In the projects below, I designed, modeled, implemented and scripted each experience in either Unity or Unreal.
I graduated in May from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, with a major in Interactive Media and Game Design. Each year I was in school, I was hired as a student assistant for teaching game design, narrative construction, technical implementation, and prototyping. My ability to independently and quickly pick up new software and technical skills helped me thrive in the program and opened many doors for new projects and challenges. I can comfortably use a wide range of engines, including Unreal and Unity. Aside from digital game dev, I love writing, running, and playing adventures for D&D (below, you can download a module I co-wrote), Call of Cthulhu, and Live Action Roleplay games! I've also begun assisting in running attendees through modules, playing world characters, writing plot, and coordinating schedule and logistics at the TwinMask LARP. |
Tools: Unity, Maya, built for Android/iOS
Narrative Design Notes: Throughout the game, players collect a series of bottles to keep at a shrine documenting the goodness of a coastal town. Each puzzle "bottle" tells a complete story of someone overcoming an obstacle, discovering something about themselves, and finding the next level. My work on Bottles involved narrative planning, level design, tool building, and implementation. I also managed the art team's creation of models and animations to stay in line with current story iterations, and used the Unity animation state machines and sequences to implement their work. Our goal was always to maximize how the story motivated mechanical progression, and what mechanical affordances best framed and promoted the story. Along with our demo video above, below are two older documentation videos of levels still in production, and some information about each. |
The office level follows a shy worker intent on fixing problems for her coworkers. I worked on tools to trigger npc reactions when conditions were fulfilled, monitor level progress based on global social needs, and implemented the existing narrative beats.
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The train level follows a lovestruck commuter mustering their courage to finally make a move- but gets blocked by every obstacle the world can throw. I worked on tools to affect environment/NPC animation states based on the level's rotation and implemented the existing narrative beats.
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Tools: UE4
Narrative Design Notes: Hallway follows a quiet city on a misty night, where tall, winding beings tear buildings apart, and use the pieces to coax victims out of their beds. They place mazes of hallways with the promise of adventure, eventually crushing the victim between their structural jaws and taking them away. I built this as a week-long challenge project to practice Unreal skills, and implemented systems to trigger background animation sequences and cue monster audio responses. |
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Tools: Unity, Vive
Narrative Design Notes: Wolf follows the player as they are hunted, stalked, and eventually eaten by a surreal pack of wolves as a sacrifice, like many people and creatures before them. The player stands helplessly as wolves circle them, dripping molten red to mark their paths, and move ever closer. I implemented the wolf behaviors and animation, scripting them so they occasionally lingered behind structures, to time focus on other elements, and disorient the player's spatial understanding. |
Tools: Unity, with custom built experimental gyroscope input
Narrative Design Notes: Tender follows the conversations and intimate moments between a powerful, extradimensional being and their young human lover, with symbolic gameplay depicting physical affection and acts of service. The gameplay was built around a tilt-to-control platform that allowed players to bend the time of night to their lover's wishes, and complete other physical minigames. After writing the interactions, I implemented a system that triggered narrative beats and progression based on completion of tasks and gyroscope controls. |
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Tools: Unity, built for Android
Narrative Design Notes: On a coming-of-age expedition to prove their maturity, the player would spend several days exploring the forest, meeting animal friends, and scavenging survival supplies. Each evening, they would allocate resources to different survival needs, affecting relationships and energy levels. Through continued development of this side project, I implemented item collection systems, animal interaction and relationship systems, and narrative clues to communicate the overarching tale. Below is a controls demonstration from early in the project- please pardon the rotation bug! |
Camera screenshot of the day cycle from development
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Tools: Unity
Narrative Design Notes: River follows a young girl sailing down a river, collecting flowers to accompany her mother's journey into the afterlife. She regales a tale her mother spun about the love a fish and water flower share while the player chooses the flowers that will adorn the burial at sea. I implemented a system that played through the source poem paced with progress down the river, and hooked up a system to represent the flowers picked on the end screen. |
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