Game and Narrative Design | Alex(andria) van Eekelen

Alex(andria)
interactive Narrative designer

My name is Alex(andria),

a Utrecht-based game and interactive narrative designer with her roots in D&D homebrew

As a recent graduate with a BSc in Creative Media and Game Technologies, I'm currently applying for a master's.

My interest lies in providing insight through interaction, whether it be interactive stories or experiences.

For 20 weeks I have worked as an intern game/narrative designer at FourceLabs, contributing to the game Unexplored 2.

I hope my work catches your fancy, and feel free to shoot me a message about whatever!

Note

alexandria.vaneekelen@gmail.com

shoebby#1212

RESUME

Dutch

English

The Puppeteer's Troupe
(Cancelled)

Graduation Project

For my graduation project I planned to develop a tabletop RPG which aimed to trigger critical thought about gender roles and gender expression in its participants; and using tech as a tool to break through the medium's pen & paper traditions to achieve this goal as effectively as possible.

Genre: Tabletop RPG

Duration: 20 weeks

Artefact Document

Contributions

Game Design

Designing a character creation system which imposes roles onto the players.
Designing 3 archetypes (or classes) for playtesting purposes.
Designing game rules.

Narrative Design

Establishing a narrative theme in collaboration with a visual artist.
Developing an NPC playbook for the main antagonist of the experience, The Puppeteer.

Maintenance
(Shelved)

"Take your self, you'll be okay."

Maintenance is a psychological survival horror game. Though in the vein of classics such as Silent Hill, Kuon, Rule of Rose, and Eternal Darkness, it strives to carve its own path using contemporary themes as inspiration for its narrative.

Genre: Survival Horror

Engine: Unity

Duration: Ongoing (Paused)

Design Bible

Contributions

Game Development

Creating a flexible fixed camera system.
Creating an inventory system.

Game Design

Maintaining a comprehensive design bible.
Designing multiple puzzles.
Designing multiple enemies.

Narrative Design

Writing NPC dialogue.
Writing item descriptions
Designing and implementing narrative-driven systems and mechanics.

Visual Design

Character design, modelling, texturing, and animation.
Environmental and prop design.
UI design

Unexplored 2
(Intern Position)

"Take care, wayfarer."

UE2 is a roguelite RPG, which I was able to contribute to during the last few months of development. I mostly worked on narrative, UX, and UI design.

Genre: Roguelite RPG

Engine: Unity

Duration: 20 weeks

Store Page: Unexplored 2

Internship Report (Dutch)

Contributions

Content Design

Designing new gift items, relics, consumables, and trade items.
Designing and implementing new journey encounters.

Narrative Design

Writing NPC dialogue.
Writing item descriptions.

Redesigning the clan relation system.
Quest design.

UI/UX

Designing mockups and proposals for controller support.
Designing a map-marking system.

Player Communication

Helping players by fixing their saves in case of bugs.
Compiling player feedback and turning them into concrete feature proposals.

KLÖR
(BSc Group Project)

"Become a whole person."

KLÖR is a sci-fi RPG thriller, about a child who grows up and emotionally develops within the confines of a cult.

The character growing up and maturing is indicated using a system inspired by tarot cards.

Genre: RPG Thriller

Engine: Unity

Duration: +-1 month

Team Size: 2

Itch.io Link: KLÖR

Contributions

Game Design/Generalist

Designing and conducting playtests.
Developing baseline mechanics and functionality.
Implementing 2D assets and animations made by the artist.
Learning and applying the Pixel Crushers dialogue system.

UI Design

Creating and implementing UI features, function and visuals.

Narrative Design

Planning out an overarching plotline.
Designing and developing a dialogue-driven core mechanic.
Writing dialogue.

Call of the cars
(BSc Group Project)

"In the end, we're all just scrap."

A psychological horror game, in which you play as a self-driving car trying to escape a scrapyard.

Genre: First-Person Horror-Racer

Engine: Unity

Duration: 2 months

Team Size: 5

Itch.io Link: Call of the Cars

Contributions

Game & Level Design

Blocking out and testing the level.
Implementing functionality developed by the developer.
Implementing assets made by the artists.
Implementing lighting and post-processing effects.

Narrative Design

Writing dialogue.

Additional

Created and maintained a development roadmap.
GitHub setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

When The vengeful spirit rode
(BSc Solo Project)

"Nothing more fiery than a wraith's burning hatred"

A top-down shooter in which you play as a recently-passed specter, avenging his own death in a high-paced, ricochet-heavy western setting.

Genre: Top-Down Shooter

Engine: Unity

Duration: 2 months

Itch.io Link: When The Vengeful Spirit Rode

Contributions

Game Design

Constructing levels
Designing the mechanics (e.g. dash, level elements, bullet behaviour).

Visual Design

Determining and implementing the art style.

Development

Implementation of the game design.

fishy friends!
(BSc Group Project)

"Make some colourful friends in a relaxing 8-bit environment!"

A hyper-casual fishing game in which the player can meet thousands of unique fish.

Made over a very short time in a previously unknown engine.

Genre: Fishing, Generator

Engine: PICO-8

Duration: 2 weeks

Team Size: 2

Itch.io Link: Fishy Friends!

Final Presentation

Contributions

Game Design

Concepting an interactive design around shareability

Visual Design

Fish and UI pixelart

Development

Development and implementation of all functionality
Fish generation with variable shape, pattern, and colours

North star mining co.
(BSc Solo Project)

"Hire miners, fight off pirates, and exploit the cosmos."

A real-time strategy game where you manage a mining operation.

Made for an IA course.

Genre: Strategy

Engine: Unity

Duration: ~1 month

Itch.io Link: North Star Mining Co.

IA Documentation

Contributions

Game Design

Designing and playtesting all systems found within the game.

Environmental Design

Establishing a mood through sound, visual design, and post-processing effects.

Development

Development and implementation of the game's functionality
State machine writing for the pirates, miners, and stocks.

Warpman sam
(BSc Solo Project)

"Think before you warp."

A puzzle game where your sole mode of movement is your greatest enemy.

A combination of puzzle-solving and evasive dexterity.

Genre: 2D Environmental Puzzler

Engine: Unity

Duration: 2 months

Itch.io Link: Warpman Sam

Contributions

Level & Puzzle Design

Constructing levels and puzzles around the mechanics.

Game Design

Designing the mechanics (e.g. teleportation, level elements).

Development

Implementation of the game design.
Simplifying level creation by writing versatile code.

FPS level design
(BSc Solo Project)

"This should be a cowboy shooter!"

A series of level iterations for an objective-based multiplayer parkour shooter.

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Engine: Unity

Duration: 1 month

Itch.io Link: FPS Level Design Tests

Design Doc

Contributions

Game Development

Creating a flexible fixed camera system.
Creating an inventory system.

Game Design

Maintaining a comprehensive design bible.
Designing multiple puzzles.
Designing multiple enemies.

Narrative Design

Writing NPC dialogue.
Writing item descriptions
Designing and implementing narrative-driven systems and mechanics.

Visual Design

Character design, modelling, texturing, and animation.
Environmental and prop design.
UI design

connections
(BSc Group Project)

"Let us take you for a ride."

A VR social game that aims to bring people together in a digital landscape.

Players travel by busses to their destinations, meeting new people along the way with every transfer.

Genre: Online Multiplayer, Social, Casual

Engine: Unity

Duration: 1 month

Team Size: 6

Itch.io Link: Connections

Contributions

Game Design

Plotting out the bus travel system.
Designing and developing an emote system.

UI Design

Implementation of VR-compatible UI

Development

Implementation of Oculus VR functionality.

Additional

Source control setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

The Pluimer Complex
(Shelved)

"Observe, Learn, Adapt, Reflect."

The Pluimer Complex has the player take on the role of an apartment complex’s surveillance AI, installed by a regime that has since been toppled and has left the system forgotten.

With a master long gone the player observes and learns from the day-by-day lives of the folk that live ‘inside of them’.

Genre: Visual Novel

Engine: Unity

Duration: N/A

Design Bible

Contributions

Game Design

Maintaining a comprehensive design bible.
Designing a PC degradation system.
Designing a 'growing' character customization system.

Narrative Design

Plotting out narrative threads of the different apartments.
Designing the 'Library of Norms', an in-universe progression system.

Visual Design

Designing character portraits.

The Anders Cyclopaedia
(Graduation Project)

Lexicology and Exploration

An experiment of merging digital and pen & paper gameplay. Explore a parallel world and record its denizens to your Cyclopaedia.

Genre: Third-Person, Exploration, Puzzle

Engine: Unity

Duration: 20 weeks

Itch.io link: The Anders Cyclopaedia

Companion Paper: No Stupid Questions

Contributions

Visual Design

Modelling and texturing a 3D player model.
Modelling and texturing 4 Andersian creatures.
Modelling and texturing various environmental assets.

Level Design

Designing 3 explorable areas.

Animation

Rigging and animating each creature.
Rigging and making a few custom animations for the player character.

Game Design

Establishing the core premise of the game.
Designing 5 main areas, each with their own puzzles and level elements.
Designing the Cyclopaedia aspect of the game.

Narrative Design

Writing all of the game's dialogue.
Implementing narrative "pipe" scenes between explorable areas.
Writing the Cyclopaedia, with the addition of narrative tidbits to be used in puzzles.

Audio Design

Production and implementation of various sound effects.
Production of 1 musical track.

ONEIRO(PHOBIA/PHRENIA)
(Finished?)

A CRT TV Dreamscape Sim

Software you can wander through, inspired by the dreams and nightmares of me and my loved ones.

Genre: First-Person, Atmospheric, Simulator

Engine: Unity

Duration: ~3 months

Itch.io link: ONEIRO(PHOBIA/PHRENIA)

Contributions

Game Development

Developing a channel switching system based on numerical key inputs.
First time working with interfaces, to develop a solid system for implementing interactables.
Developing an elaborate rigidbody player controller.

Game Design