Zano´s Dreams

Dreams captured in a game

Dreams captured in a game

Since I was a little girl, I always liked to spend my free time playing video games. Many times I wondered how they would do ¨X¨ thing for the character to jump or pick up a certain object or how they would build such a fascinating world to move around, do missions, face enemies…..

With the passage of time, obviously video games were advancing and now there are true works of art, whether aesthetic, narrative, gameplay and many other areas.

Obviously my essence is still there and it is clear that I was still playing various games of different styles and other platforms, either PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Wii, PC … anything goes and I like.

But at my age something was missing, I wanted to feel fulfilled in the professional field and to be able to study something that I could not have done before. So there I went, to get a Master’s degree in video game design and programming. I jumped into the pool, because who does not risk ….

After two years giving it all, having fun, with its ups and downs, I managed to get my dreamed title. I would do it again, I do not regret it, it was a unique experience.

When it comes to the final project, I feel very proud and excited to be able to capture one of the stories that my daughter created for school.

It is about a little elf of dreams called Zano. Her mission is to make sure that the inhabitants of the village she watches over are not invaded by Nightmares at bedtime. Another of her missions is to

Zano

Although she is quite skittish, she does not give up easily, especially when it comes to her sister and keeping the dreams of the people safe.

Irana(Sister of Zano)

Nightmares

For the dreams of the inhabitants I have put them in DreamBooks, which the player will have to find in different areas of the level.

The level is illuminated with dim lights which give warmth and make the player feel immersed in the game, making it appear as if it is dawn and Zano must accomplish his missions and rescue his sister before the night sets in again and nightmares have free reign.

Here are some images of the level made in Uneal Engine.

House of Zano and Irana .

They live in the middle of nature. Zano is personally attracted to shiny objects, which is why he lives with so much brightness around them. Irana is attracted to elements of nature, such as flowers, mushrooms, etc. That’s why her «house» also contains elements of nature.

I started in this world from scratch and it is still my first project.

Here the player enters a labyrinth created by the Nightmares to kidnap Zano’s sister. He will have to pass it without being detected by the Nightmares, otherwise he will be damaged… and Game Over… It’s only one level, because I’m still in the process of continuing it (–) and keep moving forward so I don’t lose what I’ve learnt and keep advancing, to be able to dedicate myself one day to videogame development.

I also show you a mini video of what the main menu looks like and how the player starts the level:

Last but not least, I will talk about Widsom (Asset acquired from an Epic Games pack), not least because it is the wisdom stone which will be the player’s guide through all levels. It will be a great help when you start, as I will give you a brief tutorial on how to move through the scene and give you hints of what happened.

I also added some particle created by me in Unreal Engine, representing the trace that Zano’s sister leaves behind so that he can find her as soon as possible. I also used that trace to be part of the main cover of the game, together with Zano’s hat, which is also the Icon of the project. Because it is a very important symbol, which I tell in the story behind it.

I also created the HUD system for Zano’s life, the DreamBooks counter and the life recovery base.

Before finishing this section, I would like to comment that this project is based on dreams, but it is also a metaphor so that whatever your dream is, don’t stop trying to achieve it.

MamyFriky