Times to Piece Together - Undergraduate Capstone
Alpha 2.0: Spring 2021
Virtual Reality BFA Capstone
This edition of the project took it into Virtual Reality, re-wrote the story, and introduced a gameplay mechanic that allows the player to “resonate” with objects that trigger memories. This edition was on display in the BFA exhibition at the Vicki Myhren Gallery in Denver, CO, and full gameplay is featured in the video above. This exhibition of the work was the first time a VR project has ever been shown in that gallery. The story was cut for deadline constraints, and so going forward I would like to re-introduce the middle section of the script that got cut. On top of this, other future planned expansions are more environments, more resonation objects, a different background video, more dynamic, changing, interactive environment, and better voice acting / re-casting.
The idea with the new script was to take the character created in the first edition, and give him a foil to guide the player through his life. This foil comes in the form of Marshall, a life-long friend who the protagonist does not treat very well, and never has, but they still get along together after all these years. Marshall describes a memory he has of a time when the he and the protagonist got lost in the woods, leading to an encounter with a stranger that left a scar on Marshall’s shoulder. The protagonist denies the events, but, through the radio static, is forced to relive this memory as a confrontational ritual. This is the format the cut memories will take as well. Reliving it in this way forces a bit of introspection on behalf of the protagonist, because its severity and his denial of the situation are laid bare, and given a more third-person perspective.
