Draft: Scriptable Interactive Signs in V-Sekai

The Context

V-Sekai is a social VR platform designed to foster user interaction and creative expression within a shared virtual world. Effective communication tools and user-generated content are essential to this goal.

The Problem Statement

Currently, V-Sekai offers limited options for users to leave persistent messages or communicate asynchronously within the environment. This proposal introduces interactive signs as a new, scriptable communication feature, leveraging the existing Godot-sandbox.

Describe how your proposal will work with code, pseudo-code, mock-ups, or diagrams

Sign Creation as Scriptable Objects

Users will have access to a simplified scripting environment within the Godot-sandbox to create and customize signs.
They can define the sign’s appearance (text, emojis, images), interaction logic (like buttons, animations), and integrate with other game elements.
Pre-built templates and scripting examples will be provided for less experienced users.

Sign Placement with In-World Editor

Users can place and manipulate signs directly in the V-Sekai world using an in-world editor tool, leveraging existing Godot editor functionalities.

“Like” System Integration with Godot Scripting

The “like” functionality will be exposed through Godot scripting, allowing users to customize its behavior, create unique animations and sounds, or integrate the “like” count with other game mechanics.

User Interface Integration with Godot Signals

We will connect sign interactions with the user interface, enabling dynamic updates of “like” counts and other relevant information in the user’s HUD or profile.

The Benefits

Enhanced Communication: Scriptable signs provide a flexible channel for asynchronous communication, allowing users to leave messages, share thoughts, or provide information in engaging ways.
Increased Social Interaction: The customizable “like” system encourages interaction and feedback between users, fostering a sense of community.
Creative Expression and User-Generated Content: Empowers users to personalize the V-Sekai world and express themselves creatively by designing unique sign experiences.
Deeper Integration with V-Sekai: Leverages existing Godot infrastructure for a more cohesive and extensible implementation.
Potential for Community-Driven Development: Users can share and collaborate on sign scripts, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of user-generated content.

The Downsides

Learning Curve: May require users to have some familiarity with Godot scripting or be willing to learn. Mitigation: Provide comprehensive tutorials and readily available examples.
Security and Stability: Robust security measures are crucial to prevent malicious scripts from affecting the V-Sekai environment. Mitigation: Implement a script review process and sandboxing mechanisms.
Performance Impact: Careful optimization of user-created scripts will be essential to maintain overall performance. Mitigation: Provide clear guidelines and limitations on script complexity.

The Road Not Taken

Simple, non-scriptable signs with a fixed set of features were considered. However, leveraging the Godot-sandbox for scriptable signs offers greater flexibility, user empowerment, and potential for community-driven content creation, aligning better with V-Sekai’s open-source philosophy.

In Core and Done by Us

This feature directly supports V-Sekai’s core values of social interaction, user-generated content, and community involvement. The V-Sekai development team is best suited to implement this functionality, ensuring seamless integration with the existing platform and maintaining a consistent user experience.

Status

Status: Draft

Decision Makers

V-Sekai development team
fire
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