Portfolio
Hao Liao 2019-2021
01 02 03 04 05
Parentship
01
The Day I Left
07
A Kayak for Kyle
11
News Chaser
15
You
19
Mobile Game Design
Digital Game Design
Digital Game Design
Digital Game Design
Interactive Product
Parentship Mobile Game Design / 2020 Team project: responsible for game design and narrative design
9LGHR /LQN䉄https://vimeo.com/671586737
Parentship is a mobile game regarding the parent-child relationship. In this game, the players will be asked to interact with their parents in real life. Their parents' response will determine where the spaceship in-game should head for. This game provides children an opportunity to interact with their parents and know more about them.
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Play these missions in real life There are three types of mission that ask the player to do in their real-life:
1. Missions for fuel
"Missions for fuel" includes behaviors that "make contact" with the player's parent, such as looking at them, playing a song to them, etc. As long as it is completed, the player can press the "complete" button, and the spaceship's fuel will be replenished so it can move forward.
Fill the fuel
Look at Dad Ask Dad to help you find something from your childhood
Write a note to Dad
Dad
Jump in front of Dad Take a bus with Dad Sing in front of Dad Reach an agreement with Dad, no matter what that is Describe Dad as a kind of animal Ask Dad's friend a thing about Dad Search Dad's name on the Internet
2
Complete these missions to fill the fuel
2. Missions for direction When the spaceship encounters a forked road, the player must do the" Missions for direction ". This type of mission requests the player to DVN WKHLU SDUHQWV D VSHFL䇡F TXHVWLRQ VXFK DV Ask Dad whether they worry about the end of the world
"Do you like going to school when you were a child? or "Are you afraid of darkness?" Their answer will determine whether the spaceship
Yes
will head left or right, move near or far from
No
the player's target planet. "Missions for direction "not only makes the players know this family member from several GL䇠HUHQW SHUVSHFWLYHV EXW DOVR DOORZV WKHP WR think about how do their parents' answers to these questions influence their life.
Their parents’ answer will determine whether the spaceship will head left or right
Ask Dad whether they afraid of darkness Y
N
3
3. Missions for changing
The player's goal is to land on the yellow planet, but they can't decide the direction themselves, they may try to change the direction sometimes. To do that, players should play a minigame. They must resist the gravitational force and dodge some meteorites by tapping the screen. If the player completes some "Missions for changing," they can get some powerful items to make this minigame easier. 0LVVLRQV IRU FKDQJLQJ LQFOXGHV PRUH GL䇣FXOW PLVVLRQV VXFK DV DVN \RXU parent whether she/he regrets having a child." If the player can do that, the changing of their relationship will be smoother.
4
Cooperate with a counselor During the design process, I cooperated with a psychological counselor who has counseled many teenagers on how to get along well with their parents. Make the design of the missions more in line with the needs of the players. This game conveys such an idea to players: although parents profoundly influence children, if children keep understanding their parents (asking questions), they may be able to head for the place they dream of.
5
The Day I Left Digital Game Design - Visual novel / 2021 Solo project
*DPH /LQN䉄https://haoliao.itch.io/the-day-i-left
The Day I Left is a visual novel talking about "Leaving". Although it is a visual novel, there is no text in this game. I try to express a ZLGH PXOWLWXGH RI IHHOLQJV DURXQG YHU\ VSHFL䇡F PHPRULHV QRVWDOJLD DGYHQture, and optimism in about four minutes - all through a straightforward visual framing.
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Gameplay Interact with the memorys
Click
The protagonist gets on the plane. Their memories emerge outside the window. Players can click on the red dot to watch the changes in the memories. After interacting, the memory will switch to another one and the protagonist will gradually smile.
The plane starts to move forward
7KH SODQH LV DERXW WR WDNH R䇠 6R the memory slowly moves out of the screen. If the player does not click the red dot before the memory moves out, the protagonist's smile will gradually disappear.
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Unable to interact
The plane will accelerate and make the player not able to interact with all the memories, and the protagonist begins to cry. 7KH SODQH WDNHV R䇠 DQG WKH JDPH HQGV KHUH
In this game, I created an emotional connection between the player and their avatar through mechanics alone. The feeling of being unable to interact near the end as the memories speed by evokes our inabilities to grasp the fast-fading things in life. As the game’s protagonist struggles to hold onto their memories, so too the player struggles to interact with the past as it vanishes before their eyes.
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A Kayak for Kyle Digital Game Design - Physics game / 2021 Team project: responsible for game mechanic design, narrative design, animation, and programming.
*DPH /LQN䉄https://phildotfun.itch.io/a-kayak-for-kyle
A Kayak for Kyle is a humorous and challenging physics game that weaves the player's failures into an evolving and heartwarming story. 3OD\HUV SOD\ DV 6DQWD ZKR LV GHOLYHULQJ D ND\DN WR D NLG .\OH 8QIRUWXQDWHO\ &KULVWPDV HYH LV DERXW WR EH RYHU 7R VSHHG XS 6DQWD GHFLGHV WR VOHG GRZQ the mountain by this kayak! If he fails, he has to wait until next Christmas to try again.
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Control Multiple functions in one button
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We assigned multiple functions to one button. The player holds the A button WR WXUQ WR WKH OHIW DQG WKH . EXWWRQ WR WXUQ WR WKH ULJKW DQG UHOHDVHV WKH buttons to move forward. On the one hand, this design makes this game easy to learn because the players do not need to memorize a bunch of keys. On the other hand, it also makes the control a lot more complicated, because every time the player WXUQV WKHUH ZLOO DOVR EH D VLGH H䇠HFW ZKLFK LV PRYLQJ IRUZDUG This design makes the player have to master the timing of pressing and releasing buttons, and creates challenging physics gameplay that is easy to learn but hard to master.
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Narrative Design Reveal new stories when failing
In the story, LI 6DQWD IDLOV LQ KLV PLVVLRQ KH ZLOO WU\ DJDLQ QH[W &KULVWPDV, which makes the story move forward while the player replays again and again. At the beginning of each attempt, players can read the new year’s letter from .\OH WR 6DQWD $V WKH SOD\HU NHHSV IDLOLQJ .\OH ZLOO JURZ XS DQG WKH FRQWHQW of his letter will change according to his age. This not only gives players new surprises every time they play but also cultivates the relationship between SOD\HUV DQG .\OH
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A story about waiting for love In all, I wrote 74 letters. Through these VKRUW OHWWHUV IURP .\OH , WHOO a story of a man who was waiting for the love of others. Although we know that it is unlikely that players will replay 74 times to read these letters, this complete backstory gave our team a clear design direction, making the entire game cohere into a more complex creative vision.
14 12
News Chaser Digital Game Design / 2019 Team project: responsible for game mechanic design, narrative design and programming. 'RZQORDG /LQN䉄https://reurl.cc/44dmpY
News Chaser is an endless runner that interrogates sensationalist news media and the vicious cycle of rumors in Taiwan.
Players play as a reporter. They hear a shriek coming from a deserted house, so they have to collect some information to make a piece of news under a time constraint.
8VH WKH DUURZ NH\V WR switch runways that the reporter is on
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Mechanic The players have to collect three pieces of interview from the spectators around the house. And based on these information, a report will be made and published at that night.
After that, the number of viewers will gradually increase, which makes it easier for players to collect information from the spectators and publish news reports.
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However, this also suggests that the players are gradually far way from the truth (the deserted house). Therefore, ZKHQ WKH SOD\HUV 䇡QG WKDW WKH FRQWHQW RI WKH LQWHUYLHZ GHYLDWHV LW ZRXOG EH HYHQ PRUH GL䇣FXOW IRU WKHP WR JR EDFN WR WKH GHVHUWHG KRXVH DQG 䇡JXUH RXW WKH WUXWK ,W LV EHFDXVH WKDW the way to the house is crowded with spectators who are attracted by the news. At the moment the player understands this, the reward of the game will be converted into obstacles. This mechanic conveys well how rumors are made.
15 17
You
Interactive Product Design / 2019 Solo project
You is an interactive product, consisting of a bonsai and a lamp. This product can track the existence of a person through daily behaviors such as watering or switching on a lamp. And this will create an unique type of interaction.
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Function
water storage
bonsai
lamp
This product is composed of two
They are owned by two people
objects, a bonsai and a lamp.
who live far away from each other. Through the Internet, these two people can interact with each other with their own product.
If the user presses the switch on the lamp, the lamp will detect human’s voice. If the voice is detected, the bonsai in a distance will be watered automatically.
If the user turns on the light of the bonsai, the lamp in a distance will also be switched on. It will be WXUQHG R䇠 LI DQRWKHU LV DOVR R䇠
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If one sees the plant is still thriving, they then learn that it is because there is another person who tries to talk to them.
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,I RQH 䇡QGV WKDW WKH ODPS LV WXUQHG RQ WKH\ VRRQ UHDOL]H WKDW WKHUH LV DOVR a lamp radiating light to other people in a distance at the same time. The growth of a plant and the light of a lamp would convey subtle information of the existence of two people.
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