Gems of Africa

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  Exploring Artifacts with the help of Virtual Docent

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  Players can interact with the Virtual Docents. These docents are the custom NPC character with specialized characteristics.

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  Players can access the Supply Room, quests and leaderboad

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  Break down the gems and experience the beauty of African Artifacts

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  Players can breakdown the ores and can obtain gems which can be converted into currencies. This will help them to buy new items.

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  Read and enjoy the beauty about these amazing stories behind the African Artifacts. It is really mesmerizing!

Inspiration

We were inspired to reimagine the museum metaverse through gamification, turning exploration and learning into an engaging adventure. By blending mobile and VR platforms, we aim to bring the magic of real-world museums to audiences everywhere. Players can explore magnificent African artifacts, uncover the captivating stories behind them, and experience the thrill of discovery firsthand. Inspired by real museum guides, we’ve also introduced custom virtual guide NPCs to make the journey more immersive and engaging. The game celebrates the spirit of archaeology, curiosity, and exploration- inviting players to connect with African culture in a whole new way.

What it does

The gameplay is simple yet engaging. Players will break down gems to find African artifacts hidden inside across four distinct sections. Each collected gem can be converted into in-game currency, which can be used to purchase items from the supply room(store). Some ores contain precious gemstones, while others conceal rare artifacts waiting to be uncovered. Every breaking down of the ores brings a sense of anticipation—players never know what treasure awaits them next. Throughout the experience, a virtual AI guide accompanies and assists players, enhancing exploration and immersion.

How we built it

All the artifacts featured in the game are from the Savannah African Art Museum in Savannah, Georgia, USA. We collaborated with the museum to 3D-scan these artifacts and then converted them into optimized low-poly models using ZBrush for compatibility with the Meta Desktop Editor. The textures were recreated in Substance 3D Painter to closely match the originals.

We began development using Meta’s Sim Tycoon Template as a foundation and gradually built upon it. The African artifacts were imported into our world, and we used Meta’s GenAI tools to generate the cave environment and thematic assets. For the gameplay logic, we utilized GenAI in the Desktop Editor along with ChatGPT to generate and refine TypeScript scripts. To add an extra layer of immersion, we introduced custom virtual tour guide NPCs- also built using GenAI.

As a two-person team of 3D artists, leveraging AI-assisted tools allowed us to bring our creative vision to life efficiently and achieve the gameplay experience we imagined.

Challenges we ran into

While creating 3D assets, we noticed a significant gap between our prompts and the outputs generated by GenAI, making it difficult to achieve the desired results. Additionally, the TypeScript code for the resource conversion function presented several bugs that required extensive debugging and fine-tuning. Through persistent trial and error, we eventually resolved these issues and got everything working smoothly. Additionally, considering the ethical aspect, we wanted to make sure that the objects and cultures we are representing are ethically displayed by paying attention to how they are being collected in the game.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We began developing this game in the middle of the hackathon month and completed it within just two weeks- including the concept, environment design, asset creation, and gameplay. As artists with no prior experience in development or coding, building a fully functional game from scratch in such a short time feels like a major achievement for us. Furthermore, through market research, we found that most virtual museums only recreate physical spaces online with little interaction. In contrast, Gems of Africa pioneers a new genre of immersive museum experience that fuses curator-verified African culture and gamification into an interactive, story-driven journey.

What we learned

This project taught us how to effectively collaborate with institutions to bring creative ideas to life. Teamwork and decision-making played a crucial role throughout the process. Despite the challenges we faced during development, we gained a deep understanding of the logic, structure, and layers involved in building a game from the ground up.

What's next for Gems in Africa

Next, we plan to enhance the gameplay and expand the concept of a virtual museum experience. Our goal is to make the artifacts “speak” to players, sharing their unique stories through interactive mini-quests. While this feature is still in development, we are confident in our ability to bring it to life. With authentic stories provided by the museum, this next step will deepen player engagement while staying true to the artifacts’ cultural and historical roots. Moreover, we aim to create a seamless O2O(online-to-offline) experience, connecting virtual and real worlds by guiding offline visitors online and encouraging online users to visit the museum.

Built With

• genai
• openai
• substance3dpainter
• typescript
• zbrush