kate@kateorr.com

Game Trailer for Imly:

Backgrounds by Seung Lee, Characters by Anjie Quijano, Video by Laura Ferguson, Music Composed by Darren Lodwick, Direction and Story by Kate Orr

Screenshots:

All Work done by Team Imly

Inspiration and Story Development

Story of the Game:  Digging up Imly      

A few summers ago, I spent 3 weeks helping my parents dig out the space for a patio in their backyard.  If you have never chopped through dirt, clay, and tree roots for several days, and then filled the hole up again with tarps, gravel and sand, it’s an experience that will change your very soul.  Maybe not, but it will at least change your biceps and give you plenty of time to think as you shovel.  

I started forming the idea that would grow into Imly’s story.  What if we found treasure?  What if we found a body?  What if we found a whole building underneath?   What if, like so many fairy stories, we found an enchantment?  Or a curse?  Though it started as something to keep my mind occupied while I was digging, I wanted to see where the story would go.  I started writing the outline:  The story of a buried palace, dormant because of a curse, waiting for its hero to come home.  

As Art Director:  The storyline is influenced by Celtic folklore, so when I saw how beautiful Cartoon Saloon’s The Secret of Kells is, this became the main influence for our art style.  The brightness and high visibility that was used in Imly helped facilitate better visibility for the mobile devices and gameplay, as well as complimenting the Storybook art style.  

IOS Puzzle Adventure Game for ipad

The creation of Imly afforded me the opportunity to serve as Project Lead, Game Designer, Art Director, and Story Designer.  

Team size:  12    

Length of Development:  7Mos, Currently in Post-Production

Library Level:  Portrait Puzzle

Throne Room Level:  Rotation Puzzle 1

Throne Room Level:  Rotation Puzzle Completion

Grotto Level

As Level Designer:  The gameplay had to fit within our 8-12 minute vertical slice window, so 3 puzzles were planned with about 3 minutes to complete each one.  Using the Library and the Throne Room of the castle allowed me to design puzzles based upon objects that might be found within the rooms.  

As Game Designer:  I love logic puzzles and making charts, so although Kismet for mobile was new to me, I had fun learning how to use it, and figuring out how to bring the game to life.  

This is a screenshot of Imly’s Kismet - the different nodes represent the functions that I programmed within the game, from player movement, to cinematics, to object interaction.  Aside from coming up with the types of puzzles in Imly, I had to make sure I was also able to program them.  

As Project Lead and Narrative Designer.  Clear direction for the player and clear direction for the team making the game are equally important for success.  Bi-weekly meetings, SCRUM pipeline and easily accessible data, made workflow efficient and manageable.  To ensure even game flow, Imly’s story needed to provide motivation for the player to continue playing.  Emphasis was placed on the sense of urgency and the story’s through-line.  This not only informed the team as to what kind of world we were creating, but also engaged the player.  To help document the process, I kept a production journal and sketch journal in addition to the documents below.    

After several variations on facilitating movement through the game and selecting objects, camera buttons to look left or right were built and the footstep platforms served as destination nodes for Imly.  The player is encouraged to explore through touching objects in the environment, such as tapping the logs in the fireplace to start the fire.  Tapping is also the main mechanic to solve the puzzles, such as selecting a portrait, and then selecting a specific spot on the fireplace to place it.  

© Kate Orr 2012

Click on the Buttons below to Download Design Documents and Story

Imly will be available on the app store for ipad

free of charge - Spring 2012