Second Year Student Major Projects - AIE Canberra - 2022

News / 21 December 2022

Hello Everyone,

Wanted to highlight some recent graduate work from AIE Canberra, These students I taught from 2021-2022 have recently finished studying and completed their final year game projects. Although at the beginning of October 2022, I resigned from AIE after 11 years and 6 months of service to expand my career into other areas. I am still very much invested in the wonderful student projects my students have been working on and I like to post an annual report, showcasing all the hard work they have put in.

You can see previous years on Artstation here:

It is also important to acknowledge that I was not the sole teacher mentoring these students over the last two years. I had much support from my former colleagues and friends. Most notable from the art side of things are Cezar Brandao, Meg Groeneveld, and Tom Magill. And also programming and design, Tony Oakden, Justin Cragg, Kay Byrd, Sean Fenemore, Cliff Sharif & Enrique Klein. Past my departure from AIE, there is also the chance some names have been missed, who have helped and assisted, sorry if I have missed you. We also had help from the wonderful Tim Duck who collaborated with us again with CIT, to provide music and sound effects from his dedicated students where they can.

But enough of that, now to the student games below. These games went through a culling process before they reached the situation we see below. In which a digital industry panel gave feedback, that influenced which games made it through and which didn't. The plan with all of these student projects besides making a small vertical slice of a game and demonstrating their skills was also to produce a developer commentary and a short trailer to complement the conclusion of their project/study. It gives a good backdoor into understanding who worked on what, and what they are most proud of.

'The Devils Cookbook'

Elevator Pitch: "The Devil’s Cookbook is a single-player 3D top-down cooking game in which you’re trapped as the cook in a demonic kitchen. The ingredients are alive and the patrons will take a bite out of you if you don’t serve them quickly enough. Can you survive your shift?"

Credits:
Art: Aislinn (Ayvee) Smith, Lara Diego, Anais Robert, Ethan Kyte
Design: Beau Bardwell, Daniel Bobbi, Leo Lopez
Programming: Celeste Soueid, James Greensill, Alex Manning

Development Student Blogs:
Aislinn: Concepts, Spell Icons, Dish Icons
Lara: Pre-production, Soul Imbuer, Modeling Characters, The Patron, Lighting & Materials, Bin & Ovens, Ingredients, Postmortem
Ethan: Initial Blockout, Blockout Props, Level Development, Trim Sheets, Tweaks & Animations

Download and play: https://deardodogames.itch.io/the-devils-cookbook

'Planet Nine'

Elevator Pitch: "Planet Nine is an atmospheric, first-person puzzle game set in a factory on an abandoned mining planet. The planet has been overwhelmed by a photosensitive toxin and the light is the only means of safety. Players must use their wits and the light to solve complex puzzles and escape the planet…"

Credits:
Art: Connor McKinnon, Petra Crispin, Kye Harrison, Lachlan Goolagong
Design: Daniel Power, Will Hopkins, Jake Stephens
Programming: Ronan Richardson, Charlie O’Regan, Marcus Ellis, Noah Freeman

Development Student Blogs:
Petra: Blockouts, First Person Glove, Corpses, Cat
Kye: Pre-production, Shaders & Modular Kits, Assets & Set Dressing, Cinematics
Daniel: Pre-Production, Designing the tutorial
Will: Ambient Profile
Charlie: Alpha Pre-production
Team Dev Log: Dev Log 1, Dev Log 2, Dev Log 3, Dev Log 4, Dev Log 5, Dev Log 6, Dev Log 7, Dev Log 8, Dev Log 9, Dev Log 10

Download and play: https://teamnova1.itch.io/planet-nine

'Foreign Body'

Elevator Pitch: "Foreign Body is a single-player, third-person, turn-based strategy game where you play as a hostile bacteria invading a defensive immune system. As you move further into enemy territory, you must spawn bacteria, strategize and consume your way to victory!"

Credits:
Art: Lawson Upton, Mikayla Parany, Ace Davidson, Aislinn (Ayvee) Smith
Design: Ahmad Galea, Flynn Van Stryp, Caitlin Johansson, Thomas Wisowaty
Programming: Christopher Smith, Nathan Duck

Download and play: https://petri-dish-studios.itch.io/foreign-body

'Heart of the Forest'

Elevator Pitch: "The Heart of the Forest is a 2.5D PC platformer, you are a little mushroom spirit who is answering the call to adventure and save the forest from utter destruction. Become the Forest God's most unlikely champion as you take on enemies, overcome obstacles, and return the heart to its rightful place."

Credits:
Artist: Azshwyn Sibley, Hayley Brooker, Holly Thompson, Jesse Lazzaro
Design: Bilal Jalil, Brodie Maddren, Charlie Brazil, Paige Dowsett, Zachariach Navarro-Bustos
Programming: Jazmin Fazzolari, Lewis Comstive, Nghia Do, Nicholas Connell

Team Development Blog:
Dev Log 1, Dev Log 2, Dev Log 3, Dev Log 4, Dev Log 5, Dev Log 6, Dev Log 7, Dev Log 8, Dev Log 9, Dev Log 10, Dev Log 11

Download and play: https://littleredcap-studio.itch.io/the-heart-of-the-forest

My final thoughts,
It was really awesome to see this year, the number of blogs that were posted alongside development. which is probably 80% more than 2021 (Great Job!). So if you scrolled past them I highly recommend you check them out. As it will take you deeper into their thought process and you will be able to see a much clearer view of what they worked on.

All n all, I am happy to see my art students evolve over the last two years, from pretty never touching a 3d modeling application to developing a complete game experience today. All students here still do have their work cut out for them to break into the industry. but it's important that they keep learning, and keep practicing their skills. and of course keep marketing themselves, as their last ongoing hurdle is their own online presence. It's difficult the manage an online presence and It's easy to become discouraged. My hopes are that they all stay in contact, even after graduation, and seek guidance if hitting a wall, or feeling stuck. As it isn't easy and I will always be there for them.

Finally, thanks for spending the time reading this post, I look forward to posting soon what personal projects I have been up to since departing AIE a few months ago. But for now, catch you all later.

Finn