individual cash and items.
There will be two separate leaderboards:
- The players closest to earning enough money to buy the dynamite to escape. This will show the player’s highest dollar amount before buying the dynamite.
- Players who’ve escaped. These players have purchased the dynamite, and destroyed the boulder on the train tracks. This is considered the Legendary Leaderboard and will be the main goal for the player.
We didn’t want to create a world with just mini games. We wanted an addictive element that keeps players coming back for more and for the world to have an actual end goal and purpose.
Games are just one of the many aspects of Meta Valley. Rosie’s Saloon provides the main social hub of our experience. We also have two unique venues in Meta Valley. Did you meet your significant other online or in VR and plan on getting hitched? Our church is the perfect VR wedding venue and it would be an honor to host your special day! Chase and I happen to be ordained ministers in real life too! The other venue is our Main Stage. This area is reserved for live concerts (ZZ Top, call us!), limited time holiday events, and more!
The games you can find throughout the valley are Horseshoes, Bank Heist, Most Wanted, Quick Draw, and Word-It! Games like Most Wanted and Quick Draw, are exciting and high energy action games that mix elements of capture the flag and tag. Our other games were designed with inclusion and accessibility in mind. We want all of our players to feel engaged in our world no matter their physical ability.
Team Tara Mustapha
Affinity Forest is a playful, friendly world designed to help people find other players, especially those new to Horizon Worlds.
In order to break the ice, we designed Connection Treehouse, a magical space with conversation games to help you connect to people. Grab a friend or invite a stranger and teleport up to the treehouse to discover what you have in common. For example, is there a book you’ve both recommended to a friend? Have you ever been in the same city at the same time?
Feeling shy? No pressure! Wander around the space, and see if you can find all the secret areas of our world. Walk on the moon, discover your fortune, or see if you can find our secret cave toad.
