Modder’s Journal: Week One (Preparation)
Modder’s Journal details the progress being made on The Crevices mod, lessons learned, and other random related stories. It’s like a free-for-all, but with a subject.
I’ve decided to keep an online journal of the things I learn and the progress I make while working on my Skyrim mod, The Crevices.
What’s the point of The Crevices? The goal is to create a level that evokes feelings of claustrophobia, fear, and disorientation. It is also an experiment in creating an overly large, challenging maze while still maintaining some sense of accessibility. I want the player to feel as though they are truly discovering a place that hasn’t been tread often before.
What does this mod require? It requires level design, Papyrus scripting, dialogue creation, quest creation and management, actor creation and management, and narrative creation.
Into the Darkness Video
This here is the video my partner Casey and I had to create for our game, Into the Darkness.
Into the Darkness is a game where the core mechanic is painting your surroundings in order to see where exactly the you are in relation to the environment around you. With this, players can see if there’s a pitfall at their feet or a wall in front of their noses. Players can also use the paint mechanic to push objects around quickly, albeit with less precision.
The story behind this game is simple–the emphasis in our class was more of a proof of concept rather than a narrative masterpiece–and oh, did it pain me to have a generic storyline!
The player is trapped in an underground lab and must make their way up to the surface. There are traps awaiting them, in addition to a creature stalking them in the darkness. The player must escape the creature before it rips them apart.
Blueberry Garden
Below is an academic one page write-up I completed mere seconds ago for an indie game entitled Blueberry Garden. With a charming and eccentric aesthetic and catchy music, this game is definitely an experiment whose main focus is the players, and using them as the core mechanic.
Blueberry Garden is a Steam game that retails for 5 dollars and won awards at IGF and the Swedish Game Awards, in addition to critical praise on many game sites. Blueberry Garden is a platformer that the player is thrust into with no exposition, no instructions, and no clue as to who you are, where you are, and what this game is about. It is a game about curiosity and wonderment. It is also a game that tests the player’s abilities of discovery and persistence. Read More…
Michelle
