Baldur's Gate II Redux : Dungeon Escape
A scene I designed for the Baldur's Gate 2 Redux team. The scene required much thought for 3D game integration while attempting to remain true to the original 2D version:
All sound effects were manually recorded or taken from libraries, and original game music was re-edited and selected to fit moments of the scene. Mo-cap animations selected from the Dragon Age library were layered, combined weighted and cut to fit the feel and motion of the characters, to make it look and feel as realistic as possible.
Mentioned in PC Gamer, Kotaku and various other sites. Tweeted by David Gaider, lead writer of the Dragon Age franchise and retweeted by Trent Oster from Overhaul Games. Youtube comments can be found here.
Uploaded August 29th 2012
Alistair's Royal Wedding
Inspired by the Dragon Age Alistair romance, I decided to create an actual "Wedding" ceremony between the player and Alistair replacing the in-game epilogue slide. The scene will only trigger when gameplay requirements are met.
Through the BioWare Social Network, I recruited an online testing team, aspiring texture artists and a talented game scripter to assist in making this mod a reality.
Music drove my imagination to stretch the engine limits to capacity by creating a full fledged scene using over 750 live animated NPCs, dynamic in-cutscene lighting additional props and realistic character movements resulting in my most successful mod endeavor yet. The scene includes a system compatibility test program as well as a Dress-pack for players to choose from. Attendee appearance is based on player decisions throughout their game.
Aside from technical issues, notable challenges faced were:
1. Limiting the player's facial expression to the bare minimum while keeping the scene realistic.
2. Each shot required a different lighting scheme.
3. Cinematic continuity maintained by adding creature replacements for NPCs that would not appear if the player dissmissed/killed them during their game.
Released: October 2010 http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/1839
**Won Nexus File of the month October 2010
Flemeth confrontation Scene 4/5 WIP
Joining various modding teams in leading overall cinematic design tasks, I produced over 50 in game cutscenes and vignettes throughout 2011.
The above scene was designed to be a plot revealing moment for the player. With an extremely limited dragon animation palette, I managed to create a believable confrontation between two "High Dragons". The scene currently remains in WIP status. Animations were layered, reversed, and manipulated in order to achieve the best results. Music is not final.
(Not publicly released)
Alistair's Visible Kiss
My next goal was to produce a visible kiss, which was not an option in the game. Technically, the kiss animations were not designed for visible alignment. Aligning every possible player character with the varying starting positions was a tremendous challenge along with actual mouth alignment.
After weeks of keying work and testing I finally reached a successfully aligning middle ground and released the "Alistair's Visible Kiss" mod for players of all 3 female race sizes to use in their game. The mod includes Human, Elf and Dwarf versions each scene tailored realistically to compensate for size difference.
Released: August 2010 http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/1549
**Won Nexus File of the Month Aug 2010
Fenris: A machinima Adaptation of "A Short Story" by David Gaider
The scene is based on a short story teaser written about DA2's Fenris Character prior to game release.
The above scene to be included in Dragon Age: The Hidden circle, was designed to be a Youtube standalone Machinima as well as an in-game scene.
Models
The scene required the conversion of newer DA2 assets into the older Dragon Age Origins engine. This included model conversion using the assistance of talented modelers around the world. Consequentially this process introduced me to the art of facial rigging.
Levels
I conceived and drafted the exterior level design and worked closely with "AmstradHero", a level design modder from Australia via online screenshare to make that vision a reality.
Real-time and offline Video Editing
The scene, assembled from 4 separate sub-scenes, was combined using the Sony Vegas video editor. Real-time edits performed within the cutscene editor itself.
Sound
Music excerpts were chosen, pitched and re-edited from both Dragon Age games and their DLC using Cubase SX.
Sound effects were manually recorded and voice talent was auditioned and directed for the assisting roles. The original Fenris voice actor (Gideon Emery) agreed to provide the lines for the main character. I used my own voice for the main Narrator and other female roles.
Tweeted by David Gaider, Lead writer of the Dragon Age franchise. Shared on Tumblr and other sites
Uploaded December 22. 2011
Alistair's Dream/Nightmare
A request from "The Hidden Circle" mod leader, I was asked to create a dream sequence for the Alistair character in Dragon Age.
Story background: Alistair lost his close friend and mentor to a major battle due to what he believes is Loghain's betrayal when he failed to send in promised troops for support.
After much planning and thought to the character's inner pain, fear and actions during the game, I completed this scene using four separate scenes mostly in first person POV. Bar music was taken from the game to maintain player immersion and additional external music to enhance the darker moments. Sound effects recorded manually from the game and manipulated as needed.
Tweeted by David Gaider, lead writer of the Dragon Age franchise as well as other Dragon Age prominent developers.
Shared on Tumblr
Uploaded March 31, 2012
Cullen: A stolen kiss between a mage and a Templar
A community modder requested my assistance in creating a dramatic kissing scene between characters that were not allowed to be seen together. The scene and music searching/editing took me three days to complete:
Released December 2010 http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/1949
Alistair's First Night
Initially unfamiliar with the Dragon Age motion capture animation library, I did my best to bring imagination to reality by combining a large number of unrelated animations to create my very first scene.
This scene is playable as a mod for Dragon Age players who wished to see a more story specific scene depicting Alistair's first night with a woman, while maintaining the original game scene fade-to-black style. Music was re-edited for scene length.
Released July 2010. http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/1420
**Won Nexus File of the Month Feb 2012