Firefly's Companions: Hope for a Sex-Positive Future
Although the sci-fi space western Firefly has been off the air for 13 years, many of the motifs and ideas that Joss Whedon explored in the ill-fated series have slowly crept into real life. As of 2015, China is widely considered an emerging superpower and has become one of only three nations to have launched a human into space[1]; upon further consideration, the possibility of people speaking a mix of the Mandarin and English languages in the future no longer seems particular
My First Podcast: The Force Awakens, Undertale, and Cider with Cheat Codes
Note: this podcast is decidedly not PG. There is a fair bit of swearing, but everything we said was in good fun. Cheat Codes' podcasts are intended to be candid discussions about video games and pop culture, and we covered some interesting topics in this episode (as the Cheat Codes guys always do). Another marvelous staple of this podcast is that everyone is invited to partake in an alcoholic beverage during the show. It felt like a cider kind of night. Last night, I sat down
Creative Team & Level Design - MAGNOLIA
This entry is pre-presentation piece that I wrote for my game team's blog, which can be viewed here.
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Over the past few weeks, the Creative Team has discussed feasible gameplay with the neuro-headset, narrative development through the storybook pages that serve as transitions between levels, and the importance of color in their weekly Writers Room. In order to stay within the game's art scope, the Creative Team has also been communicating with the Technical Team for he
Story Overview - MAGNOLIA
This is the current story overview for my game team's poetic experience, Magnolia (formerly For Magnolia). Concept art from our talented art team You may view more information about the game, Irradiance Games, and blog posts that I have written for the team here: Team Website Team Facebook page Team Twitter *** Introduction Main goal: Introduce the player to the story. Establish the relationship between the characters. Set the tone for the game. By the end of the intro, the p
First Meeting of You Should Be Writing! Club
Yesterday, I ran the first meeting of You Should Be Writing! Club, which I founded in order to give students a space to learn more about writing for games, narrative design, marketing themselves as writers, and how to get into the habit of writing regularly! I made sure to set the club during a time when my interested friends could attend, and I mentioned the club to game design students after Justin and I finished our lecture to them about audio and narrative team collabor
Lecture at DigiPen on Audio & Narrative Team Collaboration
Today, sound designer Justin Jacox and I gave a talk on audio and narrative team collaboration to game design students at DigiPen Institute of Technology. We have worked together on several student game projects, so we wanted to share our views on effective and ineffective narrative and audio design and why it's valuable for the two teams to work closely together throughout the game development process. We began working on the presentation this past summer with the goal of sh
Shadow Writing: the Secret Work of an English Major
It occurs to me that I actually do a lot of writing, proofreading, drafting, and editing that can't really be shown to anyone or that doesn't count as creative or portfolio-worthy writing. This is partly why it is so difficult to convey the skills of an English major. Questions I receive nearly daily: - How can I edit my design document so W comes across more clearly? - Can you look over X? - Can you draft up something short for Y? - People didn't turn their Z in, so can you
Flash Fiction - Pac-Man is a Survivor
Note: I wrote the selection below purely for fun in about 10 minutes as an exercise in absurd, zombie survival flash fiction. This is where my head would go if the zombie apocalypse found its way to my college. And yes, my college's president really does keep airplanes in his office. *** Pac-Man is a survivor. While Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde are formidable foes, one thing is for certain: Pac-Man must win. In the midst of this outbreak, I must survive. I must become Pac-M
Game Story Outline: SHUTTERSHY
The following is a story I crafted as part of a narrative consultation for a student game team at DigiPen Institute of Technology. Introduction Moira has a secret. She sees things that most people have long forgotten. With her trusty camera, she makes entire worlds come alive. Moira’s journey proves that possibilities are infinite and the future is bright if only you change your point of view. Story In Shuttershy, the player learns that she must soon move to a new town. Moira
RELIC, LIGHTMARE, AEON featured in DigiPen Game Design Marketing Video
DigiPen Institute of Technology recently released a new marketing video to advertise for the game design degree programs. Three games on which I worked with some very talented teams last year are featured in the video. RELIC: 0:04 LIGHTMARE: 0:19
AEON: 1:02 My roles on the featured teams: RELIC: narrative team, writer, voice actor LIGHTMARE: voice actor AEON: vocalist (sang main theme)
