God's Own
Watch Gameplay Screen-Capture (Youtube Video)
Description
God's Own is a 2008 BVW World that crossed two project platforms: external phidgets (in our case, hand-made cardboard drums) and Beyond Question remotes (remote controls with button inputs). This was a Round 5 & final assignment for the class, which is taught by Jesse Schell. The intent was to create a collaborative experience that multiple parties could enjoy.
In God's Own, three parties (an actor, a volunteer, and a crowd) work together to save a village from a flood by creating and dropping tetris blocks to build a dam.
Design/Concept
God's Own was designed to be both an interactive and theatrical experience which both the audience members and the actor could enjoy. It was an experiment in rhythmic play and collaboration between multiple types of audiences.
Before the game starts, an animation is played to set the scene. This also sets our main characters: Mika, the village drummer, and Viva, a little girl. After this animation, the main character Mika, played by an actor, comes out asks the audience to become the villagers of the story and help rebuild the dam. He also calls one volunteer to play Viva, his assistant.
We chose to utilize a game which the audience would be familiar with, Tetris. Mika would summon blocks by hitting the drums in front of him in rhythmic patterns. The audience would then use their BQ remotes to work together to navigate the piece as it slowly fell in to place. Viva, the assistant, would hit a mini drum to rotate the block and if the players were ready, she would press a pedal to make the block drop.
Keeping each party's interactions simple made the game easier so they could focus on the frustrations and achievements of collaborating more.
Contributions
God's Own was created in 3 weeks by a team of 4 students.
My primary contributions included the game design, game production, 3D animation, modeling, and costumes.
The Team
Srinavin Nair
Ya-Ching Chiu
John Kolencheryl
Theresa Chen
The Actor & Volunteer
Kyle Dolan (Mika)
Evelyn Chan (Viva)
