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Six months ago, the idea for a narrative-driven game about using a radio to communicate with the outside world was first conceptualised. Now we are here, at the end of our university careers, with a game we are immensely proud of - Keeper’s Veil.
I feel like I have come a really long way with how I approach game design. This project allowed me to really make mistakes and come away from them having learnt something I would’ve never tried before. A few months ago, I was clueless with Unity and truly had no idea how c-sharp scripts work, but I have made a visual novel within a few months from scratch. I also learnt a lot about my own art-style and how to implement my assets to bring them to life, and how things constantly change throughout. Our game is completely different from how we originally envisioned it.
I am proud of all my hard work and even though our project had a lot we couldn’t see through, our final result is something I can be really happy with. This whole creative process has left me feeling better prepared for my next big project and a stronger willingness to get out of my comfort zone.
Having taken on the role of environmental artist for a previous project, I had wanted to try something different. I have always been a big fan of fiction, both traditionally through books and non-traditionally through video games. Apart from a short creative writing module, I had never had any experience in writing fiction. Though with my love of reading and from what I could remember from A-level English Language, I thought I could create a visual novel with relative ease… But, after I had planned it and saw how big of a feat it would be, the nerves and insecurities started to creep in.
Though, after first getting past my fear of sharing my writing (and then receiving positive feedback when I finally did share) week-by-week I started getting more confident in my writing. Once I gained some confidence I then could start having some fun with the process; focusing on the writing itself rather than imagining people’s reactions to it.
Another unexpected highlight for me was learning video and audio editing! Sound design is something I have always been super interested in, as I love nothing more than a rich atmosphere, but I have never had much of an opportunity to indulge in it. I am really proud that I tackled the intimidating learning curve that is Adobe Premiere Pro and Audition and created immersive weather ambience tracks for the game as well as edited an entire documentary!
Looking back on where we started, from the highs of our successes and the lows of our obstacles to the finished project we have now, I couldn't be prouder of how far we have both come.
Coming up is our Winchester and London graduate shows where we will showcase Keeper’s Veil to friends, family, the general public and - most excitingly - industry personnel. However, before all of that, we need to paint our very own arcade cabinet. My plan is to do something similar to the style that I painted the sky/ocean scenes for the various backgrounds in the game - perhaps even paint the cabinet like the exterior of a lighthouse? Thank you so much for supporting us and playing Keeper’s Veil, we hope to see you at the shows!