Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Digital Production Arts
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Eric Patterson
Committee Member
Dr. Jerry Tessendorf
Committee Member
Prof. Rodney Costa
Abstract
In the landscape of interactive entertainment, the synergy between game play and real-time cinematics has become a pivotal force driving innovation and engagement in modern video games. “The Star Caller” is a project made by a small group of talented artists that explores this intersection. It serves as a prime example of how these two features coexist in modern gaming. This project utilizes the fundamentals of not only video game storytelling, but also all the popular aspects of a single player experience. Artistic inspiration from popular works such as God of War: Ragnarok, Warframe, and films such as Children of Men shaped the entire framework of this project, paying homage to these cinematic aspects featured in those games. As the director of this project, I brought together a team of diverse students, each contributing a unique background to author assets required to create the proof of concept for “The Star Caller”. The insights from various stages of the pipeline frequently led to the creation of new methods to streamline processes for efficiently delivering assets
to be incorporated into the game. This then turned to hands-on experience of realizing what it would be like to deal with real issues created by working in a game studio. Through different issues of managing assets, music, and most importantly, people, “The Star Caller” illustrates the effort required to orchestrate the creation of a game featuring unique characters, story-driven environment art, motion capture, and real time visual effects. Bringing this all together, an emphasis was placed on the convergence of cinematics and games, exploring the intricacies of blending these two creative realms to produce a cohesive and immersive gaming experience.
Recommended Citation
Chacko, Jehoshaphat, "The Star Caller: Shining a Light on Game Production and Real Time Cinematics" (2024). All Theses. 4314.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4314