Jordan Cordina
Trailer created by Linda Turunen, Lead Designer.
Telling the BeesGenre: Narrative Puzzler
Players: Singleplayer (Offline) Platform: PC Status: Vertical-slice, Prototype |
ContributionsPosition: Producer, Designer (Generalist)
Team Size: 8 person Using: Unreal Engine 4 Duration: 4 Months |
Responsibilities
- Responsible for designing the unique singing mechanic and implementing assets in-engine
- Filled a flex role as a generalist designer, editing cutscenes and creating 30+ UI assets
- Responsible for project timeline, co-ordinating team and client communications
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Telling the bees
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I was the producer and a design generalist on Telling the Bees. It was developed from an industry-supplied brief, providing our team with some initial direction and restrictions. The theme was: 'Ghost of the Past', and the brief requested we tell an emotional, interactive story in a non-traditional way, omitting the use of text or dialogue. Our final product was a vertical slice demo, that offered the game's first level to explore, demonstrating the basics of the singing mechanic and establishing the world and tone we created.
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Telling the Bees follows the Mother and her newborn child, as she asks the nature spirits to aid her ascend the mountain to the site of her ruined village. Here, she seeks to fulfil an ancient custom - introducing her baby to her ancestors and the bee-like nature spirits that call the village their home. Telling the Bees is based on the ancient Celtic custom of the same name, where Beekeepers would tell their Bees of significant events in their life like births and deaths, believing that the Bees represented the spirits of their ancestors.
Production responsibilities
As producer, it was my role to determine the project's scope and timeline, and to work with team members across Art, Design, Programming and Audio disciplines to co-ordinate their efforts and ensure clear lines of cross-disciplinary communication. To facilitate this, I implemented an agile development process, working in fortnightly sprints and a weekly stand-up. I represented my team, communicating with our client in a professional capacity, to give regular progress reports and negotiated more realistic deliverables as the project evolved. I documented critical client feedback and cascaded this to the team to guide our subsequent iterations and improve the quality of our final product.
An important realisation I have taken away from this project is that different teams and team members have differing needs, and it is the responsibility of a producer to facilitate those needs in a way that is most useful for each individual. Development is not a rigid process and flexibility is key.
An important realisation I have taken away from this project is that different teams and team members have differing needs, and it is the responsibility of a producer to facilitate those needs in a way that is most useful for each individual. Development is not a rigid process and flexibility is key.
Design responsibilities
As a design generalist, I worked with the design lead to define and build upon the core concepts that became Telling the Bees. As such, I contributed to many areas of design, including the unique singing mechanic which became the defining aspect of this project.
The singing mechanic revolves around four rune patterns, which are unlocked as the player progresses through the first level. Each rune represents a request for help that the Mother sings to the nature spirits, who help her along on her journey by harnessing nature's power. The singing UI revolves around four nodes, each tied to a different musical note. The starting note and order in which these four notes nodes are connected determines the song sung, and are used to complete various tasks around the level. Whilst the puzzles in the Telling the Bees demo were somewhat simple, this mechanic has great potential. Future development would see multiple runes being used in succession, with the player recognising which runes are most suited for the task and memorising their sequences.
The singing mechanic revolves around four rune patterns, which are unlocked as the player progresses through the first level. Each rune represents a request for help that the Mother sings to the nature spirits, who help her along on her journey by harnessing nature's power. The singing UI revolves around four nodes, each tied to a different musical note. The starting note and order in which these four notes nodes are connected determines the song sung, and are used to complete various tasks around the level. Whilst the puzzles in the Telling the Bees demo were somewhat simple, this mechanic has great potential. Future development would see multiple runes being used in succession, with the player recognising which runes are most suited for the task and memorising their sequences.
Telling the Bees Gallery
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Copyright - Jordan Cordina - 2024
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