Gallery of War was created in Unreal engine by a team of four during the course 'Playable Media' at the IT University of Copenhagen.
The scenarios represented by the paintings are telling the story of wars and showing snapshots of certain events that are based on the experience of an unknown fictional painter.
Contribution
I took the role of both level and game designer which meant coming up with the general direction of the experience, defining the game aspect, and creating a level layout.
I contributed to the project with:
• overseeing game and level design as lead designer
• creating level and game design along with documentation
• keeping game and level design documentation up to date
• creating 3D level design concepts in Maya as a visual reference
Level Design
The experience takes place within a museum-like space. The player is led through corridors into halls (1.0, 2.0, 3.0) where paintings are located. Each hall contains one painting that acts as a portal into another space (1.1, 2.1, 3.1) that is partially detached from the museum. Upon interacting with the painting the player is transported into the space portrayed by the painting.
green - entrance & exit
grey - museum space
cyan - painting
purple - scenarios
yellow - transitional space between museum and painting space
Game Design
Each painting contains a scenario as well as some activities. The player is able to acquire and move items from these spaces with which they can alter the scenario, thus the painting itself. In each scenario there are two items that can be used in the other two scenarios. This way the paintings are connected and the puzzle stretches across all of them.
The player can be a contemplative recipient - just as one would behave in a museum - or an actor by solving the puzzles. Interacting meaningfully (and not just exploring the spaces) changes the outcome of the exhibition and the events behind them.
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