Losing a Dimension

My previous post contained my final piece of work (a guide for creating 2D adaptations), meaning that semester 3 - and my entire MA - is finally done and dusted. All my blog posts that were posted after the 13th of May 2022 contain semester 3 work, and are intended to be included in the submission, including this one. This semester went well! I started it out a little worried about getting everything done but ended up finishing everything in good time and to a standard I'm very happy with. I wanted to post a conclusion of sorts to wrap everything up - here's an excerpt from How to Lose a Dimension that sums up my thoughts on the whole project: The whole adaptation process was interesting and challenging, encouraging both thoughtful analysis and creative thinking – it also ended up being a lot of fun. For these reasons, I believe that the process is a valuable exercise for anyone with an interest in games design, whether they want to research it, learn about it, or just do it. H...

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This is just a masterpost where you can find links to all three of my 2D adaptation documents. Resident Evil 2D | Click here for PDF | Backup link Subnautica 2D | Click here for PDF | Backup link Skyrim 2D | Click here for PDF | Backup link See you in the next one!

Finally finished my final adaptation, Skyrim 2D! Here's an excerpt from my adaptation document where I reflect on the project: Overall, I’m super happy with Skyrim 2D, which is good as before starting the project, the scale of the original game was quite intimidating! I actually started the demo before the document this time, as I was keen on setting up the HD-2D visuals with the depth of field effects. This ended up being a good move, as it let me know that it was possible (there weren’t difficulties like with Subnautica 2D’s ill-fated cylindrical world) and that it looked great and worked the way I wanted it to work!  I had an interesting realization while working on this project. While I want to make it clear that my previous adaptation, Subnautica 2D, ended up being a successful project which I’m proud of, I found myself being a lot more enthusiastic about both Skyrim 2D and Resident Evil 2D while working on them. For both Skyrim 2D and Resi 2D I had a clear and distinct vision...

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Here's the full playthrough of my Skyrim 2D demo, should give a good impression of how the game would play! Since the last update I've mainly added finishing touches such as music and sound effects, working magicka usage, NPC text, and some more VFX, specifically for absorbing the Dragon's soul! Very happy with how this one turned out as well!

Added a lot since the last video!  The Dragonborn is no longer naked - now he's wearing the armour from all the promo material! There's also a sword attack animation, and an NPC with his own armour who can be blown away by the - now working - Unrelenting Force shout. There's also a dragon! To slay it, you have to go into sidescroller mode so you can properly aim at it in order to take it down. The ground is also now appropriately snowy and muddy too. This demo is almost finished, just some finishing touches to add, as well as some music!

I finally finished my Subnautica 2D adaptation project! Here's an excerpt from my adaptation document where I reflect on the project: I’m happy with the result of this adaptation. As was inevitable, Subnautica had its own unique set of challenges compared to Resident Evil – notably dealing with my idea for the layout of the world, as well as dealing with the fact that the original Subnautica has a freely-controllable first-person perspective. This has a knock-on effect on the world and level design, as well as how certain mechanics work, as the player can’t aim and interact with objects in the same way. However, the 2D perspective meant I had more control over what the players can and can’t see, and it was useful not having to design a world in which the player can look at from every angle as this would have been time consuming; instead, I could focus on implementing gameplay and mechanics etc. As I mentioned earlier, Barry Purves’ talk inspired me to go with making the game a side...

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 This is a full playthrough of the demo to give you a good idea how the game would play.! I added a decent amount since the last update, here's a quick rundown: - Added moving Peeper and Reaper Leviathan  - Added foliage - Cleaned up the UI (recreated the item bar from scratch to clean it up) - Added titanium to pick up - Added craftable O2 tank which requires titanium and increases O2 timer - Added working habitat builder which requires titanium to build a small base - Added music and sound  - Retextured UE4 mannequin to resemble Ryley from the original game I'm very happy with how this turned out!