Detective Conan Skateboard

About

Case Closed, also known as Detective Conan 名探偵コナン, Meitantei Konan, is a detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. Following the graphic novel archetype and traditional Japanese manga cartoon style, the series is so beloved that it’s been adapted into video games, films, television specials, audio CDs, live-action dramas, and more.

The story follows a high school detective named Jimmy Kudo Japanese name: Shinichi Kudo, who sometimes works with the police to solve crimes. During a dangerous investigation, Kudo is attacked by a band of criminals and is forced to consume an experimental poison that ends up reverting him into a young child. Undaunted by his new form, Jimmy Kudo continues to solve cases, even forming a Junior Detective Club at his new elementary school.

Challenges

In addition to reaching different media types, the series also inspired an extraordinary Conan Museum in the Tottori Prefecture of Japan, which attracts thousands of local and international fans every year. To add to the museum’s attractions, the Conan Museum asked our team to create an interactive application aligned with the Detective Conan theme.

The aim was to use Unity 3D game development to create an interactive tour of the Tottori town, including famous landmarks and tourist hot spots. I was responsible for creating an amusement game that gave players a virtual tour of the city on Jimmy Kudo’s famous skateboard, which was a fun way of making the player mobile while including a unique detail of the game. In the end, we had two primary goals to succeed in the game creation:

• Design a replica of the Conan skateboard.
• Focus game development, so it fits the scope of both the museum and Detective Conan.

Approach

In order to emulate the experience of riding a skateboard, we designed a replica skateboard that used motion sensors for input so that we could accurately get the tilt of the skateboard. To do this, we had Arduino and midi controllers communicating with the Unity application and passing commands to the skateboard.

To create the game’s atmosphere in Unity 3D, we replicated specific areas of Tottori using low poly 3D, which achieved a cartoonish look to match Detective Conan while also increasing the game’s performance. I also used Unity’s Cinemachine to create nice cut scenes and special camera effects.

While building the set, we knew that a wide display would give the player a better view of their skateboarding experience, so we decided on three screens arranged in a curved shape. In addition, since the museum is often quite crowded, we reduced the time allowed for the game in order to give more people a chance to play.

And, of course, to make this amusement game as enjoyable as possible and increase motivation for players, we added collectible items to the skateboard path and a goal for players to achieve by the end of the game.