Presence

Project Presence was a 15-week, project that was conducted at the Entertainment Technology Center in Fall 2017 as a result of a student pitch. The goal of the project was to explore the potential for 3rd-person branching narrative games in virtual reality through the creation of a 7-9-minute experience, "One of the Family." 

Project Presence continued on to become a company - Presence Interactive. We joined forces with Kristiana University College, Carnegie Mellon University, and CEA Tech, to create the “The Presence Project,” a multi-site investigation into the best practices for creating 3rd-person narrative experiences in Virtual Reality.

Channeling 3rd Person Branching Narrative Games

Branching narrative games allow players to answer the question, "If you could control the characters, what would you have them do." From developers like Quantic Dream, Supermassive, and Telltale, games in this genre typically ask players to control anywhere from 3 to 8 characters from a removed perspective of puppetmaster or writer of the story. While in these situations, players will make decisions based on any number of motivations, ranging from wanting to represent the characters wishes to wanting to create the most dramatic version of events, the player rarely identifies themselves as the characters they are controlling.

In Virtual Reality, however, developers have responded to the presence that players have in the game space by leaning heavily into assigning players character roles. By asking the player to take on a character as their identity, developers are forced to choose which is more important: creating a complex, narratively compelling character that is dissonant from the players own feelings and perspectives, or to create a "blank slate" character for the player to embody at the expense of opportunities for nuanced story development.

And so we proposed an alternative option - have the player take on no role at all, instead controlling everything from a removed perspective.

What we Made

"One of the Family" tells the noir story of two mafiosos on the run from the cops in 1940's New York City. They take refuge in an office tied to the family, and search for means of escaping the city. By controlling key objects in the environment, the player decides what will happen to the characters next. Will they be able to call for help? Will the cops find them? Will they get away safely?

The experience in total runs anywhere from 7 to 9 minutes, depending on player choice. This amounts to nearly 30 minutes of content over the course of 26 narrative slices, 32 different routes through the story, and 10 different endings.

For more information, take a look at the official project website.

Credits

This was truly was a project that embodied the Carnegie Mellon University values of collaboration. By working with two actors from the Purnell School of Drama, the motion capture studio in the Robotics Institute, and the Vlahakis Recording Studio in the College of Fine Arts, we were able to maintain a level of production quality to enhance the impressiveness of the experience.

Presence Team
Bradley Plaxen - Narrative Design
Sharon You - Art Director, 3D Art, Animation
Melissa Schoeller - Producer, 2D Art
Zoe Qi - Programming

Cast
Tasheim Ramsey Pack - Giuli
Zachary Herman - Luca
Dan Walpow - Nicky
Scott Cuva - Police Mook
Axel Arth - Police Captain

Motion Capture
Justin Macey

Sound
Julian Korzeniowsky - Sound engineer
Stephen Murphy - Composer, Pianist
Chris Smith - Standing Bass
Jesse Morvan - Trumpet
George Pachucy - Drums
Vlahakis Recording Studio, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University - Recording Location
Riccardo Schulz - Recording Director
Jacob Fulkerson - Recording Engineer
Runbo Guo - Recording Engineer
Mark Tamvakis - Recording Engineer
Valerie Senavsky - Recording Engineer
Michael Bridges - Editing and Mixing