David Cowan
Portfolio
Narrative design
Starforged Studios - Edge
As the narrative designer for Edge, I was responsible for collaborating with the design team and project leads to develop the overall story of Edge. I created documents detailing and visualizing the overall narrative as well as writing quests and dialogue. I briefly worked with voice actors to record lines for our gameplay demo.
MSU, Empathetic Games Initiative - On the Outside, Looking In
The Empathetic Games Initiative was a project through the MSU Games and Graphics program, to develop games that would elicit Empathy from the players. On the Outside Looking In is a visual novel style game using school settings to bring about empathy. As the narrative designer, I wrote and edited documents detailing the decisions and directions players can take as well as develop dialogue for a plethora of characters.
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Narrative Design Talk
I gave a talk about narrative design to Michigan State University's game design club. While I learned a lot from MSU there was little education about narrative design and the impact on games. It was fun to compile my thoughts, feeling, and passions about narrative design.
Writing
The Choice
The Choice is a comedic, two-page, script where two friends struggle to order a pizza. This screenplay was written to explore themes of anxiety and support between friends.
Dragon Day
Dragon Day is a five-page fantasy short story that follows the mischievous Kite and their attempt to find the perfect gift for a dragon. After robbing some thugs for the gift, Kite must race through the city in order to present their gift on time.
Taking Shots
Taking Shots is a 90-page screenplay about artistic struggles and siblings struggling to understand one another. Caleb, a struggling photographer, takes his brother Jay and friend Ben on a camping trip to get the perfect picture to win a photography contest. On the trip, Caleb and Jay argue and fight as they struggle to understand each other. In the end, the brothers reconcile, and Caleb finds an unexpected photo for the contest.
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