Game Design
Gameplay video: Nightscape
During my undergraduate degree in my fourth year interactive media practicum, I worked for the entirety of the school year and the following summer on our project, Nightscape. Nightscape is an isometric mystery game demo focusing on Danielle, a private investigator tasked with unraveling the mystery surrounding the small town of Brighton.
My Role
As lead game designer I ensured that our team of 13 created content and aligned with our vision and tone throughout all stages of development. I implemented our concept and assets in the Unity 3D engine, designed game levels, prepared design documentation, supervised playtesting, and assumed the role of lead programmer when we encountered personnel issues. I also represented our prototype at two professional conventions and interacted with judges and game development experts.
Project Summary
Due to the limited time frame our team had to complete our project, we prepared a demo to accurately convey our concept. This product included an opening cinematic, an overworld level, and one simplistic tutorial level- the Inn. Our deliverable was fully modelled, textured, and animated by our team with an original soundtrack created by our sound designer. I had the privilege of donning the motion capture suit and recording a variety of animations for Danielle- such as sneaking, walking, running, getting caught, and picking up objects.
From this experience I learned valuable lessons about teamwork, professionalism, and pride in a project. I also learned about the intricacies of a development environment, and how to fulfill multiple roles and learn complex skills in a short period of time.
Nightscape executable file available upon request.
Between Doors
Between Doors is a first person game concept that aims to engage players in a thought provoking narrative- requiring them to piece together memories of the protagonist's past.
As the level and world designer of this project, I created a game world centered around the protagonist's childhood home. Between doors heavily focuses on exploration, requiring the player to uncover the narrative themselves. Due to this focus, the world and levels in Between Doors were designed to include strong visual cues to guide the payer to the game's conclusion.
This game has no combat, requiring each level to provide unique and engaging challenges that stay grounded to our interpretation of the protagonist's memories.
FPS Map Design
Using Far Cry 4's map editor, I have completed and published a handful of first person shooter maps on both Xbox One and PC. Pictures below include an infographic I created outlining design practices for FPS maps, and images of two of the maps I have published to Far Cry 4's creation community: Ravine Outpost and Mountain Temple.
The ravine outpost map is a stealth map, where the player must avoid detection while eliminating all enemies. This map has a high difficulty, as the central choke point of the bridge allows the player to easily be spotted if they don't plan their route. Alternate pathways exist, as the player can cross the river by boat, or use grapple point under the bridge to get to the other side.
The temple map is an assault map designed to reward the player for exploring. Item caches are hidden across the map, marked by visual cues such as paths and statues. Aggressive animals can be found around the map, increasing difficulty and requiring the player to tread with caution. The eye is immediately drawn to the large statue half buried in a mountain, which can be seen in the distance from the spawn location.
