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Way Back Home

Role: UI/UX Designer/Artist/Programmer

 

"Way Back Home" is an integrated project which showcases original UI/UX design, art, and basic programming.

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Includes: Design Brief, Art Design Slide Deck, Unity Demo

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Logline

You can choose to play either Adam or Evelyn, a recent amnesiac as a result of a victim of a drunk driving accident.

As you walk around the city of Edenton, you converse with its residents in hopes to reclaim parts of your memory and remember your past life. Will you choose to remember or start a new fresh life?

Gameplay Overview

"Way Back Home" is a 2D narrative-heavy game that invokes an emotional journey.

The player follows the protagonist, engaging in several branching conversations and solving creative puzzles, in order to recover their memories. Depending on how many memories are collected, players may receive branching endings, allowing for a unique experience for each player. The game is navigated through a series of point-and-click buttons, making the game accessible to newer players.

It has been formatted to be played on mobile and PC.

“If you were given a huge reset button, would you choose to learn your past, embrace, and overcome pain or would you choose to forget everything and start a new life, potentially betraying who you were in the past?”

Major Story Beats

  • Wake up in hospital being only told your name and age

  • You have no memory of who you are, and the doctor recommends you take a trip around town to jog your mind

  • As you visit places around town, some areas and items begin to trigger flashbacks

  • The more you start to remember, the more you feel a sense of emptiness and a hint of pain, but are unable to pinpoint the reason behind it

  • Two potential endings: 

    • You remember a significant memory in regards to your past

    • You choose to start a new life and leave the past behind

Creative Process

  1. Plotted a flow diagram, mapping how the user will be traveling from one screen to another 
     

  2. Designed and organized a wireframe of each screen, deciding what the user will be viewing and interacting with
     

  3. Created buttons (up, down states), a set of art assets (flat, static icons), a matching color palette (thematic emphasis), and a series of font options (aesthetic and readability).
     

  4. Integrated the design into Unity, programmed the UI interaction using Visual Studios, and completed a working demo

Title Page
Settings
Text Setting
Customization Screen
mainHUD
memory
ending

Main Takeaway

Many things went into consideration when designing the user interface:

  1. User Accessibility

    • Important to cater to a wide range audience​

    • Settings include changing several options such as game volume, reading speeds, text size and fonts, and toggling auto-progression 
       

  2. Personalized Experience

    • Create a customized, unique experience for each user​

    • Customization option includes a personality selection where the player can choose between one of two choices in each category

      • These selections are mentioned throughout the story​
         

  3. Simplistic, Minimalistic View

    • Focus on having an easy, intuitive UI and devoid of clutter​

    • Personal aesthetic preference and intended to suit newer gamers

Post-Mortem

If I were to do something similar, I would...

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  • Do extended research on the potential audience and how to maximize the game's fullest potential

  • Perform more in-person playtests and receive feedback on any missing elements

  • Create a slightly more intricate UI while maintaining the minimalistic aesthetic

  • Make more dynamic backgrounds to prevent and remove any monotonous, boring screens

  • Design more original icons with clearer intentions

  • Incorporate callbacks to customizations if the option is available

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