April - 2018

DANA STEINHOFF

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Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Design (Part 2)

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Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Postmortem (Part 3)

Spirit Island Development Update: For my third Unity prototype, I created an "interrupt system" for the player to interact with and impact a linear dialogue chain. The goal is for the player to feel like less of an observer and more of an active participant during a dialogue scene. Part 1: Inspiration Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem The stage was set. I had my reasons, my design, and my prototype. And it worked! Kinda. For the first time, I didn't have a formal survey for t

Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Design (Part 2)

Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Design (Part 2)

Spirit Island Development Update: For my third Unity prototype, I created an "interrupt system" for the player to interact with and impact a linear dialogue chain. The goal is for the player to feel like less of an observer and more of an active participant during a dialogue scene. Part 1: Inspiration + Research Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem The “cop car scene” is where I’ve tested out my own “interruption system.” The Sheriff is taking Emma to her father’s house to allow

Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Inspiration + Research (Part 1)

Creating a Dynamic System for Linear Dialogue - Inspiration + Research (Part 1)

Spirit Island Development Update: For my third Unity prototype, I created an "interrupt system" for the player to interact with and impact a linear dialogue chain. The goal is for the player to feel like less of an observer and more of an active participant during a dialogue scene. Part 1: Inspiration Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem I had made a bold claim when I first set out to design Spirit Island. I had decided that the majority of the storytelling would come through au

Making a Badass Puzzle - Part 3 Postmortem

Making a Badass Puzzle - Part 3 Postmortem

Spirit Island Development Update #4: For my third Unity prototype, I created an "interrupt system" for the player to interact with and impact a linear dialogue chain. The goal is for the player to feel like less of an observer and more of an active participant during a dialogue scene. Part 1: Inspiration Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem In-Person Observations It was fascinating watching people play this game. I received a very good spread of testers, ranging from people who

Making a badass puzzle! Part 2 - Design

Making a badass puzzle! Part 2 - Design

Spirit Island Development Update: For my third Unity prototype, I designed a difficult puzzle for a touchscreen device that required three steps of logic and relied mainly on audio clues. The goal was to for the player to experience a moment of joyous surprise and a great sense of accomplishment after completing the puzzle. Part 1: Research and Concepting Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem The Nitty-Gritty I designed and implemented this puzzle in Unity, using Procreate (a dra

Making a badass puzzle! Part 1 - Research and Concepting

Making a badass puzzle! Part 1 - Research and Concepting

Spirit Island Development Update: For my third Unity prototype, I designed a difficult puzzle for a touchscreen device that required three steps of logic and relied mainly on audio clues. The goal was to for the player to experience a moment of joyous surprise and a great sense of accomplishment after completing the puzzle. Part 1: Research and Concepting Part 2: Design Part 3: Postmortem A well-designed puzzle inhabits that ideal gameplay state that we aim for as developers:

Spirit Island Development Blog - Introduction

Spirit Island Development Blog - Introduction

In which I dive right in and write the beginnings of the story for my game. For my MFA thesis project I am MAKING A VIDEO GAME. When I started this eight month project a couple of months ago, that's about all I knew. I also knew that I like puzzle adventure games, often - but not always - of the point-and-click variety; and that the lead character had to be female, complex, and compelling... Where to begin? It seems to me like there are two places available to start from: sto