In the VR experience Fate of the Minotaur, players take on the role of humans from Athens who are sent as a sacrifice into the labyrinth of the Minotaur by Minos, King of Crete. The players learn about the tragic family story behind the ancient Greek myth and have to pick a side by either killing the Minotaur or sparing the troubled creature’s life. In a unique approach, the content can be experienced on different immersive scale levels, depending on the technical and physical limitations of the location presenting the experience. From a technical perspective, a novel engine-agnostic and flexible open-source virtual production framework was used to realise the multiplayer network part of the game. Our non-photorealistic visual approach is inspired by ancient Greek murals and vases, allowing us to ensure that the experience has a small footprint in terms of energy consumption and required equipment.
Fate of the Minotaur / Andreas Dahn, Leszek Plichta, Simon Spielmann, Eduard Schäfer, Justus Blönnigen - Photo: Andreas Dahn, Leszek Plichta, Simon Spielmann, Eduard Schäfer, Justus Blönnigen
Fate of the Minotaur
Andreas Dahn (DE), Leszek Plichta (DE), Simon Spielmann (DE), Eduard Schäfer (DE), Justus Blönnigen (DE)
Credits
XR Director: Andreas Dahn I Art Director: Leszek Plichta I Game Design & Technical Artist: Eddy Schäfer I Technical Director: Thomas Krüger I Project Management: Alexander Kreische I Producer: Lisa Forelli I Principal R&D Engineer: Simon Spielmann, R&D Engineer: Jonas Trottnow I 2D Animator: Riyaaz Roy I 3D Artist & Junior Technical Director: Justus Blönnigen I XR Intern: Malena Trachte I Head of Research & Development: Prof. Volker Helzle Voice Actors: Violeta Lupis (Ariadne), Vasiliki Roussi (Pasiphae), epas (Minos) I Mocap Actors: Iman Tekle (Ariadne), Dana Nieß (Pasiphae), Cedric von Borries (Minos), Alexandru Tufis-Schwartz (Minotaur) I Sound Design & Mix by Sono2 GmbH I Andreas Mühlschlegel (Sound Design), Marc Fragstein (Sound Design), Yannick Döbele (Assistant Sound Designer) I Music: Tabea Haarmann-Thiemann & Clemens Gutjahr This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 101070533.
