When I joined Digital Cultures and Creativity, I did so with dual purpose. The first reason was to enhance my limited knowledge of digital technology; the second was to take the information I garnered over my time here and apply it as a part of my Capstone in a manner that would reflect how much I have grown both personally and professionally. While the latter aim can be articulated via a display of technical prowess, the former goal of showing personal growth requires a significant amount of depth in order to be conveyed effectively. The best way to accomplish this, in fact the only way to do so with excellently, would be to have the subject matter concern a topic very dear to me. Examining the parameters I set for myself, I recognized that one extraordinarily effective way to convey personal and professional growth simultaneously is through one’s words, especially their creative writing concerning distant topics.

The Digital Storytelling class, specifically the sections led by Professor Jim Smith, delved into the various elements that must be utilized in order to fabricate a captivating, fascinating script and demonstrated how crucial a functional, flowing plot is to the success of any fictitious work. In addition, Dr. Kari Kraus showed those who took her Creative Futures Honors Seminar how an increase in the distance between the inventor and the invention actually helps facilitate the creation process and strengthen the relationship felt by the creator towards the domain of the design. Armed with this knowledge, I now felt secure in my ability to demonstrate professional growth. However, I now needed to bridge the gap between the professional and personal; I needed to contrive a project that would allow me to display my newfound technical proficiency in story boarding and distant creative design. Furthermore, I needed to choose a focus that related to my personal life and was exemplary of “digital cultures and creativity” while at the same time, more for my own sake, being an enjoyable, fun topic to work on.  Upon scrutinizing all the criteria set forth for the project, the idea struck me. Create a game.

I loved the notion; from the outset, the prospect of creating a game seemed ideal. It was comprehensive, technical, and would allow me to accomplish all of the goals I had set out with. However, the creation of a game does not come without its caveats. Constructing a game from scratch is enormously difficult, and for one person, nearly impossible; it is time consuming, and requires an immense amount of conceptualization and development. Moreover, I still had in the back of my mind a strong desire to have the game’s subject matter remain close to my heart, even though I wanted the timeframe of the plot to be relatively distant in order to catalyze the creation process. Evaluating these variables, I discerned that the most plausible way to create a game in the given timeframe was to develop a sequel to an already established franchise. This would allow me to incorporate more diversity into the project instead of being fully constrained by the development of a functioning script; this diversity would manifest itself in the form of various visual components. Now I would have to select a franchise as the foundation for the project. Due to my fascination with the combat games and involvement with Xbox Live, there was only one logical, desirable choice: Halo.

The Halo series has played in integral role in jettisoning Microsoft to the forefront of the gaming world. Bungie’s first person shooter erupted onto the scene in 2000 as the flagship game for the Microsoft’s new gaming console, the Xbox, and its online platform, Xbox Live. The series would go on to shatter all kinds of global records while revolutionizing the gaming world on its way to becoming one of the most beloved game franchises of all time; some have characterized its cultural impact as the Star Wars of gaming society. The success of the series was rooted in the depth of the story, which afforded characters an almost cinematic level of development. Adding a chapter to the Halo series would allow me to truly let my creativity run wild (On a quick note, I am not going to be distributing the game, so copyright should not be an issue). One of the most attractive things about the series is its versatility; a large portion of the game is centered on the user, however, this centricity is integrated into the campaign almost flawlessly, affording the player an engaging, complete experience while at the same time expanding the mythology of the series as the developer intended.  On a more personal note, the Halo series was the spark the ignited my passion for games, engineering, and to a large extent the reason that I came to care about creative writing. The series challenges you to consider the scope of your actions and urges the player to question the rationale behind the logic that drives their choices. It would provide a unique test because in choosing Halo as the foundation, I set the bar very high for performance. Now that the purpose behind the Capstone has been established, I can cover what specifically will be included in the project.

The first and most important element of a game is a script. I have been working on this for a while and have already made some progress; this is both due to my passion for the product and because I intend for the finished product to be at a bare minimum, 100 pages. It will feature everything from thought provoking dialogue to pulse-pounding action scenes. There are three more written elements that I will provide in addition to the script. I will provide comprehensive biographies for any new characters I am introducing, descriptions of the various environments of the game, and an outline of several of the game modes that I would feature if I had the ability to truly mass produce a game. In addition to the written aspects, I will provide a musical score and explain where in the plot each song will fit in, and why it was selected. I will include a variety of sketches that range encompass everything from concept art of various design elements to full color renditions of new characters, changes to already introduced ones and environments that I plan to include. Furthermore, I aim to have a full 3-D rendition of one of the central new characters; I will accomplish this task by using the Autodesk 3DS Max digital design software. Moreover, I plan to utilize “forge world” in the upcoming Halo 4 to actually create most, if not all of the environments and stages necessary for the game.

In summation, I have long been a fan of the Halo series and now would like the chance to give something back. I aim to accomplish this by designing a sequel game to the fullest extent of my abilities. The Capstone project will be the collection of the various elements that are essential for the development of a working game. This will include items that pertain to the narrative, auditory, and visual aspects of a game. Creating this game was the reason I joined Digital Cultures and Creativity, and as my Capstone, will hopefully be my crowning achievement.

 

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