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This year's Abertay Digital Graduate Show (ADGS) is our most expansive and innovative showcase yet! We're thrilled to present over 140 honours projects from the brightest minds at Abertay. As you explore our student directory, conveniently organised in alphabetical order by first name, prepare to dive into a world where creativity meets cutting-edge technology.
From the vivid imaginations behind stunning concept art and character design to the intricate processes of animation and applied games, each project reflects the unparalleled talent of our students, pushing the boundaries in programming and game design, UI/UX, motion capture, and 3D modelling. They've also ventured into the immersive realms of virtual and augmented reality and are pioneering the use of emerging technologies.
Every project in this directory showcases the skills and dedication of our students and offers a glimpse into the future of digital arts and technology. We invite you to immerse yourself in this journey of innovation and creativity at ADGS.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Whispering Woods
My Honours project is an audio-driven game set within a Grimm's Brothers-inspired fantasy game level. The player is thrust into the heart of the Whispering Wood, where they must overcome four challenging segments, each containing distinct core audio mechanics. The player will, most importantly, use their hearing to complete each segment which includes stealth, audio awareness, memory and rhythm. I aim for this project to show the importance of audio within game mechanics and to inspire others to open up the potential for new expressive forms of gameplay using audio.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Chromatic Vision
My project is a 3D scene of a boss fight room at the end of a game level. The boss arena will be the main prayer room of a mosque with construction and composition that will be informed by researching the principles of Islamic architecture primarily found in the Middle East. The decoration of the mosque would still be inspired by the intricate calligraphy, geometric and vegetal patterns found in Islamic art but will also take significant inspiration from researching psychedelic art and utilizing its freer form pattern designs and bold colour schemes. This project allows me to research the art and culture of my heritage and share it with others but with a fun twist.
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Applications Development
Procedural Snowboarding
A snowboarding game where every slope is a product of procedural generation. Leveraging Perlin noise for the terrain, a grid-based approach for pathfinding, and different pre-requisites for the different stunts. The project is inspired by the SSX and Shaun White Snowboarding series of games and wanted to combine them with procedural generation.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
FPS Tuner: Let us help you aim better
This application creates a general First-Person (FPS) testing environment that helps players improve with aiming performance in First-Person Shooter tasks by automatically configuring their settings based on data-driven evaluation and conclusions. The settings being adjusted directly impact how the player controls the virtual character, so correct configuration can increase performance significantly. This application is designed originally to function for controller users. The player's accuracy is measured several times throughout a session for continual adjustments to ultimately achieve an increase in accuracy.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
Real-Time Volumetric Rendering of Haboob Dust Storms
Haboob dust storms are a special class of rare dust storm that forms in arid regions such as Sudan in the Sahara. They are large, rolling clouds of dust formed underneath a foreboding thundercloud. This project attempts to efficiently simulate the key characteristics of light as it interacts with this medium, as well as providing remarks on how simulation of formation and movement can be interpreted in future research and existing pipelines. Features arise from how light disperses within the medium from bouncing between aerosols. Coupled with the material absorbing more light in the blue region of the colour spectrum, the challenge is to somehow capture these characteristics of an infinitely complex problem on a computational budget.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Futurest
The project contains a 3D exterior game-ready environment as two mediums, cinematic renders and a magazine spread. I wanted this project to be an opportunity to strengthen my technical environment art skills such as complex material shader setups, advanced texturing techniques and node-based workflows. I also wanted the project to explore including cinematic elements to explore tone and mood in my work and using mixed media to showcase my project in a unique way. I hope the project will evoke emotion and storytelling, creating a sense of curiosity about the imagined future.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
The Favour
The Favour is a short retro-style visual novel created in Godot. The crane in the original Japanese folktale (The Crane's Return of a Favour - Tsuru no Ongaeshi) is replaced with a mantis, and represents a shapeshifting supernatural creature able to trick men by transforming into a beautiful woman in order to devour them, giving the story a new horror spin. The game is set up in a pixelated retro style, and introduces more and more realistic resolutions, pictures and mixed media techniques which wouldn’t be possible on any retro device. These hallucination-like segments are meant to subvert player expectations.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
A Conversation with Death
In this interactive story, players will take on the role of a soul in a surprisingly office-like limbo, speaking to grim-reapers, demons and death itself to try to avoid the inferno and bargain your way to a more pleasant afterlife. But they must be careful, as based on their choices they can find themselves facing a variety of endings, some far preferable to others.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Loch na h-Airde – Viking Harbour 3D Environment Archaeological Reconstruction
This project is the creation of an archaeological reconstruction of the Viking harbour site of Loch na h-Airde, on the southwest corner of the Isle of Skye, rendered as a 3D Environment. The aim was to create a rich interpretation of Loch na h-Airde as an 11th century Norse harbour featuring a period accurate ship and structures informed from contemporaneous sites, as well as populating the scene with other period accurate props. This has been with the intent of showing how archaeological sites can be visualised with AAA game authoring techniques and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Floating Islands
This project will be presented in 3 forms, a flythrough video for these who aren't gamers and would like to just watch, a VR experience for those that wish to be fully immersed, and a normal sitting experience for those that don't like VR or have motion sickness.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Art of Translation
I am creating a new character design to fit into the art and world of 'League of Legends', ensuring that the character fits in the style of the worlds as if made for it. I am also creating two more character designs of translating the design into different settings taking into consideration the influences of the settings, re-imagining them while keeping the original character shape and game purpose at core.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
What Becomes of Her
The visual novel style game aims to explore narrative structures in fairy tales, their didactic role and how they can be subverted in an interactive medium to tell a queer story. The game follows the story of a girl who feels isolated from her peers. On the night of the summer solstice celebration, she embarks on a journey to find the mythical Fern Flower, which will grant her success and happiness in life. On her adventures, she will meet various characters from Slavic folklore, symbolizing the different ways in which women are perceived in society.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Fantasy Character Concepts
This project is split into two parts, the first being to understand why horses in games tend to come out unrealistic with noticeable defects, what could have been done better, and why the gaming industry tends to struggle with adding realistic horses to games. The second part of the project is to create four horse designs and a world map. These horses would be the main characters of the game and be used to guide the player through the world. The map design will also be linked to the theme of the horses within the game.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Girl Who Made the Wolves Cry
My current aim is to create a portfolio consisting of 2D game art components, specifically the main character and the creature designs from a story I wish to develop at a later point in my career. The core of my project is the desire to create unique and well researched embodiments of certain concepts that explore challenging issues of mental health. As I wish to showcase my growth as an artist, I will incorporate intricate symbolism within each creature, by researching different cultures and media, weaving their meaning through multiple small references within the designs.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Steampunk Apocalypse: Concept Art for Impact
I have created character art assets for a game prototype, focused on a character switcher which allows the player to 'morph' between three character models. They are called 'Classic' 'Modern' and 'Future' with each being playable in Unreal Engine 5. Each character will be able to 'morph' into the next, acting as a proof of concept and showcase of my technical ability. The focus is character design, wherein I am solely focused on creating only the characters for this project. Each asset is high fidelity and following modern game production pipelines.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Demon Sword
Demon Sword is an upcoming indie game that revives classic hack 'n' slash gaming. Gameplay is inspired by Devil May Cry, while the visuals use a similar technique as Octopath Traveler; fusing 2D pixel art with a 3D environment in HD-2D. Set in modern times, the story centres on Selene, a legendary warrior who, in secrecy, fights against demons that cross the threshold between our world and theirs. She meets a woman named Annabelle who asks her to investigate an unusual cult activity in a nearby town.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Sound of Silence
A look at the potential that exists in the area between sound and harnessing it to become a game mechanic. The overall concept of negative space within design is one that is a foundation element but exploration in it from an auditory standpoint is uncommon. I want to make the sonic void area an active element within the game space and not have it as an arbitrary component that plays alongside the game. The summation of my project will be a prototype showcasing the developed mechanic. A vertical slice of gameplay from a theoretical game that demonstrates how the concept would work.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Vibrance of Shadows
A game environment demo showcasing a small fragment of a Japanese city. The player can explore this location and experience it during three different snapshots of time: daytime, sunset and night. The progression of time influences more than just lighting - shops close, bars and izakayas open, and the brightest and most vibrant fragment of the environment moves away from the bigger street to the small alley full of street food. The artistic choices behind this project draw on traditional Japanese aesthetics, in particular the embracing of shadows as a mean to emphasize the beauty of objects and places.
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Application Development
Optimizing physically inspired lightning rendering using parallelization in the GPU
Graphics programming project focused on improving the computation times of lightning rendering. Research aimed at proving whether it’s possible to improve physically inspired lightning generation performance in the GPU with the aid of parallel multithreading, by substituting the Dielectric Breakdown Model's conjugate gradient method with an approximate rational function. Application developed in C++ and HLSL using Direct3D 11. Expected results would mean an opportunity for developers to include more immersive lightning in their games.
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Application Development
Procedural Content Generation Tool for Level Creation
Independent game development teams do not always have the necessary resources to expend on level designers. This can hamper the quality of the gamer experience, if the game world is not up to the standard expected of new releases. This tool uses assets created by the user to assist in building a level. The user sets parameters dictating how the assets will be connected when generating a level. All assets need to have connectors attached at positions where they can snap together with other connectors like a jigsaw. It is then the case of sitting back and clicking ‘Generate.’ Watch the magic happen.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
OVERCAT
In Overcat, two players control cats with swords, duelling for dominance over the litter box. This game was designed with the goal of keeping the competition fun even when the difference in players' skills is particularly substantial, and over the course of development several different possible solutions were implemented to tackle this design problem. The game in its current state represents the culmination of that research, resulting in a competitive experience that is strengthened by disproportional skills in the players, rather than hampered by it.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Viking, Barbarian, Huntress
Envisioned as a hunter, resembling a barbarian, with elements that reflect the Viking style. This fusion ensures a balanced representation of different cultural influences. "Sandraudiga", a female war god from both Germanic and Norse mythologies, serves as a specific example of the divine inspirations incorporated into the character's design. Creating and designing a character grounded in European folklore, with a primary focus on Norse mythology, while incorporating elements from Germanic mythology. The character's design combines aspects of a hunter and a barbarian, with a careful balance struck between Viking aesthetics and broader mythological influences.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Chrysalis
This project is a two-minute-long, stop-motion, paper cut-out style animation with assets drawn by hand but animated digitally. It features two characters: a father and son. The film mostly consists of a musical performance by the father who is reminiscing on the past, and we see these memories while the music plays. The film will feature an original score performed by piano, cello and violin which will follow the screenplay.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Animated Trailer - Zero Seivert
I will work to create a one-minute cinematic game trailer through the medium of 2D hand-drawn animation. I have chosen the game “Zero Sievert” as the subject of my animation as it is a relatively small game published by the client that my team and myself worked with in last year's group module. Because of this, I was able to reach out for permission and support in the creation of this animation for their game. This gave me extra motivation to work on this kind of project as creating animations for indie games with little to no promotional art is a niche I want to explore moving forward.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
The Sonic Flipper Framework
A project designed first and foremost to be expanded and used by other developers. Clean code, tidy files, and numerous tools making it a base that anyone can take and explore in their own direction, even newcomers. This is to highlight a robust but optimised character controller with multiple actions, dangers, and objects to interact with. This is based on a series of free online projects that over the years have atrophied due to spaghetti code. I have not just been tidying this, I have been improving this.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Companions Escape: The Hospital
After waking up in a bathroom in an Abandoned Hospital, the player is required to solve puzzles to ensure his escape and survival. In total there are five rooms each with their own puzzles. After escaping the first room and entering the second he meets a Companion locked up and in need of help. After this, the player has an AI Companion to help solve some puzzles in future rooms and help when the player gets injured. The purpose of this project will consist of researching best of practice solutions to researched AI Companion problems in order to create a AI framework for my project.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
CatDom - Holy Grounds
The world of CatDom features a cast of six unique characters and the surrounding environments of the fantasy world. Step into the enchanting realm where medieval charm meets vibrant hyper-pop aesthetics. The characters are brought to life through detailed concept designs. As their stories weave together, a unique world unfolds, adding depth and intrigue to the characters' journeys. Explore the lively landscapes they call home through colourful environment concepts. Join them on a visual adventure, where history and contemporary vibes collide, creating a magical realm that invites everyone to dive into the rich and fantastical universe of the Cat Kingdom.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Drawing Closer
Drawing Closer aims to pursue the idea of using monologue as its primary narrative tool instead of its more popular role of being a supportive tool in a game's design. Experience the mind of a detective trying to solve a cold case using both old and new evidence. Recall discussions with suspects, analyse pictures and, in the end, decide who the culprit is and what punishment they deserve. The project, made in Twine Harlowe, is presented as an interactive story with minor gameplay elements.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
A Unique Take on Cyberpunk
3D Environment featuring Expressionist Architecture in a Cyberpunk style.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Verdorium
In this project, I'm diving into creating visual artwork that tells a story of a future world, where nature and technology blend. I’m creating concepts of five places with a mix of futuristic inventions and natural elements. My idea is to paint a future where nature and technology get along just fine. I'm also adding a twist to this conflict-free world by introducing two different religious views - one all about the high-tech side and the other more dedicated to nature. These beliefs are not just about spirituality; they influence the way architecture and objects look in this world.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Time Flies Like Butter
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas. But what about butterflies? In Time Flies Like Butter, you play as a caterpillar that can not only morph into a butterfly but can also morph time itself. Uncover different ‘cause and effect’ relations to create the best butterfly effects. Informed by the study of causation in metaphysics, TFLB explores a new puzzle design methodology of using causation models as building blocks for crafting diverse and original puzzles. The project presents a novel time-manipulation mechanic where the player rewinds into unexplored time to create new timelines via backward causation.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Making of Kuker
Kuker is a personal piece inspired by the notion to produce a hyperreal, high-quality character. The project explores techniques for groom and cloth creation, sculpting and using scanned data to achieve high-resolution skin details. It also covers topics of texturing, shader setup, lighting and composition for the best results when rendering.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Libheadan a' Seargadh
Libheadan a' Seargadh (Decaying leviathan) is a semi-realistic 3D sea creature project inspired by the game Subnautica with a focus on horror-based design. The goal of my project is to delve deep into the process of creating an effectively scary monster through the exploration of monster design, mythology, anatomy, and related phobias and fears in 2D concepts and use these to create an asset ready for an underwater horror game. The projects follow the standard game asset pipeline with high-quality topology, UV maps, texture maps and lit renderings in Unreal Engine 5.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Strike!
A 3D animated comedy short in which a group of aliens desperately battle for a strike at the bowling alley, using whatever means necessary. Taking inspiration through a range of films, from the slapstick comedy in Despicable Me, to the punchy visual storytelling in Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, the project has a strong focus on storytelling and cinematography as that is what I have the biggest interest in.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Eagla
I am using Substance Designer to create a series of large-scale terrain environments. The environments are Ancient Irish settlements in dangerous environments. The aim of the project is to explore feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability by contrasting extreme geological conditions with human settlements. Substance Designer is used to create materials for props and environments procedurally, so this is an unconventional use of the software and facilitates the themes by presenting limitations and obstacles that are impossible to overcome. The environments are made almost entirely in Substance Designer and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Procedural Swords
This project uses the procedural software Houdini to develop a user-friendly tool for creating 3D sword assets. This tool has with a thorough range of user-driven and randomizable variables, as well as mesh generation and texturing that will adapt to the generated shape. I'm designing this with a hypothetical fantasy game in mind, and so the parameters will be adapted for this. I'm using artistic influences from both historical and fantastical sources, as well as technical academic research and practical experience.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Trident - Modular Weapon System
This Project looks at firearm creation and optimisation that would be expected within a game industry setting. This research includes both asset creation resources, such as engineering documents and manuals, practical application such as modelling, unwrapping, baking and texturing, while also looking at the industry as a whole and examining the existing pipeline, drawing knowledge from other industries (such as product photography) and how being conscious of overlaps in skills between industries is of use. The final product is a fully modular 1 to 1 recreation of a real-world firearm with full internals that can be customised within Unreal Engine.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Elemental Monsters design & creation
My project is to produce two 3D modelled elemental themed boss monsters that use a more stylistic art style. The goal of this project is to help improve upon my technical skills, such as modelling and material creation, but also my design skills, with my design theory and practice. This project is to show my creativity to both potential future employers, and to my lecturers and peers, by creating unique designs under a specific theme. I aim to deliver my two models on Sketchfab for viewing but also a portfolio showing progress and development during my work.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Cosmic Clash: Triavian Invasion
A six-minute long 2D animated short film featuring two alien races that engage in a huge space battle against each other including spaceships and destructive weapons. It follows the perspective of one alien and how the eruption of the war affects their life and results in them heading straight into battle. It includes different types of visuals including soft, colourful, painted aesthetics that contrast with sharp, sketchy linework; these representing each alien race. It is set to the orchestral music 'Mars the Bringer of War' by Gustav Holst.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Fantasy Realms Reimagined
"Fantasy Realms Reimagined" is a practice based investigation of Fantasy Worlds in the Post-Industrial era. Exploring how a Fantasy society develops is an idea that is readily apparent in today’s media: Riot and Fortiche’s “Arcane”. Is a prime example of this. The project will culminate in an Art Book consisting of: Splash Illustrations, Design Sheets and a VisDev art book.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Frustration Impact on Player Purchase Decisions
Conducting user research into how Frustration impacts player purchase decisions, using a board game I ran games with participants, observed player actions and interviewed players afterwards.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Linebreaker
Linebreaker is a Roguelite deck-building game that positions the player as a mercenary hacker in a dystopian cyberpunk near-future. As is typical for the genre, the player character is charged with making repeated runs through a variety of increasingly difficult levels, gradually accruing more power in the form of better cards and upgrades, until each run ends, either in death or triumph. Linebreaker differentiates itself through the introduction of the Strain mechanic, representing the mounting, permanent, mental and physical pressure on the Linebreaker. This gradually pushes the player to commit to a final, ending-defining run, for good or for ill.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Diesel-Punk Rally
In "Diesel-Punk Rally", the player is often rewarded with a choice of upgrades for their car. This project seeks to investigate the effect these rewards have on player engagement and use this knowledge to design more engaging rewards/upgrades
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Sang Dissonace
A gamebook (I.E. Choose-your-own-adventure novel) set in a cyberpunk world. Created to explore how you make a "high-fidelty" interactive experience as a singular developer.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Generating a Hive City
Generation of a slice of a megacity, taking inspiration from real life structures, architectural concepts and fiction. There are multiple levels of generation, all interacting with one another. This generation uses modular chunks made separately, then placed using a point cloud created in Houdini. Designers as well can access and edit the generation using tools in Unreal Engine 5 to modify the final look of the city, from growing the slice, randomizing different portions of generation leaving the others untouched, to substituting entire portions, while also being provided more granular control over single aspects of it.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
School of Tales
Reimagining traditional fairy tale characters through concept art for a video game set in a school for fairy tale creatures and folks alike. The story is focused on the ideas of feminism and gender stereotypes within fairy tales, consisting of tropes like "damsel in distress" and "knight in shining armour". Art Nouveau is the main inspiration for characters and environment that reflect modern feminist ideas while previous movements such as Historicism will reflect in those that stick only to traditional ideas. My objective for this project is to create awareness on gender stereotypes people carry especially within the gaming community.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Froggy Sanctuary
Froggy Sanctuary is a first-person adventure platformer game where the main design goals were centred around creating levels which were inclusive of various needs of members of the public in mind from the ground-up of development. All in all, the project aims to bring great enjoyment to both younger and older audiences as you immerse yourself in fun Froggy chaos and navigate levels which have been tailored for inclusivity. Accessible level design is an exciting area which has plenty of potential for being looked into more within the industry, this project is Gordon's interpretation and development based on the area.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Lockdown - A Stealth Level Design
My chosen project area is level design for games. I’m creating a level design greybox for a single player stealth game with a focus on guiding the player, spatial communication, and general layout of a stealth heavy level. The project is being developed in Unreal Engine 5. The level is set in a shipping port and the player's main objective is to avoid detection from the guards. The player must make their way through a maze of storage containers and jump onto moving cranes to progress to further areas in the game.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
EAGLEYE - Stereo VR Viewports As Game Mechanics
A vertical slice prototype for a game made for virtual reality platforms, that explores using stereoscopic rendering in VR to create game mechanics: one of your eyes is replaced with a cybernetic optic that can see in heat vision and be taken out of its socket and rolled into rooms, allowing the player to experience a power fantasy of perceiving things beyond their body. It is a novel way to approach virtual reality gaming. It takes 15 minutes to complete, and has a single level with a puzzle segment and action escape segment.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
Engine tool for geometry outlines and stylized post-process
Unreal Engine tool for artists and designers to simplify the process of creating meshes with inverted hull geometry based outlines as well as apply various combinations of stylized post-process materials all in one place.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Ancient Rage
A Greek Mythology horror game exploring the myth of the Minotaur. You play as an archaeologist who must escape the legendary labyrinth while being hunted down by the Minotaur. By accessing secret passages and outwitting the Minotaur, your goal is to reach the centre of the labyrinth. While escaping, you receive assistance from the Greek Gods and learn about the Greek Myths involving the Minotaur through Ancient artefacts.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Space Travel and Research (S.T.A.R.)
Narrative: A group of specialists are tasked with exploring space to discover far off planets that may have plant life on them. Plants on Earth have stopped growing, so a team of scientists and astronauts have ventured into deep space to find any sign of plant life on other planets. The astronauts are tasked with finding a planet that can inhabit plants that have high resistance to toxic environments and the scientist are tasked with transferring those attributes to the plants back on Earth.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
DeliveRoutes
DeliveRoutes is a project based on replayability and strategy. Players first draw cards and place tiles and obstacles in order to create a city's infrastructure and then trace their routes to find who is faster. The game's simple set of rules offers many possibilities and strategies suited for different playstyles, similar in spirit to Chess. DeliveRoutes' random elements, such as its varying delivery locations and deck of cards are made to ensure a fresh experience any time a new round starts.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Flight of the Fungi
In a corrupt but perfect and put-together world, four members of a corporate cottage core band come to realise just how poisonous their world is. They stumble onto new genres of music and expression and vow to snap others out of their trance and show them just how important personal expression is. As they begin to suck out the corruption and rot, they slowly morph from a cottage core band to a punk rock one. The project revolves around the conceptual art and the way up to the final design and illustration of each band member while creating a diverse group of individuals and keeping the integrity of my chosen themes.
BSc (Hons) Ethical Hacking
Discerning the mundane: How to detect malicious QR codes and report them to an end user.
A website QR code scanning application for android which reports to an user first and foremost if the code scanned is safe or not. A user can then learn more about why the code has been classified as malicious and benign through website statistics. Determination is powered by a custom made machine learning model which determines based off of many website features the safety of the code. The app has been created to ensure ease of use while being suggestive as to how a user should process the information.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Herbal Wytchcraft
Herbal Wytchcraft is a 2D point-and-click shopkeeper sim, in which you collect, craft, and sell herbalist medicines with the help of the Fae. It is a relaxing, no-pressure experience inspired by Scottish folklore in which you provide your customers with specially crafted medicines to cure their ailments, whilst also befriending faeries, and experimenting to discover and enchant new recipes. This game is designed to be used as a tool for relaxation, in line with my research and framework for “Video Games as Relaxation Tools”.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
3D Weapon Creation
Honours project focused on creating realistic 3D weapons that are optimised for videogames whilst incorporating player customisation options such as attachments and camouflages.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Sight Through Sound
In this project, audio is the main form of navigation for players. As they progress through the level they will be guided by audio assets in certain directions. The more noise the player makes, the more of the world around them is revealed by a light circle. As the player moves around this circle grows until they stop, where it then shrinks in size.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
An Exploration of Video Game Vegetation
This project is a full look at vegetative environments, from photo capture techniques to environment creation. Every aspect of the environment has been custom made for this project, from the ground textures to the vegetation, landscape and shaders. I have used industry standard techniques to capture vegetation from the Cairngorms and bring it to life inside Unreal Engine 5. Using procedural tools, I have created pine forest biomes and large-scale landscapes to try and capture Scotland’s scenery.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Fleischsack - Short Horror Series
A short, animated horror series, which tells the story of an Axis-sympathetic nation discovering an organic meteorite, and harvesting it in an attempt to create a breed of super-soldiers to help win them World War 2. When the plan fails, and the war is over before the soldiers can be deployed, the project is buried, almost literally, and most of those involved disappear in one way or another. The series also covers the story of a pair of investigative friends, who embark into the mountains in the modern day, to try and discover this supposedly lost war bunker.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Shadows of Cygnus
The game is set in a sci-fi universe where the player takes on a role of an investigator Domestic crime investigative Bureau. You have been tasked with investigating a potential crime scene where an administrator has suddenly died of unknown causes. As the main protagonist Noelan Huxley, you must traverse through an interesting and unique environment and solve puzzles to progress. The gameplay is a first-person puzzle game using prerendered graphics and live action actors, much like games of the 90s like Riven and Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. The game’s main feature is that it is running on Original PlayStation hardware. A magazine will also be provided along with the game detailing its development.
Learn more about James' project ➡
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
Real-Time Rendering and Construction of Signed Distance Fields
Using signed distance fields (SDFs) to create 3D geometry has been a known technique for decades, but until recently hardware limitations have prevented extensive use in real-time applications. SDFs are an elegant implicit representation of a solid volume and exhibit interesting properties, such as constructive solid geometry and shape morphing, which are difficult to achieve through traditional polygonal techniques. My project investigates the direct rendering of SDFs using DirectX Raytracing, and the real-time reconstruction of SDFs to allow for dynamic objects that take advantage of the unique properties of SDFs.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Gunblade
Character design project with a secondary interest in the form of splash art. Three Character concept sheets with a splash art in each are the main output. The setting is a mixture of Low Fantasy with heavy historical armour inspirations and uniforms and props from World War 1, particularly of the French army. The project tackles the questions of complex character and costume design, specifically in terms of layering clothes and achieving believability.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Character Attraction
I'm researching psychology, the golden ratio and other literature outside of games, to inform the creation of two stylised character busts with typically attractive features and then manipulate those features to be unattractive. My aim with this project is to show that a character can be created to be attractive or unattractive to better suit the role the character will take on within a game.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Overloaded
Overloaded is an autobiographical interactive experience that allows players to experience some of the symptoms and challenges presented by ADHD. Become a maintenance engineer working on the spaceship ‘ISV Kassandra’ and carry out your assigned tasks to ensure the continued smooth operation of the vessel. But be warned, for your simple and easily organised job is certain to attract a little disorder. Navigate and maintain The Kassandra while effectively managing the challenges and leveraging the strengths of this unique spectrum of ADHD. How will you handle being Overloaded?
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Applications Development
Realistic Large Scale AI simulation In a Multiplayer Environments
The project uses Fuzzy logic AI to create realistic and reactive AI on a large scale while a State driven AI helps organise them. The project looks to push the unity engine to create a system in which hundreds of entities can act towards goals on an individual and group level working individually or in groups from 8 up to 256. The simulation also takes place in a multiplayer environment and aims to run flawlessly for multiplayers with the hundreds of entities.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Lonely Working Regions
This project aims to create an approx. 4km2 environment, composed of pine plantations, fields, native beech, oak, spruce and box wood forests, high cliffs and long grass meadows. This project's objective is to be as authentic as possible to the Vercors region's atmosphere, as my aim is to showcase this little known region to more people, as it is very close to my heart and not represented at all in digital media to my knowledge. I am aiming for photorealism, and a portion of the environment itself is to be explorable in first person by a player, like a virtual hike, enabling the public to experience the mountain for themselves.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Mercy.Ltd
Mercy.Ltd follows a motley crew of characters in a 90’s sci-fi influenced maximalist setting. The animation follows a music video format, with expressive character animations. It Showcases the different character rigs I have made coexisting in a sci-fi setting of my own making. Taking cues from old science fiction movies, games and media. I aim to successfully provide a snapshot of the world I want to create. Explore themes that will be more prevalent in the future, such as AI, climate change and the nature human identity. I will use a variety of software to create the animation, but my pipeline will begin with modelling and rigging in maya and blender, then animating in maya and exporting to unreal engine.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Eliciting Emotions Through the Use of Audio
This project focuses on designing an audible experience for a player through the lens of a Role Playing Game. The goal of this would be to design an array of sounds that the player will hear throughout the game with intended emotional beats behind them. The game features extremely basic visuals to try and prove the point that it is the audio that is influencing the player in these ways. This is also being shown by having decisions that the player can make which will result in the same visual scene playing but with different intended emotions behind them.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
A Death March to a Colourful World
This is an open world Japanese role playing game with elements from a lot of the latest and popular anime creating interesting characters in a 2.5D game on PC
Learn more about Keith's project ➡
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Applications Development
Procedurally Generating 3D Platformer Levels
I investigated using two different procedural methods “Perlin Worm” and “Voronoi Noise” to create two different styles of levels. Perlin Worm was used to create a level like “Mario 64: Bowser in the Dark World” where the focus was to create a functional level with a variety of obstacles, whereas with Voronoi Noise I focused more on a natural looking level, utilizing Techniques such as “Perlin Noise” and “Delauney Triangulation” to create land for the level as well as a path that the player must follow with inspiration from some of “Crash Bandicoot” levels.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Daydreamers Nightmare
The project I’m presenting is called “Daydreamer’s Nightmare”. This project will focus on a short horror dystopian concept art book that can be incorporated into a film, video game or series respectfully. It is supposed to work as a world and creature building guide for those mediums if this project went further into any of them. So, I will be creating concepts of monsters, characters and environment. This project will also contain a strong narrative to bring more dimension to the art. This project will have warnings for sensitive material with trigger warnings and an 18+age restriction.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Your Quest For Meaning
My project's aim is to immerse players by captivating their feelings in a prototype walking simulator game. I’m achieving this by producing an emotional journey players can go along – through composing collectable items (with descriptions) and tailored environmental storytelling elements. I have set players in a world with tropical rainforests, crystal charged mushroom industrial wastes, and colourful coral reefs - where they subjectively uncover non-linear and overall positive scenes that have 4 overarching narratives throughout. These include crashed alien survivors, thriving Indigenous tribes, a happy death cult and the mystery of what on earth is happening on this planet!
Computer Arts
Screenplay: Nightfell
Nightfell is a psychological LGBTQ+ screenplay with a diverse cast of characters. The story focuses on Grey, a medium who becomes tangled in a mental battle between a past that haunts him, a best friend who torments him and a new figure in his life that slowly lifts the dark veil within him. The problem is, both his best friend and this figure? One is an evil spirit and the other is recently deceased and Death? She’s knocking on both their doors.
Game Design and Production
Terror Untold: Depths of Despair
For my project, I am making a horror prototype game based around World War II. At the start, you are in a battle and get shot and then wake up in an abandoned bunker. You have to go through the bunker and find your way out to the other side. There you then start to discover that there is a hidden facility. As the player goes through, you will encounter a failed experiment of a super soldier that you need to escape. You will have to solve puzzles and watch out for traps set up.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
Water Simulation Incorporating Erosion
The aim of the project was to compare and evaluate water simulation and erosion techniques, by combining them into one simulation then testing performance and visuals. Erosion techniques are used to create highly realistic terrain but is not used in real time. By simulating the erosion through water, we benefit from having accurate terrain erosion in real-time but also interactive water enhancing a game environment. By investigating how to combine the techniques, checking what techniques work and which don’t, and the performance I have created a thorough method and implementation that I believe is viable for games.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Kind of Blue
For this project I am looking to visualise a theoretical 3D animated film through a series of illustrated pieces of key concept art, informed by the album “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis. I have taken influence of work that convey music and the genre of Jazz in a visual format, utilising the sci-fi noir genre as it pairs well with Miles Davis’s melancholic style of Jazz. My project should ensure that the viewer has an immersive experience through observing my concept stills while listening to exerts of each track on the album Kind of Blue. They should come out of the experience having a strong idea of what the theoretical animated film will look and feel like in its final form.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Deadwood
"Deadwood" is a 2D animated pilot that focuses on uncovering the mystery of the supernatural as well as the creatures tormenting Hive City. A crew of convicted felons are recruited to take down our villain, the Mothman. Detective Deadwood, Arista and Black Dog are our so called ‘heroes’ that each wield unique supernatural abilities to face both the weird and wonderful world of the obscure. This project is aimed towards seeing what it takes to create an original animated television show.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Dystopia in Environment and Narrative Design
The project set out to create a small playable game set in a dystopian world. The creation of the game focused primarily on 3D environment art with a handcrafted models and textures with some light narrative work. To build the world in which the game is set, core themes, ideas and tropes prevalent in existing dystopian media both visually and narratively are utilised to emphasise the fictional world to the player.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Into the Kitchen
You will act as a kitchen manager, ensuring your fellow colleagues are able and willing, trying to maintain peace and efficiency in the face of ever growing challenges, from nasty customers, to pest infestations, men with mommy issues in need of anger management to staff walk-outs, end the shift with everyone everyone intact, and fight to work another day. Also cook some interesting food. Design and construction of game assets, to highlight the controls and management features of the game.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Canary Islands - The Biomes
A 3D environment for a tower defence game, ensuring accuracy of the Canary Island aesthetic.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
All Stitched Up
A local multiplayer cosy horror game that looks at real time co-creation in games and how to balance the creative freedom it provides against the risks of players breaking the experience for everyone.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Deicide
My project is about digital painting. To create striking, intriguing, and 'awesome' visuals delivered as three very large matte paintings to be showcased in a time-based piece. Inspired by things like 70s sci-fi art and classical paintings to create colourful, pictures with scale and interesting compositions, while communicating the darker story in this vast and dystopian setting. A world in which amongst stars and interstellar gas hang almost unfathomable dead beings drifting in space. Their bodies like tombs, now home to colonies that harvest the rich resources gathered from their remains. A dystopia with themes such as greed or loss of humanity.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Trollaholics
My project is a 2D animated music video for a comedic song about Gnomes and Trolls. My main aim and deliverable is to create a high-quality and entertaining music video with a humorous tone. I want it to “feel” like a music video, using research into them as a foundation for composition and style. It should feel reflective of the song, the video should feel as silly as the lyrics. It will be created in Photoshop and After Effects, with a combination of Frame by Frame animation and After Effects' built-in motion graphics capabilities.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Charlie & Chugsville
The project focuses on meticulously crafting a detailed diorama depicting a fictional town named "Chugsville" and its iconic steam locomotive, "Charlie". With a blend of historical accuracy and immersive storytelling, the diorama aims to evoke nostalgia for steam train eras while engaging viewers emotionally. Key questions guide the project, including how to authentically capture the town's ambiance, convey the character of the locomotive, and forge emotional connections with the audience. Through meticulous design, emotional engagement strategies, and attention to historical detail, the project aims to create an immersive experience that preserves the essence of steam train heritage for generations to come.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
A Framework for Designing Frameworks
The goal is to develop a framework that can be utilised to design pipelines that are specifically for designing content and features quickly and efficiently. The process to achieve this involves analysing existing game design related frameworks to identify key commonalities and relevant observations between different frameworks, which can then be used as guidance for designing the main framework. The framework will be iterated upon and improved by using it to design content pipelines for a game, where the content will be implemented and evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the pipelines and thus the framework as a whole.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Beauty of The Past – Lesser Poland
My project is a game-ready 3D environment inspired by the traditional architecture of Lesser Poland, specifically Zalipie village full of beautiful floral patterns. I decided to make it stylised to portray my culture in a positive, approachable way, with more saturated colours and beautiful scenery, opposite to the way Poland is usually portrayed with the ‘grey Polish filter’. I also spent a lot of time on the development of foliage and researched the traditional architectural style of the region. I hope my project evokes a feeling of calmness, freedom and happiness.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
The Kraken's Embrace
In this project, I aim to create a visually captivating 3D scene that portrays a harrowing encounter between a pirate ship and a monstrous kraken. Drawing inspiration from historical maritime lore, old and new pirate media, and Lovecraftian horror themes, the scene will immerse viewers in a thrilling narrative experience. Through meticulous attention to detail and innovative 3D modelling techniques, I seek to evoke a sense of awe and dread, inviting audiences of all backgrounds to explore the rich tapestry of pirate mythology and cosmic horror.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
A Mundane Night
This is a short 5 - 10 minute horror experience. Where you must explore the various rooms and areas within a community centre, performing safety inspections and checks on equipment and the facility. In the darkness a mysterious creature stalks and observes the player throughout their endeavours.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Rex Scottorum
Rex Scottorum is a story about the real Scottish Kings that help shaped Scotland. The narrative of the game heavily focuses on the kings of Scotland during the early Medieval period and Viking era Britain right to the English Civil war and reign of Henry the 2nd. Following Scottish Kings like Macbeth, King Malcolm III, and ending with King David I. The story is presented using Ren'py a engine used to make visual novels. I also made animations in the novel using Unreal Engine.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Hard Surface Vehicle Modelling
Game water is traditionally created using 2D plane simulations with pre-computed behaviours that are not physically accurate. However, 3D water simulations with improved accuracy are now possible to run in real-time due to GPU advancements and parallelisation. This can be done using compute shaders. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, a 3D fluid simulation model, represents water as discrete particles, making it highly parallelisable. Although, it lacks a surface, requiring the reconstruction of it to give it the appearance of water. This project focuses on surface reconstruction using signed distance fields to enhance the visual realism of the 3D water simulation.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
An Evaluation of Realistic Water Surface Creation in 3D Water Simulations for Video Games using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH)
Game water is traditionally created using 2D plane simulations with pre-computed behaviours that are not physically accurate. However, 3D water simulations with improved accuracy are now possible to run in real-time due to GPU advancements and parallelisation. This can be done using compute shaders. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, a 3D fluid simulation model, represents water as discrete particles, making it highly parallelisable. Although, it lacks a surface, requiring the reconstruction of it to give it the appearance of water. This project focuses on surface reconstruction using signed distance fields to enhance the visual realism of the 3D water simulation.
BA (Hons) Game Design & Production
Swift Steps Parkour system prototype
Games are fun. Fun is incredibly subjective. What’s thrillingly exciting to one, will be overwhelmingly exhausting to another. Understanding how to make the entire gameplay experience pleasant is a very complex consideration of game design. For this project, I’ve looked into games which use movement as a gameplay mechanic. How a system which is extremely common can become a constant stream of user satisfaction and make the game engaging even without larger objectives or quests. This project is also my personal entry-point to C++ in Unreal.
BA (Hons) Game Design & Production
What Happens In Dundee
In the game, the player will follow spirits to Dundee landmarks by navigating a fantasy-inspired map of Dundee. Completing a locative puzzle of a landmark – for example, putting “joy” in the “Be open to the joy you deserve” in V&A balcony – the player will uncover the spirit’s memory on that landmark. The more of ghost’s memories player discovers, the more the spirit starts looking like a person again. When the player finds all her memories, they may talk with the spirit. All three spirits share a past.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games & Technology
Procedural Generation in 3D Platformer level
Procedural Generation in 3D Platformer level been used in Unreal Engine. To help design platformer levels for example I am recreating a Mario 64 level using procedural generation technique to help generate the mountains and random static mesh of spawning paths. That each time the player spawn the path to the goal change with different obstacles and paths. This technique would help with future game developer on designing 3d Platformer levels as less member can be involved making it and help improve the graphics as well.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Believable Creature Animation
The purpose of this project is to create a set of animations using a pre-built creature rig. These animations will be made in Maya and then brought into Unreal, where they will be used to create an interactive animation demo. The animations will be based on real world animals, mix and matching various behaviours into a seamless but recognisable and empathetic performance. The goal of the project is to show that “realistic” does not mean “emotionless” and to show that it is possible to create a character that audiences can connect with even with fantastical creatures.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
On The Line
"On the Line" a horror vertical slice set in a dystopian world, designed to explore the principles of color theory while confronting challenges of disorientation and navigation. Jonathan, dealing with the denial of his Red citizen status and the looming threat of redundancy alongside his friend Garry, finds himself being betrayed. Garry's act of sabotage against Holliday's inventions marks the beginning of a mysterious disappearance, leaving behind only a talking phone and a Red citizen pass. As post-Commemoration Day technology malfunctions, Jonathan undertakes a search to unravel Garry's mysterious actions and save The Line from impending danger.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Blooming Book
A fixed animation of a camera walking towards an uncharted area within a dense forest. Within this clearing are rocks with what appears to be runes that start to glow the closer you get. You notice a book on a pedestal in the middle of the rune rocks. Getting close enough to the book, it starts flipping through the pages, showing context and giving a sense of mystery as the flipping is too fast to read. It lands on a blooming spell. As the runes are glowing and the spell has been landed on, you notice flowers starting to bloom around the clearing, heightening the enchanting atmosphere, making it even more beautiful than before.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
The Gates of Winterward
An interactive story made in RPG Maker about three teenage thieves, a shapeshifter, a mage and an archer rogue. The story details their short but impactful journey after a heist goes horribly wrong. This top down game mixes visual novel elements to create an immersive experience that mainly focuses on storytelling. The story itself touches upon the wants and aspirations of young people growing up in dire circumstances, and their resolve to move past those challenges.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Perspective
Concept art project titled 'Perspective' focused on self perception. following a struggling artist bored of the world around him, as he attempts to catch the attention of a girl who's style stands out from the world around her to finally learn that to her he stands out just as much.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Combat & Customisation
An Action RPG style game inspired by Final Fantasy 16 and Granblue Fantasy: Relink. The game has a focus on using different attacking skills. These abilities are designed not only to take on enemies in varying ways but to also explore a semi open world environment. This project uses a different take on the classic element system seen in most games in the same genre as the player has the ability to change their element on the fly which alters their stats and lets them keep their combo going.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Ghatanothoa, The Dark God
My idea consists of designing a brand-new season for Smite, a MOBA video game developed by Hi-Rez Studios. The final product will result in an art portfolio that will include, the final character concept art sketch, a lore describing the character and its interactions with the existing ones and four active abilities alongside a passive one. The largest research area for my Honours Project is concentrated around Character Design in multiplayer, online, battle arena games. These types of video games are immensely popular. I strive to go on the journey that is the character creation process behind a MOBA, from defining their roles and abilities to finding the perfect visual representation through conceptualisation. Therefore, my research will focus on developer insights regarding these characters as well as the research I require to undergo to design the character itself, such as science/weird fiction genre characteristics for H.P. Lovecraft’s work. Furthermore, I will sustain research for character development through case studies that document concept art, iterative design processes of my own and prototyping. The research conducted within the developer’s insights will cover Official Developer Blogs and Updates, Interviews, Community Forums and Gaming Conferences. Furthermore, the research regarding genre characteristics will cover Cosmic Horror, Eldritch Abominations, Cultural Relativism, Forbidden Knowledge.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Mark of the Witch
Mark of the Witch is a horror zine that explores fear and its distorting effects of reality throughout the period of witch trials in Scotland. Through mixed media art and a short narrative, it takes the viewer through the causes, effects, and outcomes of witchcraft and witch trials from the point of view of the godly witch hunter seeking to protect society from evil. The zine shows how fear distorts both the witch hunter and witch based on their actions and perceived actions, questioning who the real villain was in the end.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
The Redfield Mall
The Redfield Mall is a survival horror game where the player must survive and escape an abandoned mall while being hunted by the ghost that haunts the mall. The player must explore the mall while avoiding the ghost to find the keys to the mall to escape. The project focuses on researching and designing an advanced game AI. The ghost is controlled by an advanced AI. As the player progresses through the game, the ghost’s aggression will increase which will change the ghost’s behaviour.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Momus Catalogue of Oddities
A collection of theoretical products being advertised in an Argos inspired catalogue where the seller has a limited understanding of what the average consumer truly desires. From upside down umbrellas to unexplainable substances described as food, there is something for everyone. My goal was to improve a pre-existing project that I was unable to develop as I intended. I also wanted to improve in both my prop and graphic design skills. With research into the uncanny valley and the appeal of the horror genre my aim was to balance the fun and desirable with the unnerving to create something unique.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Ruined Wanderers
Ruined Wanderers is a narrative adventure game that explores the journey of its 3 characters, Spike, Box, and Flowerpot, as they journey through the strange ruined, apocalyptic, and overgrown land of the Forgotten City. With a strong focus on narrative design, the game puts you in charge of all 3 characters. Challenging you to navigate them through not only bizarre scenarios they find themselves in, but also the interpersonal conversations and connections they have with themselves. Will the characters stay together or will their ruinous past’s split them apart?
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Transmorphia
Transmorphia is a fine art exhibition exploring and tackling the recent escalation of transphobia within modern society and politics. The project seeks to convey the struggles facing the transgender community into universal horrors and experiences. Following a wide range of inspirations such as Francis Bacon, Joel-Peter Witkin and David Lynch the exhibition explores diverse subject matter and aesthetics. Creating a platform for transgender communities is hugely important when their voices are being silenced elsewhere, the stories and subject matter explored will give context, understanding and help bridge gaps to outsiders of the community.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
In Service of Creation
The research paper talks about the origin and the process that a live-service game goes through in its lifetime which ranges from Pre-Production to Post-Production workloads. The Case Studies presents 3 separate games which have defined the genre based on their successes and what future live-service games can learn from their results.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Shores of Desolation: Surviving on The Edge
Sometime in the not-so-distant future, pollution has breached its tipping point, resulting in humanity being severely impacted. Toxic fumes fill mainland Britain, making it uninhabitable. Those who survive seek refuge on the shoreline. The environment I intend to create will showcase an example of what a lone survivors living situation is like 10-15 years after the climate apocalypse. I aim to create a fully rendered 3D environment that follows the typical AAA game art pipeline. The atmosphere will be bleak and gloomy in the final environment, to suggest that this is a dystopian future, appose to a utopia. A focus here will be creating a narrative through the environment, I want to hone this skill as it will allow viewers a deeper insight into the world they are viewing and create a deeper understanding of what type of world this is and what type of person lives here.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
How To Be A Dog
An animated short to a reading of the poem "How To Be A Dog" by Andrew Kane. The short is centered around a dog longing to be loved by its owner in the same way people long to have that same companionship with other people. Research included a lot of gut wrenching poetry and music, as well as looking into the psychology that comes into play when dealing with platonic and romantic relationships.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Create Compendium
A small collection of illustrated pages depicting forgotten forest creature from the journal of a studious ranger. The selection of creatures are intended to appear semi-realistic, and have links to one another through their roles in the environment/food chain.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Motion Capture Animation
By using motion capture performances, which would be provided by the Renaissance Martial Arts Society at Abertay, I will be creating short animated sequences with exaggerated keyframe animations over the top of the sequence. I will be articulating a pipeline so that the process can be replicated using the same hardware and software to create similar animations. The creation of this project is to experiment with new and alternative methods to develop animations as well as becoming familiar with motion capture.
BSc (Hons) Computer Game Applications Development
Online Shooter in a Non-Euclidean World
An Online first-person shooter that utilizes 3D world wrapping, the game design technique where players can exit on one size of the map and re-enter on the other.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
S.N.A.C.K
A short animation created to portray isolation and loneliness, with a snack presentation in the style of a colourful modern advert, bringing temporary happiness and comfort. The twist being that the snack is made with lots of chemicals and unknown substances through use of manufacturing. This is conveyed through several representations of mass manufacturing and the use of unnatural components and colours. This contradicts the happy, friendly and light-hearted presentation of the snack, “sugar coating” the reality of what is being consumed.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Using Spatial Design within Urban Combat
A level design project which focuses on using spatial design techniques to create an immersive FPS combat within an urban environment. I want the player to be influenced by both the level & the gameplay to take cover and move methodically throughout the level. Such as using everyday objects such as streetlights, cars, shelfing & more to move from cover to cover whilst fighting. I want the player to feel both intimidated, yet determined to push forward during each combat scenario by using their own knowledge & understanding of these urban spaces.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Highlands
The Highlands is an Environment Set based on Celtic and Scandinavian landscapes. The process begins by utilizing real-life heightmap data to recreate a location in a virtual setting, optimizing it with terrain-building software like World Machine and GAEA. Next, the terrain is set up in Unreal Engine 5. Asset creation follows, using Blender to craft detailed 3D models, which are then textured in Substance Painter. These textured assets are imported into Unreal Engine 5, where set dressing further enhances the scene's authenticity. Finally, a virtual camera is employed to capture scenes within the created set, ensuring a seamless integration into the virtual production setup.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
The Situational Survivalists
This project will portray three child characters, one of which is an undercover robot, intentionally leaving their robotic identity ambiguous. There is a deep sense of paranoia between adults and children as the robots disguise themselves as the vulnerable to survive. The quiet and meek are attacked. In the visual narrative conveyed through their clothing, the children defiantly push back against this oppressive reality, understanding that anything less than bold self-expression paints them as prey. Alongside this, I will design a robotic creature design; these robots only serve the purpose of survival. As a result, their visual concept will depict their avoidance of confrontation wherever they can through their disguise and speed instead of harm.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Passage: Map Design for Competitive Shooter
Creating a super simplified version of a new map (greybox) which introduces systematic tunnels as entry points to promote strategic variety for the competitive shooter 'VALORANT' to test the layout for the gameplay experience.
BA (Hons) Games Design and Production
Custom weapon editor for Unreal Engine
I am making a custom editor tool in Unreal Engine. It is built using editor utility widgets and the gameplay ability system (GAS). This tool is meant to help cut down on repetitive tasks and make the process of weapon creation for a third person game more designer friendly.
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology
Visualising voxels with Octrees and Raytracing
The project aims to benchmark the efficiency of Octrees and raytracing in DX11, using compute shaders to visualise thousands of voxels in a space, with an emphasis on increasing traversal speed and reducing memory consumption. Testing static models, animated models, and destruction/reconstruction to gauge the feasibility of the techniques in a game engine setting. The voxels in question are on a very small scale and non-polygonal, consider Teardown, not Minecraft.
BA (Hons) Game Design and Production
Game a Week
Each week during the semester I have made a different game which has a unique random theme to it. At the end of week I release the game on itch.io for anyone to play it. Finally I complete a post-mortem of the game to see what went well, what can be improved and if I made any major mistakes. This project isn't to make an amazing game, its to learn how to quickly make prototypes and create a library of code and assets that I can use in future projects.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
Kizuna Academy
Looking into how to design a game environment to create a space for players to feel safe, cosy and relaxed. Creating a Japanese high school environment scene to fit in a slice-of-life inspired cosy life-sim game.
BA (Hons) Computer Arts
BORYANA
My goal for my Honours project is to use the engaging medium of 2D animation to breathe new life into the rich traditions and tapestry of Slavic culture. My aim is to produce a cinematic trailer for a 2D animated film that will allow viewers to see the world through the eyes of a Bulgarian girl who is blind. She sees the world through the captivating patterns of our heritage and the melodic tones of traditional Slavic bells. Driven by an undying affection for my ethnic heritage, my objective is to infuse each frame with the spirit of Slavic rituals and folklore. My research focuses on the core of Slavic traditions, exploring their cultural complexity and historical significance. Through this artistic journey, I also want to demonstrate my proficiency in 2D animation using advanced animation techniques and cinematography concepts. Through portraying the strong bond between my character and her cultural heritage, I aim to showcase the vibrant essence of Slavic culture. This project will not only help me develop a professional 2D animated piece, but it will also serve as my declaration to the world that Slavic culture is in fact diverse, dynamic, vibrant, and ready to be explored and appreciated.
