Age of Dust

• Developer(s): A university team (2 developers and 5 user experience students)
• Role: Narrative, gameplay, and level designer (creative lead)
• Engine: Unity3D
• Programming Tools: MS Visual Studio (C#)
• Platform(s): PC (Windows)
• Development Time: 2 months
• Release: January 2022 (the year of my master’s degree at Kingston University)
• Genre(s): Role-playing adventure game
• Mode(s): Single-player

Synopsis

Age of Dust is a single-player third-person adventure game set on an alien desert planet called Caleo Dur’am. The game story is explored through the eyes of its protagonist, Rhoan. The game is based on the three design pillars: (1) endearing narrative, (2) captivating atmosphere, and (3) joy of exploration. The pillars are respectively implemented through the character’s rediscovery of the state of his world. They are shown through the interplay of simple game mechanics, explorable level, and appropriate visual and audio feedback, and through not only geographical, but also mechanical, and narrative discoveries that await players in the game.

This project was made according to the assignment brief which was to design and develop a short single-player video game focused on narrative rather than gameplay mechanics. The project was also meant to be influenced by a character from any entertaining industry of the team’s choosing. The aim was to make a single-player adventure game set on an alien desert planet that would reflect today’s real-world issues related to climate change and the negative effects of desertification. The project was developed in the Unity3D game engine over approximately two months.

Gameplay

• Play as Rhoan, a young scholar who is trying to invert the effects of global warming to make his planet inhabitable again
• Use the standard WASD movement to navigate through the map
• Use the mouse to rotate the third-person camera
• Use the “Space” key to jump and the “E” key to interact with objects
• Progress through the story by moving from one gameplay area to another
• Interact with magical crystals that corrupt certain areas
• Collect up to six magical orbs that are scattered across the level