TICKETS ON SALE: Establishing Scene and Crafting the Beginning of a Game​

This is a workshop on defining the expectations of a player in the very first parts of a game. Not just for establishing setting or mood, but for purposefully crafting the mind of the player around what your game might be. A carefully crafted image for conducting powerful experiences.

Learn how to meaningfully combine gameplay and narrative in this technical workshop by game artist Taylor Bai-Woo, aka FromSmiling (Gloam Collective, Osteotic Bypass). Taylor will start by leading participants through her own game, the psychologically unsettling First Person Shooter Frail Shells, explaining her creative and technical decisions along the way. As a group, you will then work together with the instructor to brainstorm ideas for the beginning of a game, and then learn how to create it in Unity. At the end of the workshop, participants will swap the games they’ve made, followed by discussion about the effectiveness of the storytelling and ways to convey meaning through mechanics. Taylor will facilitate this exercise with technical and design support.

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Event Details

Saturday, April 21
1-4pm
Electric Perfume, 805 Danforth Ave. (near Pape Station)
Facebook Event Page

Requirements

  • Basic game design understanding and technical literacy are required
  • Your own laptop with Unity installed
  • Basic to intermediate understanding of Unity
  • Play through of Frail Shells before the workshop (optional but recommended; it’s very short)

Pricing

  • $25+HST for HES members (Monthly, Annual, Student, Studio, Volunteer)
  • $40+HST for non-members (Not a member? Sign up here!)

Workshop size is 12 participants maximum. If you are in financial need or have accessibility requirements, please contact info@handeyesociety.com and we will try our best to make alternate arrangements.

About the Instructor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor Bai-Woo / @fromsmiling
Taylor Bai-Woo is a game maker (artist, programmer, designer) from Toronto, Canada that co-owns a studio called Gloam Collective (working on a game called Bravery Network)! Outside of her studio (sometimes inside) she tends to make weird explorative games, usually ones that set an expectation and then break it in the best ways possible. She cares a lot about characters, atmosphere, and building a world that doesn’t necessarily make sense, but gives a feeling.

Notes from the instructor on this workshop:

For me this is about how I’ve broken games down into a very simple language of design. It’s about how people’s motivations work and what kind of attitudes different people might come into a game with. It’s about giving as powerful an experience and expression as possible to a player and to as many as possible. The design I’m talking about here is also the same way I look at everyday systems beyond games. Design as a language. Designs as accessibility. I have a strong belief that design shouldn’t inhibit people’s ability to navigate systems, especially essential systems. I feel that having a strong understanding of how to play with design and bringing people to specific states of minds through design is a very crucial part of how we make the world a better place.

More Experimental Game Design Workshops!

The Hand Eye Society is proud to present a series of workshops that encourages participants to create games in a new light. Coordinated by game-makers known for their thoughtful and innovative approaches to playful media, these workshops attempt to educate from more experimental, alternative perspectives. Participants will be able to take home useful technical skills, while being encouraged to explore unique game mechanics and meaningful themes in their own practice. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council.

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This workshop was made possible by the Ontario Arts Council.

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