Thibaut Platet

virtual reality · project lead, team of 4 · ENSIM

SOLAS

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SOLAS title screen: the planets of the solar system lined up against a starry background.

At a glance

Dates
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Context
virtual reality · project lead, team of 4 · ENSIM
Technologies
  • VR
  • Unity
  • C#
  • Blender

Overview

Serious game for learning astronomy in VR.

Problem

Give a young audience some scientific culture about the solar system, using the immersion of virtual reality to convey the vastness of space.

Role

Project lead, team of 4.

Decisions

A fixed route from planet to planet rather than free exploration, which was too heavy to build; three surfaces to land on (Moon, Mars, Earth); a text and a voice-over for each planet.

Result

A complete game, from the menu to the final scene, tested on Meta Quest 3. A first version was tried by many visitors at the ENSIM open day (25 January 2025).

My contribution

  • A large part of the game’s C# scripts.
  • The “light speed” loading screen: about 800 thin objects arranged in a cone and spun at high speed by a C# script, triggered when the engines start.
  • The Moon scene: terrain built from scratch and textured with craters, lunar base, a satellite dish to collect flagged by a light animation, invisible walls at the edges, landing button.
  • Blender modelling of the ship’s kitchen, engines, battery and satellite dish.
  • Research and educational texts on the Earth, Jupiter and the asteroid belt; voice-over recording.

Specification

RequirementAnswer
AudienceYoung people curious about astronomy: for each planet, a short text and a voice-over while the player looks at the planet.
ImmersionA virtual reality game: objects are grabbed by hand from the cockpit; travel uses a keypad and “Start engines” and “Land” buttons.
ProgressionThe ship has been hit by an asteroid: at each stop there is a part to collect, and the ship is rebuilt as the adventure goes on.
ExplorationThree surfaces to land on and walk around freely: the Moon, Mars and the Earth.
AtmosphereOriginal music, sound effects, and a loading screen that simulates speed between two planets.
TestingUnity’s XR simulator to iterate quickly, then a Meta Quest 3 headset to validate the real experience.
Complete projectCarried over one year by a team of four: scenario, modelling, development, testing.

The player’s journey

A fixed order, from planet to planet: the initial idea of a free route was dropped because it multiplied the scenes and required a save system.

  1. Main menu
  2. Asteroid belt
  3. Mars surface to explore
  4. Jupiter
  5. Moon surface to explore
  6. Earth surface to explore
  7. Mercury
  8. Venus
  9. Saturn
  10. Uranus
  11. Neptune
  12. Final scene

In pictures

VR cockpit view: two hands reaching towards an engine floating among asteroids.
From the cockpit, the missing part is grabbed by hand (here an engine, in the asteroid belt).
Saturn seen from the cockpit, with a text panel describing it on the left.
Each planet is introduced by a text and a voice-over (in French). View full size
Cockpit button pad, each button showing a planet.
The cockpit keypad: planets unlock as parts are collected.
White streaks rushing towards the centre of the screen, seen from the cockpit.
The “light speed” loading screen, between two planets.
Base buildings on grey lunar ground under a black sky.
The lunar base, on terrain sculpted for the scene.
Inside the base: a white control room with many screens.
Inside the lunar base, where the satellite dish to bring back to the ship is found.

Results

stops: the asteroid belt, the Moon and the eight planets
10
surfaces to explore on foot
3
animated objects for the speed effect
≈ 800
of work, as a team of four
1 year

A complete game, from the main menu to the final scene, played through in full by all four team members on a Meta Quest 3.

A first stable version was shown at the ENSIM open day on 25 January 2025: many visitors tried it and shared their impressions.