SHERYL BOH
GAME DESIGNER
LAST TRAIN
3D Virtual-Reality Escape Game
On a devilish train designed to kill you, 5 minutes is all you have to figure your way out before your untimely death.
This project was built by 8 students from Nanyang Polytechnic, Trident College of Technology and Kajaani University of Applied Sciences for 2019 Tokyo Game Show.
Engine:
Platform:
Unity
PC , HTC Vive
MY ROLES:
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DESIGNER
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LEAD ARTIST
DUTIES:
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Level Design
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Documentation
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Puzzle Design
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3D Model Texturing
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Voice Acting
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Mechanic Design
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Work Delegation
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3D Modelling
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Gameplay Flow Design
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Economy Readjustment
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Morale Encouragement
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UV Unwrapping
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Mentorship of Teammates
The Concept and Documentation
Instead of having a lead designer, we were discussing the concept and designs of the game as a team. I was responsible for supporting our producer in documentations, from prop-functionality listings to presentation slides. We kept a whiteboard in the room which I was in-charge of, to keep track of all important aspects of the game so that everyone would be on the same page. As a team, we discussed and decided on the level layout, gameplay flow, tutorial sections, etc.
![20181009_154422[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a074f8_f5e4228af4f84446854d714ff2959127~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_2010,h_1160,q_90/a074f8_f5e4228af4f84446854d714ff2959127~mv2.webp)
![20181009_154450[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a074f8_771d0f04e10f4d169eaa1cbd088ddf0a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_2010,h_1160,q_90/a074f8_771d0f04e10f4d169eaa1cbd088ddf0a~mv2.webp)
Aesthetics of the Game
As the lead artist, I drove the art direction and was in-charge of creating assets for the train and the train itself. I came up with the cat mascot that represented the game's unseen villain, which was also used as the symbol for the train card. I created most props, and also mentored some teammates who had no prior experience in asset creation.
Lending My Voice
This was the first time I had lent my voice to the project and I was really nervous about it. Luckily, I had a script and the support of our members who recorded the voice with me. While I lent my voice for the English version of the game, another friend of ours also lent her voice for the Japanese version.
I have a lot of fond memories about this project despite the adversities we faced. Most of the challenge came from language since it wasn't easy for everyone to understand each other well all the time. We had teammates who could only speak basic English and relied heavily on Google translate, while some had heavy accents that the rest just weren't accustomed to. Nonetheless, everyone was cooperative and it was due to that that the project was pretty smooth sailing. We had a comical moments I'm sure we would all remember for the rest of our lives, such as the problem with height and virtual reality. We had a teammate who was much taller than most people and when testing the game, he would end up cutting into the top of the train instead of being in it. This actually made us realize we needed to keep the player height standardize so everyone could experience it similarly.
We made the game as comical as we could, just like how the team dynamic felt. Inspiration was taken from I Expect You To Die (2018 game). Inside jokes were thrown around and we ended up making such a wacky game. It felt satisfying when our playtesters also laughed as they played the game.