Village Gamer

Vancouver – Wednesday night was Game Presentation Night at Vancouver Film School, with three teams presenting their projects. Before going any further, I would like to say that the instructors at Vancouver Film School have every reason to be proud of this term’s students.

All three projects were built on the Unreal 3 engine, and followed a platform puzzler format. Each project was original in its concept, with some very unique elements. The teams each presented their games, with all team members taking a turn in the project’s moratorium with support from visual slides and a game trailer. Going from concept to finished levels, the teams had to work through every step of the development process, just as if they were creating a title for a real game studio. The growth of the project included extensive focus testing and feedback, then working towards a game which met not only the team’s vision but also the expectations of the player.

The first game presented was Apex. The purpose of this game is to use a hi-tech futuristic grappling hook to navigate through several industrial-styled levels built inside of a large tower. The game is played in the first person, and the player needs to solve various puzzles to work through each level, all the while evading and destroying the evil robotic hunters. Once the player reaches the top of the tower, he must defeat the mechanized villains by pushing three buttons.

The next game was called Trimordial, and again involved many unique elements in the game play. The purpose of this game is to make it through the levels solving puzzles which require the player to use the elements of fire, stone and water. The uniqueness of this game comes in how the player uses the elements. Instead of just clicking a button to change powers, the player must touch a source of that element. This in itself requires the player to explore the area to find a source of water, fire or stone. As the player works his way through the game, which takes place in an ancient-styled environment, he must clear the areas of zombified villagers before making it to the end-game, where he must battle the boss to win the game.

The third and final project presented was from Team Floush, whose game was called also called Floush. This presentation was easily my favourite. While the previous two games were well done and well presented, Team Floush put extra effort into not only their game and presentation, but also into their visual aids, which were completely done within the Unreal 3 engine. This offered the audience a full-world view of the project’s stages, similar to an in-game world map. Floush involves three very cute and expressive heroes who must use their special powers to make their way through the puzzle levels to get back to their home after a satellite crashes on and destroys their world.

This team worked together to create a game which could have a huge audience in the casual game market. With different levels of difficulty and a whole wardrobe of hats to search for, Floush could easily appeal to players of all age groups. Team Floush also went the extra step to prepare for the evening, with an original comic book and packaged copy of the game for visitors to take home and play.

All in all, Game Presentation night was very enjoyable, and we wish these very talented young men every success in their futures as game designers.