Spike's Digital Media Blog

  Today I began working on implementing a narrative into Hemisphere beyond just the first level. To briefly summarise it: A man named James in the not so distant future gets into a motorcycle crash on a stormy summer evening. He is put into an experimental stasis pod after being rushed to a nearby hospital in hopes that they can restore functionality to his legs after it was lost as a result of brain damage. As implied with the neame of the game, James is then put into a simulation where he must learn to use both of his Brain hemispheres in tandem as a means of returning his coordination. Because the Simulation is built upon the dreams of the patient, James' fears and anxieties affect the simulation in unpredictable ways, he also cometimes hears snippets of conversation outside the pod between the Doctor, Nurse as well as his Wife, Elsie and their son, Tom. As James continues on. The AI running the Simulation, Hemi-Omega 5 tries to encourage and focus James' mind so he can leav...

Today I began editing the promo trailer for my project. I wanted it to be slower and more ambient than the showreel with fades instead of cuts and a more narrative based approach. I tried to make most of it in Unreal Engine in-game, manipulating the editor camera for shots rather than doing it all in post.  Watch it here:  https://youtu.be/s7_q8gCeOQo?si=cJc2WTEKt9KuAZGz

Today I spent most of my time decorating the Hospital level, visuals were a little more important this time around because of the lack of challenge in platforming and obstacles, it acts more as an environment to tell the most important part of the story (When I get to writing the dialogue and implementing it into the game). In terms of decorations there are beds, benches and posters mainly, just to fill out the corridors a little. The posters are meant to be a humourous jibe at the american healthcare system, where the game takes place, which I feel just adds a little more personality to the game.   Going through this door and into the light will take the player to an end screen, which will havce text explaining the ending once the player chracter, James, leaves the simulation in the story.   I also added the TVs for story exposition, which is my next big priority, now that the game can be beaten from start to end.