Chef Niya | ImaniPeters

OVERVIEW

Created a game prototype of a narrative based rhythm cooking game

ROLES

Creative Director: Supervised art direction for game & trailer
Game Designer: Designed a rhythm cooking narrative game set around the character Niya
Level Designer: Fully Designed game demo level from concept to creation, assisted with level design for trailer scenes.
Voice Actress: Voiced the Dialogue for Niya in Teaser trailer

Link: Chef Niya Steam Demo

GAME DESIGN

Objective: Create a prototype for a narrative based cooking rhythm game

My Design: Since this game is catered towards two kinds of players: Those who like narrative games and those who like rhythm games, I opted to create 2 different modes. Freeplay mode for those that want to just play through the songs beat their score, and story mode for those who wanted to learn more about the background of the Niya, the characters and her journey. I illustrated how these game modes could look and described the functionality of the game modes in a GDD (game design document).

Game Storyboard

Freeplay Gameplay (pre-alpha)

Storymode Gameplay (pre-alpha)

Trailer

Objective: Create a 1 minute trailer showing Niya's journey from leaving her hometown to going to a new city to become a chef

Animatic

Made a simple animatic of the trailer, that was used as a reference for animators and environmental artists

3D blockout

Blocked out scenes in Unreal via Unreal Level sequencer using placeholder assets

Shot Framing

Assisted in placed final animations into scene & framing shots for trailer

FInalized Trailer

Edited Final Trailer

Level Design

My Design: My design for Chef Niya’s demo level features a dark, blue-green forest that reflects Nia’s uncertainty as she leaves her hometown to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. The color palette evokes her mixed emotions and sets the tone for a new beginning, introducing key characters before the main gameplay loop begins.