Project: Freefall
Overview
A game concept that was my scholarly thesis for the Institute of Design at Lahti. I aimed to design a complete game on paper, and to write and illustrate a concept document that would showcase this game concept. The final document was printed.
What I did
- Gameplay design
- Story design
- Character design
- Game world and mission design
- Drawing, painting, illustration
- Print document layout
Sketches, work in progress
Final results
Project Freefall Concept Document 
(PDF)
Comments
A complex project in which I wanted to combine all the main aspects of game design that I had previously practiced separately. The game is a Tactical First-Person Squad Shooter / RPG, something that hasn't really been attempted before, until Mass Effect. I would really like to play a game like this.
When designing I concentrated on sound, logical designs, trying to take the different aspects of the game world into consideration when adding and adapting features. There were two cornerstones for every decision and feature: gameplay and atmosphere. I wanted strong gameplay and a gripping atmosphere.
Update, July 2007 - When I was doing this project in the beginning of 2006, Gears of War and Mass Effect were still pretty much under wraps. Gears of War came out and it had a very different concept than what I was looking for, but Mass Effect looks very, very interesting.
Update, January 2008 - Finished Mass Effect and what a game it was. So close to this concept, but different in many ways. Take Mass Effect, Combine it with Rainbow Six Vegas and add the vacuum / zero-g combat that I described in my document, and that's it. Maybe in Mass Effect 2?
Update, October 2008 - Dead Space implements the vacuum/zero-g elements nicely, although they use the "magnetic boots" option instead of the more complex maneuvering pack. And what an atmosphere! Sets high expectations for the brand-new Colonial Marines game. Too bad the Dead Space story was already done in System Shock 2.
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