Kinect Star Wars
Ruffian Games (Rockstar Dundee) | Level Designer
A little background…
From 2010 onwards, Ruffian Games began work-for-hire on a number of contract projects, one of which was Kinect Star Wars, a compilation of motion-controlled games using Microsoft’s Kinect camera.
This was a short-term contract working with the Texas-based Terminal Reality, where I was tasked with creating the bulk of the level design for the “Duels of Fate” game mode.
Release Date
3 April 2012
Platforms
Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Whilst I am admittedly less of a Star Wars fan than I was during my childhood (the release of the prequels saw to that), there was still a dark side of me that was excited to work within the Star Wars license. Although the game was aimed at a much younger and casual audience than myself, it was still rewarding to offer an authentic experience within the Star Wars universe.
Responsibilities
- Sole in-house level designer for the “Duels of Fate” game mode
- Designing environments and scripting ambient set pieces for combat backdrops
- Responding to playtest and client feedback
- Delivering content to specification in a tight time frame
Kinect Star Wars was challenging project; it was my first time using a text-based scripting language, and I had to learn a new engine/toolset within a tight time frame. By the end of the project, I had set-dressed and scripted all but one of the levels for Ruffian’s “Duels of Fate” game mode. This was also my first time using motion controls; something that took some getting used to, especially where testing was concerned.
To this day, I have not played the now infamous “Galactic Dance Off” mode.