Game and Level Design
40 Stories - Prototype
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Initial Prototype |
Before going into full production for 40 Stories, I created a simple prototype of how the main gameplay mechanic would work in Multimedia Fusion 2. I wanted to show a brief example of puzzle types and display to the programming team how our main character should function when and after duplicating. Here's the prototype that I developed: 40 Stories Prototype Download
40 Stories - Floor 10
While directing 40 Stories, I had the opportunity to create a couple of levels for it. Here is one of them and my design process through it.
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Paper Design |
As Floor 10 was one of the later levels, it was designed to be difficult and unique. After seeing floor after floor of square shaped levels, I decided to take a newer approach and design a circular shaped level. This introduced new gameplay elements as moving straight was no longer conventionally possible. The player also needed to utilized the curved walls to position both players to solve puzzles.
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Kismet Scripts |
I started off using graph paper (as always) to determine the setup of the level, as well as figure out how each device would affect objects. I then created the base level within the editor and polished functionality with Kismet. Finally, once everything worked, I added finished meshes, lighting, and special effects. I made a short video describing in detail certain design choices we made for 40 Stories.
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Base Functionality |
Organization, Communication, and Documentation
40 Stories Design Document
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| I Even Took Attendance |
Being director of a 88 student team was pretty challenging. With only meeting 3 times a week for 5 hours, it was a daunting task to keep everyone on the same path. This is where my skills of organization and communication thrived to help 40 Stories become completed.
To ensure that students would follow the design of 40 Stories, I created a design document with other members of the 40 Stories creative team. The document started out really basic, but developed over the first semester of pre-production. The design document was written and organized by myself, but was collaborated and edited by the rest of the creative team as well. It was used throughout the entire production of 40 Stories. If you would like, it is available for download here.
40 Stories Documentation
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| One of My Notebooks |
Each class I spent talking with team leads and other students about their progress and goals, as well as coercing them to discuss their asset with whomever is working on it down the pipeline - to minimize potential future problems. I would always take studious notes to relay to team lead meetings, where we would discuss any important issues occurring at the moment.
As further proof of my culmination of 40 Stories, I wrote an article about what I feel were the reasons as to why 40 Stories succeeded very well as a project. I not only used my experience as director of 40 Stories, but also my experience on other projects I've worked on such as: Viathan, High Noon, and D.A.V.I.S. The paper I wrote is titled: Video Game Development: A SCOPE
As further proof of my culmination of 40 Stories, I wrote an article about what I feel were the reasons as to why 40 Stories succeeded very well as a project. I not only used my experience as director of 40 Stories, but also my experience on other projects I've worked on such as: Viathan, High Noon, and D.A.V.I.S. The paper I wrote is titled: Video Game Development: A SCOPE
40 Stories Playtests and Presentations
As the director, I also had great opportunities to administer public playtests and presentations to high school and college students. These tasks both helped with quality assurance with 40 Stories and increased my public speaking skills greatly.
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| First Playtest Results |
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| Pipes and Lines |
