Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
School of Computing
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Eric Patterson
Committee Member
Anthony Summey
Committee Member
Dr. Matias Volonte
Abstract
As the audience for gaming grows and expands, gamers consistently crave new stories that are interesting and that immerse them. The ability of gamers to relate to the characters is solely dependent on conscious choices made by developers. For the story to be enjoyable and immersive, It helps to understand the character’s motivation. Why would they act this way? Would they make this choice? Understanding a character culturally is a step in the right direction to gaining this needed understanding. Conveying culture respectfully in games is always a challenge. The goal of this project is to use the Unreal Engine to create the building blocks of an introductory level to a larger story. The level guides the player through a dilapidated village near the cliffs, struggling with Neo-colonialism. A large inspiration for this project in terms of level design and narrative design is projects was Seasons: A Letter to the Future. With this being a level design project, there is an emphasis on game mechanics. At this stage in game development, level design mechanics do not need to be in their finished state; however, they must be in a usable state for the other developers in the pipeline. Using mechanics in a way to drive the story further, and immersion is another facet. to explore in this project. With the use of culturally specific mechanics in gameplay, the player can Immerse yourself in a new culture with more ease.
Recommended Citation
Fleming, Sydney A V, "Depicting Cultural Nuance Through Level Design" (2026). All Theses. 4784.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4784
Comments
An Unreal Engine project using blueprint showcasing culture the level and mechanic design.