Getting Started...

-by Dihlon Luther

Since we're already up and rolling, I figured I'd catch you up on the first couple weeks.

WEEK ONE

It began with an idea. Or... actually, before the idea was even born, the team needed to come together to birth it. This is a Game Capstone class, which means that all of our collective experience would be put to the test. In order to form teams, we needed to determine whose skillsets would balance out.

Our team was formed based on our collective experience in Unreal Engine (hence the name "Unrealistic Expectations"). We alone would represent UE4 amongst a sea of Unity users.

Joe, the Level Designer with a knack for beautifully piecing together assets.

Alfredo, the Gameplay Designer who could code together blueprints at the snap of a finger.

Nico, the Game Designer able to concept and block out levels immediately in 3D.

And myself, Dihlon, the Story Designer able to step into any discipline.

We were a ragtag team built for success. However, if you'll notice... we had an issue... ALL OF US WERE DESIGNERS. Whereas other teams' members flocked to a certain discipline, ours seemingly got the short end of the deal.

"There was an idea..." -Nick Fury, The Avengers (2012)

However, as any great story ever told, our so-called-weakness turned into the basis for exponential success. Each team is meant to have four major roles: Designer, Artist, Producer, and Programmer. For us, we decided that the members would adopt a more fluid approach.

Each of us fell into a major category (Joe - Art, Alfredo - Programming, Nico - Design, and Dihlon - Production); however, our collective minds would piece together the game itself.

All that was left was to... you know... figure out what we were going to make.

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WEEK TWO

We began to brainstorm ideas, using our collective interests to inform our decisions.

What we came up with was a First-Person Puzzle game with Stealth elements, set in a Fantasy world.

With ideas bouncing off the walls, we had begun to piece together our game.

Overall, we thought the following basic idea:

You (the player) are a grave robber, who's stumbled into the wrong tomb. When you reach the crypt, a CURSE tries to consume you.

Now, you must use a one-inventory mechanic to pick-up-and-place your way back to safety.

The gameplay would be inspired by titles such as Half-Life, where whatever item you're holding in front of you is all you can have.

This would, in turn, play with a one-inventory item mechanic that forces the player to balance the puzzle with holding a Talisman that kept the spirit from consuming them.

We thought of stretch goals such as stealth and voice acting, but figured we'd begin with the basics.

Before long we had the initial stages of a gameplay demonstration. See below for a video showcasing some of the basic mechanics.

As showcased, the puzzles would be in-world. (Think Portal or Thief, where the puzzle exists in the level, not as a pop-out like, say, Skyrim's lockpick system).

We also began compiling references from games such as Dishonored, Thief, and Skyrim to get the ball rolling on a visual aesthetic.

The pieces had started to form... but this was only the beginning.