A full body path connection game for the Microsoft Kinect

Gameplay Footage

Team

• Jaekeun Ahn - Sound Designer / Level Designer
• Arim Yoon - Artist
• Qing Mao - Artist / Producer
• Stephanie Fawaz - Programmer
• Zhi Xin Lee - Programmer

Game

Guardian of the Forest was created in two weeks as part of the first round of the ETC course Building Virtual Worlds. The prompt for Round 1 was to let the player help some Character A accomplish some goal while being opposed/afraid of some Character B. Together, our newly created team brainstormed and produced a game in which the player controls a magical tree in a forest that is being plagued with a growing fire. In each stage, pathways open up inside the player's tree body, and they must use them to direct rain drops from a cloud above to put out the fire. If they fail, the forest will go up in flames. The Kinect offers the player a full body controller to interact with the game world.

My Role

I worked as one of the gameplay and feature programmers on the team. I wrote all of the scripts for the fire logic as well as the production of the raindrops. I also programmed the "rainzones" where the raindrops were allowed to exist within the tree, and coded the cursor used to select options from the opening and end game menus.

Theming

Guardian of the Forest was selected by a jury of faculty and outside professionals to be in the BVW Festival. To prepare for its festival debut, my teammates and I bought craft materials and sewed, stuffed, hung, and attached various felt props and materials around the room. We worked to give our festival guests a fully forest themed experience when playing our game.