Thesis


– Half-Life 2: Episode 2

– Single-player level with accompanying research and thesis

– Approx. 10 minutes of gameplay

– Current Status: Defended and Passed!

“Creating new levels based on existing material in film: an investigation into best practices” is a thesis level and study performed as part of the MIT program at The Guildhall at SMU. In this thesis, I defined and tested a selection of best practices in adapting a scene from a film to a video game level. I combined research from both media to inform the level’s adaptation. Participants in the study played through the level and provided data to confirm or deny the level’s success at adaptation.

Design goals for this project include:

– Adapt the “Deja Vu” scene from The Matrix into a video game level

– Recreate the scene’s emotions while avoiding player dissonance

– Utilize creative scripting to adapt to the constraints of the chosen engine