My degree requires me to complete a Senior Overview class before I graduate. So, this semester, I had to come up with a project that would showcase the skills I want to use in my career. I decided to expand on a game concept I’d had and then design some characters for the game. I created a project map to track/maintain my progress each week, wrote a game design document, researched characters (they’re all based on people from folklore and history), and drew character sheets for three non-playable characters.
Note: This project is still in the works, so the sheets here, at the time of writing, may not be finalized. As well, detailed rendering is a stretch goal for this project, so I may not be able to get to it. Things are still a bit rough around the edges currently, but I am ever-improving!
Ideation and planning
Featured below are some snippets from my game design doc and my project map.
Character Sheets and Processes
Featured here are each of the sheets I completed during this class, as well as the steps I took to get to the final product. I specifically chose to only include front and 3/4 views because the player won’t be seeing past that in-game.
Reflection
Being my own project manager this semester was tough but incredibly rewarding. I was able to step back and pay attention to how much I can get done every week (alongside other classes, of course) and change my pacing if things go awry, which they certainly did! There are aspects of each character sheet that I’m not exactly thrilled with how they turned out, but art can become a bit of a black hole, so I knew I needed to prioritize getting things done before getting them perfect. I intend to continue this project in my spare time, and maybe even develop the game myself, but this is a record of what I was able to accomplish over the course of the Fall ’22 semester.
Thomas Kinney 