SILVATYA
(3rd person action adventure game, Unreal Engine 4, student project, 2021/22)
A story-driven fantasy adventure that follows both Soraya and Tarek, two siblings separated by a war. More about the contents and my personal learnings in English here or in German here.
Game Mechanics
Designing physical and magical combat abilities, stealth and AI behavior within the restrictions of pre-made systems. Communicating the requirements to both animators and engineers.
Writing
Planning and adapting the story. Creating characters and locations with their own story lines. Writing ingame texts from branching dialogues during the main story to small interactions for flavor, world building and tutorialization. Directing the voice acting and editing the audio. Implementing text and audio into the engine using a modified behavior tree as dialogue system.
Quest Design
Designing, writing and implementing quests that fit into the main story and explore both world and characters.
The project was realized within 3 semesters at Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart. I was part of the team for the 2nd and 3rd term of production. The process was agile and remote, using Confluence and Jira for pre-production and communication, as well as Perforce for versioning.
The game was written in German
BABYLON
(animated sci-fi short film, Unreal Engine 4, student project, 2020/21)
In a post-apocalyptic society, a man is chosen to enter a mystical tower and seek a more prosperous life. More about the contents and my personal learnings in English here or German here.
Writing
Constructing the idea and the framework of the story to fit our restrictions and capacities. Collaborating on the plot, voice over and storyboard to create an atmospheric experience that matches the teams vision.
Sounddesign & Music
Creating and editing the soundscape of the film using Reaper and DaVinci Resolve. Digitally composing the score with Studio One and doing the final mix.
The project was realized within one semester at Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart. The process was remote and very open for experimentation. I additionally did the motion capture acting with a Xsens Suit and some 3D modelling in Maya.
The film was written in English
FUNKENSTURZ
(unpublished episodic fantasy radio play, internship, 2020)
Over the course of multiple seasons, we follow two unlikely friends as they uncover the secrets of their world and themselves while trying not to kill each other. More about the contents and my personal learnings in English here or German here.
Writing
Writing drafts for most episodes of the first season and expanding the existing plot and cast of characters. Co-plotting out future seasons as well as missing episodes of season 1.
Worldbuilding & Lore
Adding more detail and depth to a roughly sketched out world. Building the history, geography, society and mythology for different fantasy regions and writing pieces of lore that deepen the understanding of places and characters.
This is an ongoing project of the small production company Desert Bird which I joined for my practical internship during my 4th semester at Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart.
The radio play is written in German
Artwork by Simon Kolb
FATE OF GODS
(2D platforming game, Unreal Engine 4, student project, 2019/20)
The dog-alike god Noatak runs from his brother, who wants to sacrifice him to move the sun again. More about the contents and my personal learnings in English here or German here.
Writing
Creating a narrative based on aztec mythology and adapting it for a platforming game. Writing animated sequences to convey the story and dynamic voicelines to comment on the gameplay.
Level Design
Collaborating on the design philosophy and the actual gameplay. Building extensive levels with an emphasis on flow and acceleration while introducing evolving variations of gameplay using a limited set of assets and movement mechanics.
The project was realized within one semester at Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart. It was the first game production for the majority of the team.
The game was written in English