SHENG RAYMOND LIAO
CTIN 492L Experimental Games Topics
​​These two out of the seven personal projects had short iterative processes that lasted only for one to two weeks and were created in the CTIN-492l Experimental Game Topics class, taught by professor Richard Lemarchand at USC School of Cinematic Arts. They might lack “necessary” formal elements such as conflict, thus may not be considered as traditional games. Nonetheless, the study goals for the class were to synthesize ideas on the given topics relevant to the issues in our lives (identity, human body, intimacy/romance, etc) and explore some new mechanics reflecting on which the players might get a deeper, richer and more interesting experience of gameplay.
If the readers want to know more about the class, they can check the syllabus at https://web-app.usc.edu/soc/syllabus/20181/18369.pdf.
the Body ​Experiment (U3D)
​What is the scene that an embryo is free floating in the uterus like? With elaborately applications of game physics technologies like soft-body dynamics and joints, this interactive piece intends to provide a warm, safe and joyful enclosed virtual environment for players to enjoy the mood.
Players may have fun interacting with the bubbles (which stands for nutrition) and touching the soft tissue. Also, whenever the embryo moves close to the brain, they can see the mother's vision of her baby after birth as well as hear a crystal chiming sound effect.
the Intimacy Experiment (UE4)
​Don’t you think the "Hedgehog Dilemma" from the German Philosopher Schopenhauer is naturally the greatest metaphor about human intimacy? “Despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm.”
In this piece of two-player local co-op platformer, I as the designer introduced mechanics that gamers playing as hedgehogs may agree to be the “trampoline” and help the other to reach the top of hills. This is a metaphor that people are willing to totally trust the partner and show their own vulnerabilities, which equals building a healthier relationship.
This project was created using the Blueprint Visual Scripting and Paper 2D sprite-based systems in Unreal Engine 4. Some other techniques like Local-Multiplayer-on-a-Shared-Screen implementation was also exploited in order to support the high-level gameplay design concept. On the other hand, the art assets were drawn by myself in Adobe Photoshop, imitating the style of the Irish animated film Song of the Sea. They might look relatively rough due to the limited production time. The background music is also borrowed from Song of the Sea.
CTIN 541 & 534L Narrative Play - Limbo
