Game Design and Production 2019-2021
If anyone wonders about the courses at Aalto University's Games and Production track, this post is just for you. I'll go through the main projects, their process and my personal experience in making them. I have spoken about the other subjects in one of my earlier posts, so I'll just be talking about the core subject of this course, Game Project.
We have a total of 3 game projects out of which 2 are over and I am currently working on the third and final project.
The first game project is to make a clone game of a simple and existing game with your twist on it. We had just a month to finish this, so, scoping is extremely important. Our team chose the Google Chrome T-Rex game. Thank God we didn't go with my suggestion of Hotline Miami. A team of three, we made the clone quite soon and added some narrative of evolution to it. The essence of the original game had to be there. We got great feedback and everyone liked the narrative. Phew! A job well done.
In the 2nd game project though, I wanted to try my hand at 3D games. I was in a rather small team of 4 and we were gonna make a game in Virtual Reality. Ooof! 3D and VR in 7 weeks? I needed a reality check. Get it ? 'Reality' check? No? Fine.
"Deep is a unique VR experience that combines a narrative full of awe and mystery with novel interaction, in a format that plays to the strengths of the medium. Sink into the wilderness of arctic icy waters with nothing but a flashlight. Focus on your breath and move calmly. Even in perfect solitude, you might find something completely unexpected."
Interesting, ain't it?
It is more of a visual novel than a typical game and I was surprised how many people found this refreshing. It is an experience after all. Anyway, I worked super hard, got the basics down, communicated really well with my lovely team and Voila! There it was. It was a really interesting project to work on as I could work on the design elements and the narrative beats of the game. To be honest, I did have my doubts but only because progress was slow at some points and I had tested it way too many times. Those disappeared when I saw the complete outcome and heard the reviews. The professor who graded us did mention "Oh yeah ! This is the shit", multiple times and called us awesome. Sorry, I can't help but brag a little. He loved the pacing of the game, the simplicity and the innovative mechanics we had in the game. We had this breathing mechanic where we generated bubbles if the players spoke or breathed loudly which directed them to keep their calm and just relax on this journey. We have submitted our game to various competitions with the help and push of our professors. Fingers crossed!
Right now, I am working on our third project, 'Wakey Wakey Wonders' which is a 2D-puzzle platformer. The focus will the narrative and the aesthetics of the game. I am the Game/Narrative/Puzzle/Level designer of this project. It is turning out to be quite nice, albeit slow. I'm hopeful.
Apart from these main projects, we are encouraged to attend various formal and informal events to network with people and make connections. It is one of the key things to make it in the industry. IGDA meetings, board game get-together, game jams, lectures, Game Designer's Meetup, seminars, and more. I am not a very active person but I have forced myself to get out and I actually have met a couple of nice people. Slow and steady.
Every course/subject ends with feedback form, and I have actually seen them trying to change their future classes based on the student feedback.
In the end, everything seems totally worth it. Got to know the people, the place, the work and can't wait for more. I would encourage people to keep Aalto University as their top list of schools to join. With a scholarship, friendly teachers and a learning-focused environment, it will be worth it. Hope to see you here in the next term!
We have a total of 3 game projects out of which 2 are over and I am currently working on the third and final project.
The first game project is to make a clone game of a simple and existing game with your twist on it. We had just a month to finish this, so, scoping is extremely important. Our team chose the Google Chrome T-Rex game. Thank God we didn't go with my suggestion of Hotline Miami. A team of three, we made the clone quite soon and added some narrative of evolution to it. The essence of the original game had to be there. We got great feedback and everyone liked the narrative. Phew! A job well done.
In the 2nd game project though, I wanted to try my hand at 3D games. I was in a rather small team of 4 and we were gonna make a game in Virtual Reality. Ooof! 3D and VR in 7 weeks? I needed a reality check. Get it ? 'Reality' check? No? Fine.
"Deep is a unique VR experience that combines a narrative full of awe and mystery with novel interaction, in a format that plays to the strengths of the medium. Sink into the wilderness of arctic icy waters with nothing but a flashlight. Focus on your breath and move calmly. Even in perfect solitude, you might find something completely unexpected."
DEEP poster. Art by Jenni Varila
Interesting, ain't it?
It is more of a visual novel than a typical game and I was surprised how many people found this refreshing. It is an experience after all. Anyway, I worked super hard, got the basics down, communicated really well with my lovely team and Voila! There it was. It was a really interesting project to work on as I could work on the design elements and the narrative beats of the game. To be honest, I did have my doubts but only because progress was slow at some points and I had tested it way too many times. Those disappeared when I saw the complete outcome and heard the reviews. The professor who graded us did mention "Oh yeah ! This is the shit", multiple times and called us awesome. Sorry, I can't help but brag a little. He loved the pacing of the game, the simplicity and the innovative mechanics we had in the game. We had this breathing mechanic where we generated bubbles if the players spoke or breathed loudly which directed them to keep their calm and just relax on this journey. We have submitted our game to various competitions with the help and push of our professors. Fingers crossed!
Right now, I am working on our third project, 'Wakey Wakey Wonders' which is a 2D-puzzle platformer. The focus will the narrative and the aesthetics of the game. I am the Game/Narrative/Puzzle/Level designer of this project. It is turning out to be quite nice, albeit slow. I'm hopeful.
One of the levels of our current project. Illustration by our artist, Jenni Varila
Apart from these main projects, we are encouraged to attend various formal and informal events to network with people and make connections. It is one of the key things to make it in the industry. IGDA meetings, board game get-together, game jams, lectures, Game Designer's Meetup, seminars, and more. I am not a very active person but I have forced myself to get out and I actually have met a couple of nice people. Slow and steady.
A 2D-point and click puzzle game that I made with my team at the Global Game Jam 2020, Finland
Every course/subject ends with feedback form, and I have actually seen them trying to change their future classes based on the student feedback.
In the end, everything seems totally worth it. Got to know the people, the place, the work and can't wait for more. I would encourage people to keep Aalto University as their top list of schools to join. With a scholarship, friendly teachers and a learning-focused environment, it will be worth it. Hope to see you here in the next term!
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