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The Great Teakon

Unity, 2010

  • The Great Teakon was my Thesis Project at Syracuse University. The game is a First Person Platformer (a la Mirror's Edge) set during the early 20th century. Players take the role of Charles Teakon, an up and coming silent film star. The first level tasks players with jump, scrambling, and leaping all over the city during a film shoot. The big gameplay twist comes at the end of the first level. Here, Charles breaks his leg performing a stunt and is forced into early retirement. The second level picks up 30 years later, as Charles is convinced to finish the film.

  • The reason for this story conceit was to break up gameplay into two distinct sections. In the first, players learn the controls while presuming the role of a young, physically fit actor. This means they can jump high, run fast, and quickly recover from falls. The second section, however, changes many of these abilities. Now that they're 30 years older, players won't be able to perform actions to the same degree - they can't even run without needing to catch their breath. Not only that, but the city has changed a lot in that timespan too. Players will need to think on their feet and find creative solutions to finish the shoot.