Visual Development For Descent To Paradise, Rowyn Porterfield

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The focus of this thesis is a study in the process of concept development for video games within the format of a video game pitch. This includes concept designs for important characters, relevant settings, and other supplemental material deemed necessary within my research for a complete pitch. The content shown within this paper includes visual research, creative writing, 3D setting design, and 2D artworks for character, setting, and prop design. All of this is then put into context through two 2D illustrations of key art.

Alternative, Ashlynn M. Stroud

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

A series of illustrations, sculptures and comic book issues designed to introduce a series of stories and characters that represent the history and members of a fictional mythology depicting the cultural social group often referred to as the “alternative” community. Alternative takes place in a world that combines high fantasy and science fiction with elements of pop culture and music. This world uses iconography of the various genres of the alternative subculture and music, metal, post-punk, and the evolving scene of the underground with varying visuals from both gothic and industrial time periods. Viewers are encouraged to read and follow …

Sae What? Magazine - Issue 1 - 2026, Sae University College

SAE What? - Student Magazine

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Coffee Bindings, M. Ermolenko

Theses and Dissertations

Coffee Bindings is a multi-media interactive installation weaving themes of history, memory, death, and spaces that no longer exist through the lens of coffee readings and a mixture of physical and digital media. By navigating ghost spaces (spaces/places that used to exist but don’t anymore), and looking at survival through three time periods, Coffee Bindings jumps through liminal time and space, navigating the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the ethnic cleansing and displacement of Armenians from Artsakh in 2020-2024, while also tying them to personal family history with the death of my father and the loss of the physical space of …

Ani219 Project 3 24t3 Student Exemplar Example 1, Sae University College

Exemplars

This is a distinction-level submission for ANI219, Project 3 in 24T3.

Ani219 Project 2 Example 1, Sae University College

Exemplars

ANI219 Project 2 34T3 student submission.

Cim316.2 Antville Example 1, Sae University College

Exemplars

Capstone Planning documentation for a video game.

The concept of Antville is a cooperative video game dedicated to boosting

social skills and teamwork among children. Inspired by the Young Minds

Matter survey, which reveals a gap in social skills development for kids aged

4-12 (The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020), Antville will

address these social skill deficits through game mechanics informed by

scholarly research.

Lost & Found (Game Series) [Book Chapter], Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Description of game series for use in the classroom with best practices.

Creating Project Contrast: A Video Game Exploring Consciousness And Qualia, Pierce Papke

Honors Projects

Project Contrast is a video game that explores how the unique traits inherent to video games might engage reflective player responses to qualitative experience. Project Contrast does this through suspension of disbelief, avatar projection, presence, player agency in storytelling, visual perception, functional gameplay, and art. Considering the difficulty in researching qualitative experience due to its subjectivity and circular explanations, I created Project Contrast not to analyze qualia, though that was my original hope. I instead created Project Contrast as an avenue for player self-reflection and learning about qualitative experience. While video games might be just code and art on a …

Monster Planet Bounty Hunter, Arthur Santoro

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

In this paper I will be discussing my personal interest in games and art as well as my experience and process working on my original board game: Monster Planet Bounty Hunter. I will also discuss my visual influences, how I approach making games and why I think games are an important form of art.

Visual Development For Wellspring, Jane Frances Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The primary focus of this thesis is the study of visual development for worldbuilding, starting with creative writing and documentation and translating the written content into visual concepts in both 2D and 3D. This project includes an original narrative, setting, and characters and explores aspects of the visual development pipeline. The content below contains work in visual research, 2D character design, 3D character sculpting, 3D printing and assembly, hard-surface modeling, matte-painting, illustration, compositing, and heavy creative writing.

Designing And Creating A Prototype Board Game, Kurtis Woodward

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

The goal of this project was to create a fantasy style board game prototype that is playable and enjoyable for people new to fantasy tabletop gaming. I assembled a group of 4-5 regular tabletop board game players to play test the game as well as a second group of 4-5 family members and friends to play test who aren't regular board game players. We began with a general base game that evolved with each playtest from feedback given by the playtesters. After about 18-20 play tests, I settled on game mechanics and moved on to creating the assets of …

Mfa Master Project, Owen Pierce

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

I am a storyteller.

I just happen to paint, draw and sculpt my stories more often than I write them. Thematically, I gravitate towards stories that speak about ecological and humanitarian concerns. Fantasy illustration is where I can create with the greatest freedom and indulge my love of crafting stories, and also as a form of escapism. As the author

Ursula K. Le Guin quotes, “If the direction of escape is towards freedom, what then is ‘escapism’ an accusation of?” Long running series of programs, films and books attest to this desire to be engaged at a deeper, more meaningful …

Ideation And Iteration For Creatives, Sandee M. Chamberlain

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

This course addresses the development of visual literacy including concepting, initial approaches of creating an encompassing aesthetic, creating timelines for production, and exploring the refining aspects of creative production. Students will devise an advanced creative problem and provide a documented account of their creative journey to present as a process journal at the end of the course.

Ithell Colquhuon Taro As Colour Tarot Deck And Book By Ithell Colquhoun, Emily E. Auger

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

A brief note regarding Fulgur's release of Ithell Colquhoun's "Taro" deck (2022) with links to a full-length review of it and to other reviews of related publications about Colquhoun and Leonora Carrington's work with Tarot.

In A Small Sea, Thomas Giebler

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

A pool of water stands before you. It is nebulous and free flowing. As you peer in, you realize how vast and deep something initially so unassuming on the surface has become.

This is my small sea.

Within this sea that rests between my ears, I am a small ‘c’ creator. This body of water is filled with experiences, inspiration, and vision. In this place, I synthesize the world around me into my work, creating microcosms that are full of life, color, and story. The idea of microcosms is the cornerstone of my design.

Within each of my created worlds, …

Rabbit Hole, Olivia Wiebe

Scripps Senior Theses

Rabbit Hole explores an alternate reality which erupts within moments of insomnia, and posits it as a place of self-discovery. Though this Rabbit Hole is a personal one, the work implies that these worlds can be found within any person when they are alone. Digital spaces have become tools of absolute availability and distraction, capitalized on by companies who profit when our eyeballs are stuck to our screens. However, cyberspace was once dreamed of as a place of self-discovery and experimentation. Rabbit Hole is an attempt to reclaim digital space, and turn towards ourselves within technology. These individual “Rabbit Holes” …

It's All Fun And—: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Space In The Pandemic., Erica Von Proctor Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exhibition and document explore spatial rhetoric during the pandemic, utilizing materiality and relational aesthetics to reflect on the different ways in which the public and private are made distinct from one another. In doing so, Lewis addresses new cultural navigations of shared spaces, both digital and corporeal, public and private. In addition, the artist also examines the faulty social and institutional systems that the pandemic brought to light, such as socioeconomic dynamics and voter suppression, while utilizing Kenneth Burke’s concept of the terministic screen. Games are a central theme throughout the exhibition, as they are often coded as “home” …

Toys Are For Adults, John Wippler

Theses

This paper explores the concept of toys, what they are and for whom they are made. The paper also provides a brief history of designer toys and pop culture, and how pop culture helped fuel the designer toy industry. The psychology of collecting is also referenced, and a direct correlation is made between the act of collecting toys and toy popularity.

The book I wrote is also mentioned and is a vital part of the purpose for the thesis. The book is an introductory guide to resin toymaking and is integral to the expansion of the designer toy community.

Utilizing Game-Based Learning To Promote Mental Health Advocacy In Black And Brown Communities, Ashlyn Stewart, Tracey L. Moore, Hira Roberts

Pursue: Undergraduate Research Journal

The aim of this project was to explore the effectiveness of video games and game-based learning as a means of mental health advocacy within People of Color (POC) and their communities. Research has shown that within black and brown communities, a heightened stigma is attached to the discussion of mental health, often preventing those who are affected from seeking treatment. This unwillingness to accept and care for mental illness within communities of color is highly detrimental, especially in the context of conditions such as Alzheimer’s or dementia, where African-Americans and Hispanics are at a significantly higher risk of developing these …

Changeling: A Single Player Vr Mystery, Kaitlyn S. Tran, Elouise Oyzon, Matthew Pressman, Stephen Callen, Kyle Lekkas, Joshua Bullock, Jake Johnson

Frameless

Changeling is a VR narrative mystery game focusing upon immersive experience. It was created by aspiring game developers from the Rochester Institute of Technology to experience professional development. Each semester, different sets of students get to work on the game, with past ones working part time. Using the ideas of magical realism and urban fantasy we see each family member respond to uncertainty through the lens of their hopes and fears.

Street Art: The Gallery Of The City, Mia Pinzelik

University Honors Theses

This project will look to better understand the culture and community of Portland street art, the unique aspects of the art form, the kinds of people participating in street art culture, the difficulties they face, and what defines this specific Portland subculture in 2020. The goal of this project is to compile this research into a board game illustrating a general overview of the process and experiences of street artists in Portland.

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

Acts Of Meaning, Resource Diagrams, And Essential Learning Behaviors: The Design Evolution Of Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

Lost & Found is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed for teaching medieval religious legal systems. The long-term goals of the project are to change the discourse around religious laws, such as foregrounding the prosocial aspects of religious law such as collaboration, cooperation, and communal sustainability. This design case focuses on the evolution of the design of the mechanics and core systems in the first two tabletop games in the series, informed by over three and a half years’ worth of design notes, playable prototypes, outside design consultations, internal design reviews, playtests, and interviews.

1999 Aaa Jrpg Quality And How A 2019 Indie-Game Developer Can Meet It, Kailynn Haskell-Harbert

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper is a delve into 1999 JRPG AAA video games and how small developers can make something of similar quality with contemporary technology. This is explored by using Final Fantasy VIII and Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete as a 1999 AAA standard, then comparing that standard to modern indie-games as well as my own experience in indie-game development. The ultimate goal of the paper is to prove that small indie-game studios can create 1999 AAA quality JRPGs with relatively minimal investment.

Simply Mo., Marjolijn Jaliene Oskam

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Small portfolio presentation of design work by Marjolijn Oskam, branded under simply mo. The poster includes school work as well as professional work.

The Lost & Found Game Series: Teaching Medieval Religious Law In Context, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context. The Lost & Found project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens in our pluralist democracy. The first game in the series is a strategy game called Lost & Found …

Good Game, Greyory Blake

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis and its corresponding art installation, Lessons from Ziggy, attempts to deconstruct the variables prevalent within several complex systems, analyze their transformations, and propose a methodology for reasserting the soap box within the display pedestal. In this text, there are several key and specific examples of the transformation of various signifiers (i.e. media-bred fear’s transformation into a political tactic of surveillance, contemporary freneticism’s transformation into complacency, and community’s transformation into nationalism as a state weapon). In this essay, all of these concepts are contextualized within the exponential growth of new technologies. That is to say, all of these semiotic …

Finding Lost & Found: Designer’S Notes From The Process Of Creating A Jewish Game For Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides context for and examines aspects of the design process of a game for learning. Lost & Found (2017a, 2017b) is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed to teach medieval religious legal systems, beginning with Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1180), a cornerstone work of Jewish legal rabbinic literature. Through design narratives, the article demonstrates the complex design decisions faced by the team as they balance the needs of player engagement with learning goals. In the process the designers confront challenges in developing winstates and in working with complex resource management. The article provides insight into the pathways the team …