Link to demo video (YouTube or Vimeo).
https://youtu.be/f9RJfG8iQwg

Include a link to your public 8th Wall Featured Page
https://www.8thwall.com/kumpenghan/280924-2/

Briefly describe your projects key features and tech stack used
Stag Hunter is a game built with realism in and immersive experiences in mind.

Gaussian Splats - Scanned and utilize as background with realistic layers as rapid environment setup to create realistic graphics for the game.

Face Effect - Implement to zoom, aim, and fire as an immersive way to experience the game.

Animation - Position animations were used to create sway in the crosshair to simulate tiny arm movements while zoomed in the scope to aim.

Repeat in Mesh - Create seamless textures for realistic seamless grounds.

UI Elements - Overlay outcome status and score. Display a loading page and instructions.

Audio - Integrate background audio, environmental reactions, and shot sound effects to achieve realism.

Mesh - Change animation clips in the 3D model to simulate the target’s reaction to a shot.

Controls - Use Orbit Controls to manage aiming while zoomed in through the scope.

Particle Emitter - Used to create snow falling down in the scene for realistic aesthetics.

What was the inspiration for your project?
Initially the team was just experimenting with Scaniverse and Gaussian Splats. The question that came to mind was, how can Gaussian Splats be implemented in a meaningful way instead of being just another 3D model.

We brainstormed for many ideas but none of them seem to be fully utilise Gaussian Splats. We could just replace the Gaussian Splats with another low poly model and there will not be a difference. We moved on to another project initially.

After completing our second project and knowing how face effect templates works, it hit us that the gesture of Niantic Studio's face effect of tilting your head highly resemble the gesture of looking into a scope of a rifle.

At first we wanted to create a sniper game where you shoot bad people over a building but the idea alone was not interesting enough - There had to be a better way.

One evening when we were driving through we got curious and started scanning the forest in our neighbourhood. We noticed how amazing the scanned result looked as it is close to the real thing. After having some fun in scaniverse, the dots linked - To combine our sniper game with a forest environment instead. Gaussian splats was perfect for a forest shooter due to the nature of how dots are formed in the gaussian scanning process simulating the leaves and environment that no low poly model could ever achieve rapidly.

We thought to ourselves that hunting deer was a great target for the shooting game but there were no low poly deer 3D models on Poly.pizza. - only a stag with animation was available. Hence why a stag was chosen.

Putting together face effect and Gaussian Splats allowed us to create a realistic and immersive experience in Stag Hunter which no other game engine could provide making this game solely uniquely built only from Niantic Studio.

What prize is your submission eligible for? (pick more than one if it applies)
Gaussian Splats (Best real world game) and Face Effect