Kevin Kincaid
Game Designer & 3D Artist
The Three Tales
January 2015 -
May 2017
Single Player | Sidescroller
All assets & coding created by Kevin Kincaid
The Three Tales consists of three separate 2D format video games that have different mechanics and follow a different character's journey. Together, they form a complete story. I built these games in a rudimentary game engine that I coded in Processing as part of my undergraduate thesis on video games.
There were two parts to my written thesis. In part two, I critique my work and artistic choices made for The Three Tales. In part one, I discuss the historical development of the game industry, examine video games as an artistic medium, and make suggestions for how the medium could improve in the future. I developed my thesis from researching the writings of Mary Flanagan, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters by Anna Anthropy, Before the Crash by Mark Wolf, and the writings of Ian Bogost, among others.
Development Process
Tale 1: The Knight
Game System Programming
When planning my thesis, I wanted to create a complete video game, but my Unity experience was not at the required level. Instead, I decided to use the Processing coding environment. My first attempt at a Processing-based game engine was two years prior, but ultimately, I had to scrap that project and start from scratch.
In this process, I made a system for making games, not simply coding a game. I built simple classes for each element such as enemies, heroes, levels, etc., but did not hardcode any behaviors. Instead, the information is stored in text documents that the program reads to determine the behaviors of each enemy type. I added functionality so the program can write to these documents. I built specific editing modes into the Processing program that allowed me to customize the specific animations that went with an enemy's attack and to redesign game maps as needed.
I learned how to implement audio FX, user interface controls, and keymapping while balancing everything for efficiency. This project took me through a variety of considerations about game engines and functionality.
Tale 2: The Spirit
The Three Tales
After spending six months programming the game system and writing the literature review, I began creating the actual game. The project represents the kind of artwork I want to create. I settled on making a 2D side-scroller that would utilize pixel art. I made the decision to make three games, each with a distinctive character and playstyle to tell one part of a larger story.
The first tale is that of the knight. This one seems like the most common video game story, except the knight is not really a hero. The knight is one of many traveling through the land, and at the end, the player learns that the knight is just in it for the paycheck. The second tale is of the spirit. This mysterious entity acts in opposition to the knights, summoning monsters as it travels through the levels in order to hunt down animals. Its actions are guided by mysterious messages that appear and can rest once it has completed its duty. The third story is of the civilian who lives in a town with monsters in the surrounding area. The knights eventually come and remove the monsters (which control the animal populations) allowing greater freedom for the townsfolk.
The game development was a rocky process. I had to continually improve the underlying system functionality to deliver on the product. In the end, I created these three games, each with several levels each by the deadline. I am responsible for all assets shown in the game and I created the 2D art using piskelapp.com. I also created the sound effects using Bxfr and an online music creation tool. I have come a long way in my game creation abilities and I think this project is a milestone in my artistic journey.