Bret Wardle's Portfoliobretwardle.com/BretWardle/Home_files/BretWardlePortfolio.pdf · - Aurora Toolset (Neverwinter Nights) - Unreal Editor Proven High Pressure Track Record - Shipped

Bret Wardle

Professional Portfolio

Bret Wardle PortfolioTable of Contents

Resume 1

References 2

Associate of Applied Science Degree 3

Bachelor of Science Degree 4

Movie to Game Conversion Gamasutra Article 5

Artistic Concepts in Games Gamasutra Article 11

Tale of Despereaux (Wii Title) 15

Rupee Pirate (Game Maker Project) 17

Taken (Neverwinter Nights Mod) 19

Video Game Word Search (Flash Game) 21

Curious (Animated Short Film) 23

North American Championships Design 25

Champions Challenge Design 26

________________________________________________________________________

[email protected] www.BretWardle.com PH: 801-671-9494

Bret Wardle2780 Midwest Drive

Taylorsville, UT 84118

I am looking for a position with a cutting edge game studio that continually strives for the best. I have earned my A.A.S and B.C.Sdegrees, earning the honor of Valedictorian for each. I want to find a company that I can grow with, and use the skills I haveacquired through education and work experience. I pride myself in staying on the cutting edge of this very exciting industry, and amlooking to join a studio that does the same in planning their choice in license, genre, and platform as well.

Experience Industry Software Experience- 10+ years of working in the Microsoft Office Suite including:

- Efficient document organization in Microsoft Word- Use of Microsoft Excel for project tracking and organization- Knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint for both internal and external presentations

- Extensive experience with Adobe Creative Suite

- Working knowledge of AutoDesk 3D Studio Max and Maya- Knowledge of multiple scripting/programming languages including: C#, SQL, HTML, TorqueScript, and other proprietary languages

Creative and Technical Writing Skills- Written multiple articles for Gamasutra.com’s educational feature section (GameCareerGuide.com)- Consistently a part of Sensory Sweep’s pitch team, which creates and sends all pitch and/or proposal documents for the company- Been in charge of multiple Game Design Documents for Sensory Sweep Studios and other indie teams- Created multiple High Concept documents for student projects and independent work

Software Development Experience- Worked as Lead Designer on multiple unannounced projects for Sensory Sweep- Team member in the full lifecycle of multiple games with Sensory Sweep filling multiple roles- Formed, led, and worked on multiple game teams while attending ITT’s school of Digital Entertainment and Game Design- Created games and game mod’s using multiple technologies including:

- Torque Game Builder- XNA Game Studio- GameMaker- Aurora Toolset (Neverwinter Nights)- Unreal Editor

Proven High Pressure Track Record- Shipped all milestones on time and passing for the Tale of Despereaux project with Sensory Sweep- Was brought on to The Bigs 2 team late in project to salvage a broken schedule, and ultimately get the game shipped- Manage and organize time effectively throughout projects to help minimize crunch phases- Worked to meet the high demands of publishers like Midway, 2K Sports, and Brash Entertainment

Education ITT Technical Institute; Murray, UT — Associate of Applied Science Degree in Multimedia, Valedictorian, 2006ITT Technical Institute; Murray, UT — Bachelor of Computer Science Degree in Game Design, Valedictorian, 2008

Shipped Titles The Bigs 2 (DS); Additional Design – 2009Tale of Despereaux (Wii, PS2, PC); Level Designer – 2008

________________________________________________________________________

[email protected] www.BretWardle.com PH: 801-671-9494

References

Nathan SumsionSenior Game Designer

Disney Interactive StudiosPH: 801-595-1020 ext. 436

Troy LeavittGame DirectorDisney Interactive Studios

PH: 801-595-1020 ext. 217

Mike NielsonLead Game DesignerNinja Bee Studios

PH: 801-860-2315

Russ LeesNarrative DesignerUbisoft - Montreal

PH: 514-490-2000

Ray RackiewiczProgram Chair: Digital Entertainment Video Game DesignITT Technical Institute

PH: 801-243-9249

Copy write Bret Wardle

Artistic Concepts in Games Page 1

This article was published as a feature on

Gamasutra.com’s sister site

GameCareerGuide.com on August 28th

, 2007.

I've been following the

ongoing debate about whether video

games are art, and listening to the

discussion has made me realize that

perhaps a more important topic for

developers to discuss is the artistic

principles of video games.

This article does not delve into whether

games are art, but simply discusses the

use of artistic principles in games, both

those that are unique to games as well

as those that are just as relevant in other

mediums. When we consider the history

of games as a visual art, it helps

designers to learn to use classical artistic concepts to push the emotion of a game.

A History From the Beginning: 1962

For the purpose of this conversation we are going to consider

the beginning of video games 1962: the release of Spacewar!

Around that same time, digital art was making its first

appearance as well. The first exhibit of all computer-

generated artwork was held at a private art gallery in 1965.

At that point computer-generated art was a hard-coded

program that forced a plotter to make designs on paper. It

was obviously not the digital media we think of today.

Some of those computer-generated artists are considered

visionaries, much like the early game creators. Vera Molnar,

for example, is one of the early artists whose computer-

generated works are what made her widely know. Creating

early computer art was more a matter of knowing how to

manipulate numbers and algorithms than anything that

resembled "art" at the time.

Computer games were the same way. The developers were simply manipulating the machine's ability to

handle math. This manipulation resulted in the display of spaceships, which the users could in turn control.

Even with games in their early form, there was discussion of visual appeal. For example, Spacewar! at one

point was adapted to feature a true representation of the night sky because the randomly generated star field

annoyed some of the developers.

The developers were so excited about what they were accomplishing with computers, they generally didn't

consider the aesthetics. Although it may have been a stretch for the computing power of the time, those

developers could have applied their techniques to games. It's curious how much more emotion we might



have seen in some of those early games had the artistic intention been there.

In 1972 Magnavox released the Odyssey home game system. Once again, the artistic medium was

secondary, but it was there nonetheless.

The Odyssey system shipped with plastic overlays to put on the TV screen to simulate color and complex

shapes. It was this representation that helped the players grasp what they were playing. Without these

overlays, we may not have immediately understood that a game of baseball was what was on the screen.

But once the color of the grass starts contrasting with the dirt, and once we see the familiar diamond shape,

the game becomes instantly recognizable. It's this recognition that started the consumer demand for games.

The next major breakthrough for art in games was the release of the Atari 2600 home system. The system

featured a groundbreaking 128 bytes of RAM and a 1.19MHz processor.

Most of the popular games for this system were limited to a mix of between four and six colors, and for this

reason, many of the games were based on abstract ideas and worlds where a background was not needed.

The developer needed to utilize the processing power to play the game and had to make sacrifices in the

area of display.

Much like the primitive computer-generated art before it, the talent of these engineers came in the form of

manipulating the system to display what they needed. The Atari 2600 had tricks of its own that many

engineers caught onto for later games. This system forced sprites to be drawn in a single color, but through

code changes, the developers could change a sprite's drawing color as it was created to make it appear to

the end user as if it were two sprites. For instance, a character often had one color for its upper body and

another for its legs.

The View is More Stimulating from Afar

All early computer game objects were just blocks of color. If you look at them very closely, you usually

can't tell what they are supposed to represent. But when we pull back, our eyes fill in the gaps and complete

lines that might not be there, and we see a known object. This phenomenon is known as continuity. We use

continuity, combined with our imagination, to turn little blips of color into something meaningful.

In the realm of early video games, our minds were forced to make a lot of continuity conclusions on their

own, which is very stimulating. The human mind loves puzzles. It loves the small push of adrenaline we get

when we figure out the answer or connect the dots. Although these early games used primitive shapes and

colors, the meaning conveyed was crystal clear in context, and the games were mentally and visually

stimulating, even though it might not seem that way at first glance.

I contend that a turn away from this recognition was a large factor in the sub-par games that caused the

crash of the industry in 1983. Pac-Man, for instance, was a hit in the arcades, and players loved the abstract

idea behind it. The simple shapes displayed on the screen mirrored its simplicity of play. The color

variations were subtle yet fully understood by the player. But when Pac-Man was ported to the Atari 2600,

it was an enormous flop. The 2600 version featured monochromatic "ghosts" that flickered, a lead character

that did not always turn the direction he was moving, and two color blocks meant to represent vitamins

(replacing the famous fruit bonuses from the arcade). All these changes affect how the player recognized

the game. The pulling away from this visual recognition helped put a halt to what was a thriving industry --

until the next breakthrough came along.



8-Bit Revolution and 16-Bit Refinement

Just in time to pull the industry out of the stagnant mess it was in, along came the Nintendo Corporation

and its Nintendo Entertainment System. Players saw a few minor upgrades to the processing power for our

games. These included a 1.79MHz processor and 2Kb RAM. Sixty-four sprites could be displayed on the

screen at a time. The system also used 48 colors and five shades of gray. These upgrades allowed the artist

to better portray playing fields, characters, and gameplay information.

From a visual standpoint, one of the greatest features that this generation capitalized on was painting world

backdrops by repeating small graphics, or tiles. The original Legend of Zelda is an excellent example of

this. The tiles are simple, and by repeating them, the developers don't use a huge amount of processing

power. Although the world still didn't look realistic, it was enough to convey characters traits.

As you walk around in Legend of Zelda, you learn what types of enemies you're going to encounter based

on the surroundings, which creates a sense of anticipation and can help the players make connections on

their own, without being distinctly told.

Although the system allowed for a much

broader range of colors, many of the most

recognizable games did not need to use them.

Instead, the processing power would be used

to calculate game mechanics. Did this mean

the artistic quality suffered? In some cases

yes, but in others it definitely did not. Three of

the most recognizable characters from this era

-- Mario, Link, and Samus Aran of Metroid --

were composed of only three colors each. The

simplicity of these characters in their early

forms is amazing, yet they're still some of the

most recognized characters not only in video

games, but in popular culture.

Characters like these three stand out because of their simple yet distinct look -- not in spite of it. Many of

the designers from this era used a technique in which they focus on two or three key traits to keep the

characters clean and identifiable. Mario's overalls and Link's shield are two examples of these kinds of

instantly identifiable features.

As was the case in the 1970s, artists in the NES

days were figuring out ways to manipulate the

limitations of this console. One standout case in my

opinion was the Megaman series, and in particular

Megaman II. The characters in Megaman II have a

very distinct look, cartoonish with a thick black

outline. This style allowed for minimal color use,

but created characters that appeared much less

pixilated than others of the time.

These games also used the aforementioned

technique of world painting to its fullest. Enemies

had their own world with completely different

surroundings, henchmen, and themes. The use of

these techniques creates an association to these

characters for all players. Almost everyone who has played these games can still name their favorite

enemy, or the board they remember giving them the most trouble.



These trends continued through the 16-bit generation of consoles. As processor power increased, designers

were able to use more and more artistic techniques to convey their ideas. They were also able to refine the

ideas they had already capitalized on prior to the generation.

Using distinct outlines to block a character became a very prominent feature of this generation and can be

seen in the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Earthworm Jim, who both have distinct outlines and

silhouettes.

Modern Day Implementation

Processing power bounds us no more. Over the next couple of generations, game console and personal

computer power increased exponentially. Processors became blisteringly fast by comparison. And the

amount of RAM increased more than 500,000 times that of the 8-bit generation. Games were now diving

into full soundtracks, with dynamic changes between music. They were telling stories with rich cinematics.

The artistic side of games was really starting to show, and a few games capitalized on these artistic

concepts.

In 1993, Myst was released for the Apple Macintosh. Myst brought a visual side to story-driven games that

had not been seen before. The artistic technique used was to focus on single screen images. The player did

not have complete free motion in the world, which allowed the designers to set up their composition

exactly the way they intended it to be viewed. Some argue that because there was no free motion, the game

lacked what it needed to be fun, but you would be hard-pressed to find many people who found the visual

side of Myst to blame.

Another series that has stood the test of time is Final Fantasy. The winning recipe for this franchise lies in

the amazing character design of Tetsuya Nomura. As with the games of the earlier generations, the look of

the characters in Final Fantasy is simple, yet highly recognizable. In Final Fantasy VII in particular, players

can recognize the lead protagonist, Cloud, by simply viewing his hair, or even more so, his famous sword.

Because the artists focused on only two or three key traits, the player can quickly recognize the characters.

More important to the storyline, these recognizable features closely match the underlying personality of the

characters themselves.

Our minds are very good at working with

our eyes to interpret what we see, which

worked perfectly in the early ages. Games

like Sudeki, which had a distinctive,

almost impressionistic art style, broke the

mold and went away from that in some

respects. Using foliage in shades that the

mind is not accustomed to seeing, or

designing weaponry, clothing, and

vehicles in abstract form, forces the mind

to rethink what it knows when it processes

these visual cues. The rebuilding process

can truly make players feel like they are

viewing another world, and in turn, are

being taught the story of that world.



Although realism is becoming more and more predominant in games, there are many titles that purposely

strive for an unrealistic look. In the case of Jet Grind Radio Future, the designers use cell shading to create

a look that's appealing, yet hardly representative of the physical world. Another game that warps reality in

this way is Psychonauts, which uses distorted depictions of the human form to create empathy or angst

toward certain characters. The use of colors and shapes are used to create contrast between the subjects

when needed.

Game artists should strive to create amazing looks that match the incredible interaction that's possible in

games. But it's also the job of the artist to learn the psychology behind interaction, just as it is the designers'

jobs to learn and implement the concepts behind visual perception. Knowing just a few basic things about

how the eye perceives and interprets visual stimuli can lead to a new level of game design.

Players have come to expect a realistic look in some genres of games, like sports titles, racing games, and

training simulators. But are we sure that realism is what we want? Would our stories be better told through

a perspective unlike the human eye?

There's no end-all answer to this question; each project must be treated individually. But unless the

question is asked, an injustice is dealt to our product and in turn our player.

Implementation in Today's Design

In this new age of computational power, designers should not be allowed to forgo simple artistic

considerations. Although game developers know (all too well) that something always causes their games to

be rushed out the door before they're ever really ready, these simple artistic considerations are generally

timeline independent.

Decisions about art style should be made well ahead of any drastic timeline cuts. To meet release deadlines,

developers often yank features, characters, or levels to cut back scope (since they are the most time-

consuming). This means that artistic considerations will generally remain in tact. Working out the artistic

aspects early can be crucial to releasing a great product.

An example I have heard on multiple occasions is that a designer spends large amounts of time creating and

balancing a special weapon only to have it pulled. This wasted time -- so early in a project, too -- would

have been better spent discussing the artistic appeal of the lead character. With the exception of a few

drastic cases, the lead character is in no danger of being cut from the project. The player's relationship to

this character is imperative, and a few simple artistic design considerations can make or break that

relationship. These same considerations can be applied not only to characters, but also to vehicles, levels,

and even worlds. By considering the science of visual perception early you can create emotion

immediately.

Color is probably one of the simplest places to start. Creating quick reads for the player with the use of

color is a very easy way to communicate who is friend and who is foe. And the classic red-versus-blue

routine is not the only way to use color to your advantage. Color psychology is an enormous topic that

every designer should have at least a basic understanding of. Warm colors invoke a sense of urgency, cool

colors radiate calm -- that's just the tip of the iceberg. Colors can portray whether a character, level, or prop

is human or alien. It can also subtly guide a player along a path, much like a trail of subconscious

breadcrumbs.



Lines create characters -- literally and figuratively. Any major

character in a game should be recognizable by a few key lines alone.

Two perfect examples are the faceplate of Halo's Master Chief and

Metroid's Samus Aran, which have very similar styles (shown). Yet,

most core gamers can distinguish between the two by the shape of

the faceplate alone. If the player can recognize the character by

silhouette, then you have done your job.

Comic books for years have used shapes and curves to show both a

character's alliance and demeanor. Generally speaking, sharp lines

show a character as stern and a force to be reckoned with, the

antagonist. Curved or more whimsical lines can show rebellion and

can be used to make a hero seem more relatable. Game designers can

play with this to trick the player, which in effect can generate a more genuine emotion as well; for example,

a designer might create a curvy and relatable NPC that the player feels empathy for, only to later reveal him

as an enemy. The sense of betrayal would be very genuine there.

Artists use brightness and contrast to draw the viewer's attention. Guiding the eye to certain aspects of a

composition is just as important in games as two-dimensional art, if not more. Leading your players to plot

points and drawing their attention to key areas can be achieved easily through strategic lighting. However,

dynamic lighting is one of only a few artistic considerations that heavily involve the programming team.

For this reason, artists have to be cautious that the programmers don't overdo it. Luckily, classic baked-in

lighting techniques can still create these contrasts. As with color, use of light and dark is a key for driving

emotion.

Another distinct concept that's directly relevant to lighting and

lines is proximity. Proximity is the mind's tendency to group

things based on their relative position to each other, the key idea

being that the brain sees a large group of objects as one whole.

Like lines and lighting, this concept can be used to manipulate

players and alter their emotional responses by drawing their

attention to or away from something. For instance, a lone enemy

placed away from the rest of the horde.

The Expressive Movement

Game artists, like all other artists, are trying to invoke a feeling in the player viewer; we simply have the

medium of interaction to aid us. It's this new level of complexity that makes games one of the most

challenging art forms to master.

I encourage both artists and designers to continue to consider how the artistic concepts of interactive media

can be used to better video games. We need to focus on the quality of the work we can do for the industry

and realize that the argument over where scribbles end and art begins is futile. Using these artistic concepts

alone can create that immediate attachment games should be striving for. Combine this with the artistic

movements of music and storytelling, and you have yourself a fully encompassing game experience.

Bret Wardle is currently a game designer with an independent developer in the Salt Lake City area. He's

also a graduate and current student at ITT Technical Institutes Murray, Utah campus.


Unique Design in Movie to Game Conversions Page 1

This article was published as a feature on

Gamasutra.com’s sister site

GameCareerGuide.com on April 24th

, 2007.

As game designers we are constantly faced with constraints

to work within. These can be brought about by the genre, the game,

and also by the publisher. Some of these constraints are more

forgiving than others, but in all cases finding a way to make ideas

shine while working within them can be very rewarding.

One constraint that I believe often falls victim to pitfall is

movie to game conversions. As a development team you are forced

to stay within the realm of the movie, yet make a marketable

product. There are some special considerations to take into account

when taking on one of these projects.

The pipelines for these projects have become synchronous in the last few years. It used to be that

after a movie was released there was a pause for public acceptance before a game was developed. Now the

game is released along side the movie in a way to multiply the “Buzz” around the project. The list of recent

movie/game combinations released within a month of each other includes: Meet the Robinsons, TMNT, and

Spiderman 3. And that’s just a start. Of the 7 major games released on the Nintendo Wii in March of 2007,

3 of them were movie based.

With as high of a percentage of movie-based games

there are in the market, your chance of working on one of

these titles is continually increasing. Of the many design

consideration to ponder with a project of this type I feel that

three in particular are key points for design uniqueness. It is

this sense of making fun out of seemingly recycled goods that

make these constraints, in my opinion, the most entertaining to

work with. The three considerations I would like to explore

are: External producer considerations, Usage of film footage,

and Character/Location development techniques.Copy write Atari 19821

External Producer Considerations

Appealing to an external Producer is one of the most consequential challenges of developing a

movie to game conversion. The role of this external producer is to make sure that the vision of the

development team is consistent with the film, and its creators. In most cases your team will be approached

with these products, and creating an idea pitch is not as necessary as with other products. But developing

and pitching a unique idea that the publishing company will like can be very challenging.

For the most part a publishing company will be looking for a game that follows the story path of

the same movie. But do the players just want to jump through hoops for which they already know the

consequences? Getting a publisher to buy into the minor differences between your product and the film

teams product can be somewhat difficult but there are a few tricks that can help.

1 Movie to game conversions have been around for almost as long as games themselves. E.T. - The Extraterrestrial for the Atari 2600

is an extreme example of a conversion gone wrong.



The advantage to a film to game conversion is that your characters are generally already

developed. This will be discussed later, but in the context of dealing with your publisher it can play as a

huge advantage for your team. The characters are familiar to the publishing team, and you can use this

familiarity to push ideas that are maybe not as consistent with the film. When your development team

creates an idea that would constitute unique gameplay it helps in the presentation of this idea to pair it with

something the publisher has knowledge of. An example of this is a set of missions that are not included in

the movie, but take place at a familiar location.

Presenting a completely radical idea to a publisher involved in the movie is most likely not going

to be green lit. If you bundle your idea with a location, or lead in/out that ties into the movie you are more

likely to receive the approval. Just because you have an external publisher watching for consistency

between the projects does not mean your team has no area for unique play ideas.

As previously mentioned, the pipeline for these projects are often intertwined. This can be a major

advantage for your team if you plan ahead for certain aspects. This is especially the case for games based

on 3D animation movies (which are obviously gaining more and more mainstream popularity). Because the

assets are similar for the two pipelines your team can save time in departments like modeling, rigging, and

animation. And devote more time to creating expanded worlds or more developed character storylines.

To make this extra time available requires work on the internal producers part. Coordinating

meetings between the two teams can get help to establish which assets can be recycled between the two

projects. Although optimizing a model that was used in a film (High poly) to fit in a game engine (Low

poly) can be an art into itself, it is generally much less time consuming that creating the model from

scratch. If you align yourself with the film team, and work with the publishers, many adjustments can be

made that may save both teams time, and make the producers more money.

Usage of film footage

The use of film footage in game development is a somewhat debatable topic. I spoke with some

developers that believed it is a great way to slice time from things like cinematic and/or cut scenes and

focus more on the game element. I also spoke with developers that believe footage should be used only in

an “unlockables” aspect, and that using recycled footage for in game scenes only detracts from the

originality of a game.

I believe that the overlaying factor

here is an argument of the classic Chicken vs.

The Egg. Do people see the movie, and in turn

are drawn to the game? Or do they play the

game, leading them to see the movie? I think

the numbers heavily weigh on the side of the

movie coming first, with an occasional game

player being drawn out of the dark to see a

movie. I believe there is a hefty amount of

players that intend to see a movie and play the

game (without the influence of one or the

other). In speaking with some avid players

many of them plan on both seeing and playing

2007’s spring/summer blockbusters. These

include TMNT and Spiderman 3. Copy write Activision 20072

The real issue at hand is how and when it is advantageous to use recycled footage in your game

design. When working under these sorts of publishers you are usually given a less generous deadline for

2 Spiderman 3 is an example of a title that many players will both see and play without being drawn to one by the other. This is

becoming more common, especially with blockbuster film releases



milestones. This makes it easy to substitute film footage for things like cinematic. When facing a decision

of fine-tuning gameplay or creating original cut scenes, I believe any good designer knows which side to

choose. But what if you are not faced with that sort of choice.

How do the players feel? After all they are our audience, critics, and metaphorically even our

employers. In speaking with players they tend to prefer original footage for cut scenes and cinematic, but

think the idea of unlockable movie clips is great. This is especially true with the current generations of

systems. With systems like the PS3 using Blu-Ray Discs the possibility for full, high definition film footage

is even more appealing.

Character and location development techniques

The development of characters in these projects is always a complicated matter. You are usually

forced by the publisher to stay true to the story, and not venture too far from the plot. One studio that has

done an amazing job on their games based off intellectual properties is Vivendi Universal. The title that

stands out to me is The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay.

With this game Vivendi expounded ideas from the

movie, without making an exact play through. Many people

I have spoke with, and myself included, were not familiar

with, let alone fans of, this series until playing this game.

They drew me into a series that I had never heard of. They

accomplish this by drawing from the already compelling

characters, and turning the player to their side. There are a

couple of ways to handle this situation

Copy Write Vivendi 20043

A lot can be learned from dialog. And the nice thing is that a script can be obtained for a movie

very early in the project (if you are working in conjunction with the movie team at least). By evaluating this

dialog you can draw key locations from the characters including origins and how they arrived at the current

setting. With the nature of level progression in games, these places can become imperative. You can also

draw out any subtle relationships that may exist between characters. These can be often lost in the rich

visuals to the movie audience, but when they are later tied to the game it can all come full circle and be a

very rewarding connection for the player.

As you may have heard many business professionals say, “Its all about Location! Location!

Location!” The same holds true in movie to game conversions. If you simply use places the player has seen

in the movie, and now explores for countless hours they will quickly become bored. But if you use places

that were never discussed in the movie the player can quickly feel lost inside of the plot. You need to focus

on locations that may have been alluded to in the movie, or particular areas of the main location that were

hidden from the players throughout the movie. Both of these options can give a sense of suspicion, and

encourage exploration. This more heavily emerges the player, and ultimately keeps them playing longer.

Another tactic to help steer you in the direction of character development is the classic focus

group. This works especially well for younger audiences. This can help you determine which characters are

the most liked, or which are truly despised… Either can make for a great game character. What you want to

stay away from is the characters that people seem almost indifferent to, or do not understand at all. If the

point of a game is to emerge the player then using a character they are not emotionally attached to will

quickly ruin the suspension of disbelief. Some of the most well liked games and series use characters that

are truly loved or despised, these movie to game conversions are no different.

3 Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is one of the most well received conversion titles in recent memory. Although it

used familiar characters and locations, the storyline was fresh and new to the player.



Many of these conversion titles use what I like to call a shift in the timeline. This is when a game

plays out the events that would happen before or after the actual movie plot. It plays as a prequel, or sequel,

to the movie. This can be a very wise choice because it gives the player the characters they have already

become familiar with, yet lets them have the freedom of deciding their own story. Even when the plot is

linear the player feels as if they are creating the story, since it is not made of sequences they have already

seen and committed to memory.

Conclusion

So what are the keys to making a successful movie to game conversion? Ultimately this depend on

the project itself, and the freedom you have within that project. I do believe that there are a few broad ideas

that a designer can keep in mind when planning these projects.

We make games, not movies. The reason our industry is different from the film industry is the

interaction between the consumer and the product. Anything that detracts from this interaction is obviously

hurting your product. Your goal is to keep the player playing. Excessive cut scenes are the major culprits

here. And with a movie based game it is even more evident because the footage is right there. Because of

the nature of story telling, a scene from a movie is quite a bit longer than a typical game cut scene. As a

designer you must keep this in mind and be cautious when trying to tell a story in your game. The key is to

understand the difference between a customer in our industry, and the movie industry.

The quickest way to frustrate a player is to introduce an idea they are not familiar with or have not

learned along the way. With these types of games you must pay special attention to this. Players are

generally buying these games with expectations of characters, locations, and overall mood. If you stray

wildly from these preconceived ideas your players will become frustrated, and will ultimately put down

your game. Letting the player connect obscure locations and/or characters themselves can be very

rewarding for them, but if that connection is missing it is simply frustrating. The placement of these items

should be very well thought out to avoid discontent on behalf of the players.

Learning to Use the film team to your advantage, as opposed to your disadvantage, is key with a

conversion project. Recycling assets and ideas can save countless hours of time. But more importantly the

film team may have already made mistakes down certain avenues that you can learn from. Perhaps a certain

character didn’t test well in focus groups and was subsequently cut. Or a certain outfit or color scheme was

ineffective on a character. This kind of knowledge can keep you from worrying about things that may have

been already worked out, and keep your team focused on what makes you different from the movie…

Gameplay

Bret is a senior in the Digital Entertainment and Game Design program at ITT Technical Institutes

Murray, UT campus. He is currently the producer and programmer on a music based attack game for his

Graduation Capstone Project with a team of fellow students. He also hosts games, discussions, and design

evaluations from his website: www.BretWardle.com

Legend of Zelda:Rupee Pirate

Gameplay Screen

Legend of Zelda:Rupee Pirate

Final Win Screen

Rupee PirateScreenshots

Example Reads:

Life and Rupee Display – The

static reads in this game are very

simple and clean. The look is

taken from the Zelda game itself

thus providing players of this

game a zero learning curve.

Hearts and rupees are the stan-

dard measure of health and

wealth in this series, and there

was no need to stray from that.

Audible Feedback – There are

many forms of auditory feed-

back used in this game. A sound

is played when a rupee is

collected, the player is hit, and

the level is passed. These are the

three main events in the game,

and all have a form of feedback

through sound.

Game Play Dynamics:

Enemy Subtract – In this game if an enemy gets to a rupee before the player it is subtracted from the player’s total.

This was decided in level testing. When enemies would simply remove the rupees from play there was no incentive

to try and “play chicken” with the enemies. This dynamic helps to make the players not only collect rupees for the

sake of passing the level, but start racing for rupees against the AI…developing a sense of emotion towards the

enemies.

Gain a Heart – When the player passes the level they gain a life heart. This acts as both a reward, and a strategy.

Players can try and build up hearts in the early levels so that they have enough to survive in the more difficult levels.

Players that loose hearts early are also not as discouraged knowing that if they kick it into second gear they can earn

them back by not being hit through the levels.

Level Layout – The layouts of the levels are all taken from actual Zelda dungeons. This creates a nostalgic factor,

as well as provides more difficult layouts through the game. The use of narrow passages and dividing up the room

adds difficulty to the levels without simply ramping speed or damage (common ramping elements for these games).

The edition of enemies also creates an interesting ramping dynamic since these enemies steal your rupees.

Level Difficulty Table:

Avg. Pass Time Average Hits Difficulty

(Time x (Hits+1))

Level 1 64 Seconds .25 80




Level 5 85 Seconds 1.1 179






Total Average Time - 19:12

Total Average Lives - 15

Rupee PirateGame Mechanics

Video GameWord Search

Title Screen

Video GameWord Search

Gameplay Screen

Video Game WordsearchScreenshots

Action Script Sample:Game Programming

function showAnswers() { //this function turns off the visibility on all letters except those that belong to a word for (var i = 0; i<boardSize; ++i) { for (var j = 0; j<boardSize; ++j) { var clip:String = "letter"+i+"_"+j; //if dummy==true then the letter does not belong to a word, so we turn off the visibility if (board[clip].dummy) { board[clip]._visible = false; } } }}

XML Sample:Used For Editing Word Lists

<list category="Classic Arcade"> <word>PacMan</word> <word>Pong</word> <word>Galaga</word> <word>Galaxian</word> <word>Centipede</word> <word>Tetris</word> <word>StreetFighter</word> <word>SpaceInvaders</word> <word>DonkeyKong</word> <word>Frogger</word> <word>GoldenAxe</word> <word>Joust</word> <word>NBAJam</word> <word>Rampage</word> </list>

Video Game WordsearchCode Examples

Shot 1 – Establishing ShotTotal Frames: 614 (20.5 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 10.2 hoursPriority: 1

Frames Player Movement0-331 Camera Zoom In335-474 Lamps Light turns on, blinks, and re-

focuses.480-522 Lamp looks up536-559 Lamp looks to side578-602 Lamp looks to other side

Shot 2 - POVTotal Frames: 229 (7.6 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 3.8 HoursPriority: 6

Frames Player Movement0-32 Lamp looks back to opposite side46-96 Lamp turns back straight (slightly passing

ball)96-147 Camera slowly moves back toward ball155-229 Camera leans back in surprise

Shot 3 – First JumpTotal Frames: 156 (5.2 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 2.6 HoursPriority: 4

Frames Player Movement0-39 Lamp Continues to lean back in surprise65-117 Lamp crouches to prepare for jump117-142 Lamp leaps142-156 Lamp lands in recoil

Shot 4 – Second JumpTotal Frames: 144 (4.8 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 2.4 HoursPriority: 5

Frames Player Movement0-39 Lamp Stands from recoil39-61 Lamp shakes off as if to refresh90-102 Lamp crouches to prepare for jump105-130 Lamp leaps130-144 Lamp lands in recoil

Shot 5 – Major ActionTotal Frames: 774 (25.8 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 12.9 HoursPriority: 2

Frames Player Movement0-67 Lamp leans over the ball, looking down on it96-138 Lamp rotates its head down side of ball

looking at it158-199 Lamp rotates to the other side of the ball231-280 Lamp moves back to the top of ball312-351 Lamp leans down to tap the side of the ball357-382 Lamp lightly taps ball w/ “nose”390-445 Lamp leans back up in curiosity450-510 Lamp Looks to side535-579 Lamp Looks to other side600-650 Lamp straightens out650-703 Lamp bends over703-734 Lamp taps ball w/ “nose”734-774 Lamp starts to lean up as ball rolls away

Shot 6 – Short POVTotal Frames: 60 (2 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 1 HourPriority: 7

Frames Player Movement0-86 Lamp continues to lean back as ball rolls

away, and off the edge of the table

Shot 7 – Over the EdgeTotal Frames: 550 (18.3 seconds)Estimated Rendering Time: 9.2 HoursPriority: 3

Frames Player Movement24-56 Lamp leans up straight86-116 Lamp puts its head down to pull its base

forward120-176 Lamp pulls its base along187-245 Lamp raises its head252-326 Lamp leans over the edge of the table379-442 Lamp comes back to upright position472-520 Lamp slouches over in a sad gesture550 Lamps light turns off

CuriousShot List (X-Sheet)