koobas.hobune.stream
Is it possible to simultaneously show a 2D diagram of a 3D game?
I am building an interactive VR experience using the HTC Vive and the SteamVR Unity plugin. My experience involves navigating a space filled with "Sound Spheres" that generate sound when colliding with the Vive controllers. These Sound Spheres are static i.e they sit still in space. Importantly, no head-mounted display is used to play this game.
Thus, I am attempting to create a 2D diagram of the play-area which will show the location of the Sound Spheres - to aid user navigation and interaction. This 2D diagram will be projected onto the wall of the play-area. Ideally, I would have two diagrams - one showing a side view and the other showing a top view - one on each wall. Obviously, the 3D game should still be playable in the room while the diagrams are being projected.
Is there a way to simultaneously show two 2D diagrams of a 3D game? How would projection work - i.e could I just display these two diagrams on two monitors and project those using separate projectors? Any advice would be greatly appreciated <3
First, let me restate a few caveats that I think you've said:
The 2d Diagrams are of the spheres, which are fixed.
These 2d Diagrams are not showing any motion? The location of the player is not being updated each frame?
If that is true, just create an image of the diagram(s) and make them textures on quads.
If these diagrams are being updated, consider just what is being updated. Is it merely an icon of the player's or players' location(s)?
In that case, you could use the previous point, making the diagram a texture, then placing a sprite or even a sphere or small mesh object at the appropriate matching location relative to the diagram (takes a little bit of adjusting). This avoids having to render on a texture, which is possible but is heavy for some devices.
It is possible to render to a texture (there are multiple techniques) of a 2D version of the scene, but I sense your requirements don't actually warrant that slightly more advanced and heavier technique when a simple alternative might work well. The key to my previous (middle) example is to align a 2D sprite or 3D object with the static map applied as a texture, but it isn't really all that tough.
