Next gen game designers display talents via innovative virtual exhibition

Next gen game designers display talents via innovative virtual exhibition

The creative works of RMIT’s game design students are featured in a virtual showcase that immerses audiences in an exciting interactive game space.

The end-of-year exhibition highlights the major works of this year’s students who are graduating with a Bachelor of Design (Games).

Students Tanya Wong and Charlotte Galvin worked on an interactive website for the show and shared their reflections from a year of study impacted by COVID-19 and what they hope audiences can experience.

Portrait of RMIT student Charlotte Galvin RMIT Student Charlotte Galvin.

Can you tell us about your work?

Together we have created the RMIT Games Zone - an interactive showcase for RMIT Games 2021 graduate students.

We were inspired by Molleindustria’s LIKELIKE Online, the 2020 RMIT Games Zone and the Freeplay Zones made for the Freeplay Independent Games Festival. We wanted to focus not only on the limitations of an online platform, but use it as an opportunity to create spaces that couldn’t exist in the real world, all while celebrating what is unique about the graduating cohort.

The space functions like a virtual chatroom or multi-player game, where visitors can walk around virtual themed rooms as avatars and communicate with others via real-time text-based messages. We wanted the space to feel light-hearted and community-based, paying homage to nostalgic internet aesthetics using an upbeat low-pixel style and a chatroom setting. 

Portrait of RMIT student Tanya Wong RMIT Student Tanya Wong.

What has been the most challenging thing about this year?

Studying and living during COVID-19 has been challenging on both academic and personal levels, further exacerbating the stress and anxieties in our personal lives and in the last years of university. Fortunately, as we have been studying online since last year, when the unexpected impacts of COVID-19 hit, we both knew what to expect.

This project is really the culmination of a million Discord calls, inside jokes and emojis of encouragement. We personally really enjoyed working together, as we not only worked well as a team and have similar design sensibilities but also regularly checked in and became great friends over the course of the project.

Often when working online, real personal connection falls by the wayside and it becomes incredibly isolating. Knowing we were both in it together and cheering each other on made a huge difference and we’re very proud of how much we’ve accomplished together! We had so much fun making this exhibition and are so excited to see the space come alive.

What’s the key highlight of your interactive space?

We’re looking forward to people interacting in our favourite room in the exhibition; the rooftop, complete with a dancefloor and bar. It’s not only our showstopper but the most collaborative space in the show! We worked closely together, and both created the art for it.

It pays homage to Melbourne and the city we missed seeing while we were at home, and we hope our love for the city comes across.

How do you want audiences to feel when they view your exhibition?

We’re also looking forward to having audiences view the six distinct themed rooms we have that match the content of the student games within; the diversity of student games made this year is amazing to see and reflective of the endless potential of games. We worked hard to best represent and showcase the hard work of our cohort, and we’re proud to celebrate their amazing achievements. We hope the audience can recognise the efforts that went into pulling this all together and if we can get a smile from anyone who views it, that’s enough!

 

Watch the RMIT Games Grad Show here on Twitch.

View the interactive RMIT Games page designed by Tanya and Charlotte.

RMIT Games Showcase page.

 

Story: Sam Muir

18 November 2021

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  • Design
  • Student experience

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