Key elements I learned during the development of Project Prospero
Advanced Programming
I learned to use advanced programming techniques for this project including object-pooling and AI-Behaviour-Patterns.
Project Management
I was the project leader for this game. My tasks included planning and allocating tasks, writing documentations and preparing presentations.
Unity
Since this was my first big 3D-Title made with Unity I got to know new Unity Tools.
Story Writing
I created the setting for the world and wrote the background story with it´s characters for this project.
Trailer
Development
Project Prospero was created as part of the Game Engineering Studyprogram at University of Applied Sciences Kempten.
I created the game idea and then got together with 5 fellow students for this project. Two of them got down on creating sounds and music for game while the other three created most of effects, meshes and levels.
Since I already had experiene in working with Unity I wrote the scripts for the game and managed the project. Later in the project I also wrote the background Story, created the User-Interface and Menus.
Overview Video
Preview-Images
Welcome to Project Prospero, Soldier
The world is on the brink. Use an arsenal of different weapons to shoot your way through waves of enemies and secure areas in this training simulation. The AI Prospero will monitor your training progress and prepare you for the world out there.
The world in the year 2092 is bleak. Despite technological advances, humanity is deeply divided. A few have secured the last natural resources and barricade themselves in their residences, while outside the number of starving people is steadily growing.
National governments have been overthrown in many places. Some former countries have joined together to form great confederations of states, while elsewhere many parts of the world have sunk into anarchy. In these times, private armies and mercenary forces are experiencing a resurgence. One such organization is the International Special Operation Force, or ISOF.
But if the ISOF is to be believed, things could now get even worse: According to their scientists, an invasion by an alien species is said to be imminent. To respond to this threat, the ISOF receives funds from all over the world to train soldiers and protect the Earth. As part of this training program, the player will get to know the world at the beginning. Later, however, he’ll be sent on missions that raise doubts about an imminent invasion, as well as about the human origin of the AI Prospero…
ISOF
The Internation Special Operation Forces are a private group of mercenaries. It was founded in 2073 and initially only carried out smaller operations, which is why it initially remained under the radar. In their early days, the mercenaries were hired, among other things, to secure the mining of the last mineral resources in the Middle East and the construction of secret mining facilities at the North Pole. Accordingly, the ISOF earned a questionable reputation over the years.
In 2085, everything changed with the completion of the „Prospero“ project.
Previously an outlawed organization, governmental special forces now cooperated with the ISOF to counter a terrorist threat that had arisen out of nowhere. Because of this rapid turnaround, wild theories quickly formed about this super AI and about a possibly less than perfect human origin. These theories probably stem from the incomprehensible articulation of Prospero.
Now, in 2092, the Earth is on the verge of extinction, according to the ISOF. The management has warned internationally that an overpowering alien species is about to attack the Earth.
The player begins his training at the ISOF by completing several training simulations. He is guided through the game by Prospero and learns more about the ISOF and the state of the world in later, real missions.
Prospero
This AI has been running the ISOF since the year 2085. In the beginning, Prospero mostly managed the creation and supervision of training simulations for new aspirants. Gradually, it also took over mission management, the research sector, and eventually even the entire management. The name Prospero comes from Shakespeare’s „The Tempest,“ in which the sorcerer of the same name rules over an island.
In the game, Prospero is both an antagonist and a mentor. She explains his mission to the player and comments on his failures. What stands out is her way of articulation. This is inspired by the „Council“ from the game „Control“. The spoken text is not always understandable for the player and the content is expressed with subtitles. Some words are unclear in the „translation“ and the player is therefore offered several words as „alternative translations“. This opens up room for minor jokes, but more importantly, background stories. In the course of the game, the player thus learns more about the world as well as Prospero’s intentions. Among other things, the player will find out that Prospero is not exclusively an artificial intelligence. Apparently, the ISOF scientists have implemented the consciousness of an alien species into Prospero.
This species seems to fear for its existence on its home planet and has therefore sent individuals to find a solution. The consciousness of one of these individuals is now a part of Prospero.