MATTY LANOUETTE
CONTENT DESIGNER
Solo Project - Tabletop RPG
Prismatic
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Feb 2018 - April 2018
Prismatic: Varied and Brilliant is an original tabletop RPG system created during my senior year of college for class. The systems that were influential were Pathfinder, Fate, and Genesis. It is a narrative-focused setting but with enough support systems to keep more numbers-oriented players interested as well.
Prismatic is heavily team-based. Players create teams working for a network of guilds, traveling the world and keep city-states safe from the ever-changing beasts of the Wilds. Each player has some kind of special power, and those powers are what have given humanity an edge up on the beasts and allowed them to carve out their place in the world. Being a Prismatic is dangerous though, their powers draw beasts to them.
One of my main focuses while creating this system was character and world customization. I wanted to provide enough structure and context for players and DMs so that they would feel comfortable making their own content to flesh out the talent tiers and cities, but also include examples and pre-made options for people to use until they got more comfortable making their own. This was done by building out the world and being consistent when talking about terminology in both characters and cities to set the groundwork.
I also wanted to encourage teamwork as part of the world. By supplying the players with a reason they're in a party, or a quick reason for the new formation of a party, they can focus more on developing those interpersonal relationships and how they function as a team on the battlefield. Their individual goals within the guild can vary, but this at least gives them a singular uniting focus.
Included below is a link to the Handbook as well as the character sheets.
Team Project - 1st Person Horror
Takowana County
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Role: Narrative Designer & Producer
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May 2017 - April 2018
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Unreal Engine 4
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Team Size: 13
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Source Control: Perforce
Takowana County is a 3D horror mystery game where the player takes on the role of a journalist who is trapped on a remote island off the coast of Virginia with a strange creature pursuing them.
The story follows Darrin Saller, who was sent to this small recreational camping island to do a fluff piece about the island's infamous Autumn Fireflies for their newspaper. They're supposed to meet the only other inhabitant of the island, Ranger Seth Gresham. Ranger Gresham is charged with the island's upkeep during the off-season and has a deep interest in the island's history. Not long after Darrin arrives though, strange things start happening, and the Ranger is no help, brushing Darrin's concerns of danger off as the usual city-slicker fear of the woods. But Darrin can tell when a coverup is going on, and they realize they're going to have to use every trick up their sleeve to figure out just what is really happening on the Takowana Wildlife Preservation.
I worked with the creative director who held the original vision for the game to craft a narrative that pulled the player through the island and introduced them to the mysterious past of the island and Ranger Gresham. This work included taking many scripts from rough draft to final recorded pieces for the game, working with the lead gameplay designer on figuring out where all the pieces the player needs to find to solve the conspiracy board should be based on their narrative ties, and providing feedback to our art team on the set pieces and environments to make sure the overall world felt cohesive and genuine.
Solo Project - Visual Novel
Charge
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December 2017 - April 2018
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Unity 3D Visual Novel
You are Jaxon, a service-class android trying to keep up your pharmacy in the apocalypse. Many years have passed since the world burned and your owner left to try and find a better life, but you are still here, still caring for the people who call the remnants of this town their home. Not everyone in town is friendly towards androids, and sometimes the occasional wanderer is a welcome sight to break the monotony of life. But when bandits threaten the only life you've ever known, where will your loyalty lie?
This visual novel includes a branching narrative that reacts to the player's choices while interacting with the people in town as well as two different endings.
My focus while working on this visual novel was on exploring a contained branching narrative. I wanted the choices to matter to the player and to have an impact on the dialog so that if someone were to replay it, their new choices would read differently. I had to be mindful of how to bring these branches back to the final two endings though, so it was also an excellent exercise in scope creep.
Screen Writing
Takowana County
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May 2017 - April 2018
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Game Script
Each script was written in screenplay format then used to record for the dialog.
Includes the scripts for each scene, the player reactions to finding quest items, and the script for the trailer dialog for a total of 9 scripts.
There are 2 voiced parts: the player character, Darrin, and the antagonist, Ranger Gresham.
Just One More Day
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December 2016
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Short Screenplay
Written for a scriptwriting class in college.
Prompt: Full story mainly pushed forward by dialog. New scenes can have a brief description, but dialog should be the driving force.
College boyfriends Ren and Tyson have been surviving the apocalypse together with Ren's sister Hana as they slowly make their way to Washington from their college in New York. The hope that Ren and Hana's parents are still alive keep them moving but when Hana doesn't come back from a supply sun, hard choices might have to be made.
Worked to Death
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October 2016
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Short Screenplay
Written for a scriptwriting class in college.
Prompt: Short story showing emotional growth between two characters with no dialog.
Odessa might go to a school specializing in the practical application of everyday magic, but her studies have been anything but magical. Failing out of her prestigious school is becoming a real threat, so she decides that spending as much time as possible in the library studying might save her.
Studying has never been her strong suit though, but when she accidentally frees a shy ghost who was trapped between the pages of an old book, she might get both the study partner that she needs as well as a fighting chance to stay at the school of her dreams.