Freedom-bound
Project Type:
Engine Used:
Language Used:
Primary Role(s):
Project Length:
Group Project (10 members)
Unreal Engine 5
Blueprints
Team leader, Game and Level Designer, Story Writer
Created in 8 weeks
Freedom-bound is a game I created for my Prototype Game Development class at AAU with 9 other students. After my group's success with Into The Frontier during the first half of the semester, my professor assigned me as the group leader for this project that was worked on by the entire class. I came up with the story and idea for Freedom-bound through another game pitch document that the majority of the group liked. Freedom-bound is a 3D sci-fi RPG game where the world takes place in an AI post-apocalyptic world that starts the game with the main player character, Arthur, being transformed into a cyborg against his will. I served as the project leader, using software like Trello to assign team member responsibilities and to keep the group on track on a week-to-week basis. I was also the principle game designer, collaborating with my teammates to discuss the best features and accomplishable tasks for our allotted project timeframe. I was also a level designer and minor scripter on this project, creating most of the in-game cutscenes and designing the starting area and ending areas of the level. Lastly, I was also one of the narrative story creator's, working with another student to create character dialogue and main story quest events in the game.
My Contributions
Game Designer
I came up with the original game pitch for "Freedom-bound", taking inspiration from other RPG games like the Horizon series when I was brainstorming the original concept. I worked with another student when discussing the features to include, as well as some of the major story events and characters. Being the group leader I was in charge of managing the game design document and since we had a larger group this time it was important for me to assign work for every group member so they could all contribute meaningful work to the project. I communicated with everyone through our Discord server, taking members opinions and volunteers to separate the work between design, art, and story narrative.
Game Pitch Document
Game Design Document
Story Creation and Cutscenes
I wrote the majority of the game's story with the help of 2 other students where I incorporated several of their ideas into specific characters and plot elements. I took inspiration for this story from a few games like Horizon: Forbidden West and also a little inspiration from the Terminator movies. I liked the post-apocalyptic atmosphere from the Horizon games that involved an AI apocalypse so I decided to make it the major plot point for this games story as well.
Story Summary
Cutscene Creation
Level Designer
When it came to level design I learned from the previous project, Into the Frontier, that having multiple people do their own top-down maps made it harder to decide how to combine the ideas. So for this project, I decided to be the only one that would draw the top-down map that everyone would refer to when building the level. I decided the best way to split up the world was to create multiple main sections of the map that each level designer would be responsible for. We had 5 level designers for the project so I created 6 regions with each student responsible for one, and I was responsible for two. I used Unreal's terrain tool to map out the outdoor regions and left the areas I was not responsible for blank so the other students could design their own areas when they worked on the project. I decided to level design the beginning of the game which was the sentinel prison, and the end of the game which was the sentinel military base. I also had a hand in structuring the size and location of each of the major zones since I drew the top down map, but the buildings and design of those locations were created by my other level designers in the group.
Sentinel Prison Level Design
Military Base Level Design
Scripting
I did a little bit of scripting on this project, mostly involving cutscenes made using Unreal's sequencer and basic level blueprints to run important environmental events. I had a hand in creating the crouch system and our quest/objective based system, and I helped our primary scripter when needed.
Scripting Contributions
Team Leader Responsibilities
Being the team leader of this project I was responsible for making sure every group member was on track to deliver their assets on the week I needed them. We used Trello to organize team member responsibilities and workload. I worked closely with my environment artists to bring the "Post-apocalyptic" sci-fi earth theme to life. I kept everyone on track by communicating through discord, and making sure no one's work on the project was ever lost. I was very proud of what my group was able to create in about 8 weeks and working on this project was one of the highlights of my time at AAU.