FlightGoggles : Game Menus in FlightGoggles Arcade

The Startup Menu

On startup, there is a graphics settings menu. “Fullscreen” and “resolution” are dynamically changeable from here as well as the in-game graphics menu. “Graphics quality” must be set now, or the game will require a restart to enact changes. “Start Game” launches the game. If there are issues running FlightGoggles: Arcade, it is recommended that you lower the graphics quality, or try different resolutions.

The Main Menu

Once the game loads, the user will be prompted to enter a player name. This is used for the leaderboards. (Users are identified by a unique ID number, this name is for display purposes.) “Enter” accepts the username.

This is the main menu of FlightGoggles: Arcade. The icon on the top left corner indicates whether the game is connected to the internet. This updates dynamically. “Exit” asks the player for confirmation, and then quits to the desktop. “Race” opens the Course Location menu. “Leaderboards” brings the player to the top leaderboards for top racer scores. “Options” opens the in game options menu. Finally, “Info” gives the player some information about the creation of FlightGoggles: Arcade. Throughout the game, a white rectangle is used to indicate which button the controller or keyboard is currently hovering over.

The menus in FlightGoggles: Arcade exist in-world in one of the 3D environments in the game!

Selecting “Race” displays the racing environments. FlightGoggles: Arcade currently includes three environments for the player to race through. Generated using photogrammetry and other 3D modeling techniques, these environments include the ground floor and basement of the MIT Stata Center, and an “Abandoned Warehouse” location. Select one of these three, or hit the back arrow to go back to the main menu.

Selecting a location displays a list of courses that are located in that environment. Selecting one of these courses will load that course to be raced, selecting the back arrow takes the player back to the environments list. See the “Racing” section for more information about the gameplay during the race.

Selecting “Leaderboards” from the main menu brings the player to this screen, showcasing the top scores in each course. Hit the back arrow to go back to the main menu, and the down/up scroll arrows to scroll through the highscores. Selecting the location and course names in the leaderboard header will cycle the board through the various locations and courses.

Selecting “Options” from the main menu displays the options menu, defaulting to showing the gameplay section. Under the menu title, there are three buttons, which will display the “Gameplay”, “Controls”, and “Graphics” option menu subsections respectively. Hitting the back arrow will send the player back to the main menu, no matter which subsection is displayed.

In the gameplay section, the player can alter the angle of the FPV (first person view) camera on the drone, change the camera view from FPV to 3rd person, and modify the curve expo and the proportional gain for roll, pitch, yaw, and thrust. Curve expos are modified individually, while proportional gain modifies all four the same amount. While the curve expos are being modified, the graph on the right hand side will display the curve expo dynamically. “Reset Options” will simply set the gameplay options back to the default settings.

The controls subsection of the options menu allows the player to assign controllers, buttons, and more. “Restore Defaults” will set the controls options back to the default settings. “Remove” will remove the currently assigned controller, if there is one. “Calibrate” will open a popup menu with calibration controls for the currently assigned controller. “Assign Controller” will allow the player to assign a new controller, so long as that controller is currently connected to the computer. “Remove” and “Calibrate” will be greyed out if there is no controller currently assigned. “Assign Controller” will be greyed out if there are no controllers connected to the computer (not including the currently assigned controller.)

The “Actions” column displays a list of “actions” or inputs the player may give. Joystick inputs such as thrust, that have a positive and a negative input, will allow the player to map either a single joystick axis to both, or individual buttons to the positive and negative inputs of the action separately. It is HIGHLY recommended that you fly with joystick inputs for thrust, yaw, roll, and pitch. This gives the player a higher, more granular level of control over the inputs. The bottom of the action list allows the player to remap the buttons used to traverse the UI.

The “Keyboard” and “Controller” columns show which inputs are currently mapped to which actions. Selecting an input in one of these columns will prompt the player to to assign a new input to that action.

The “Graphics” subsection of the menu offers options to change the fullscreen/windowed setting, the resolution, and the graphics quality. Fullscreen and resolution will change dynamically, graphics quality will change on restart. If there are issues running FlightGoggles: Arcade, it is recommended that you lower the graphics quality, or try different resolutions.

Selecting the “Info” button from the main menu brings the player here, displaying some information about the creation of FlightGoggles: Arcade. Select the back arrow to return to the main menu.

Racing

The beginning of a race in the “Stata 1st Floor” location. “Engage thrust” text will indicate the thrust input to the player. When thrust is engaged, the timer in the upper right corner will begin, and the dynamics of the drone will engage. (This will remove the text.) The gate with the glowing particles is the next gate in the course. If a player misses a gate, an indicator red “X” will display underneath the timer, to represent a penalty to be added at the end of the race.

A race in the “Abandoned Warehouse” location.

When the player hits “esc” on a keyboard, “b” on a controller, or clicks outside of the window on PC, it automatically opens the pause menu and pauses the timer. “Yes” restarts the run from the beginning, “No” removes the pause menu and continues the timer, and “Menu” sends the player back to the menu. The course completion menu opens upon a successful course completion and acts similarly. The “Menu” button on these menus sends the player to a main menu located in-world in the same environment as the current race. The menus are identical in function and in layout, but loading into a course in the same location as the current menu location will be faster.