Damien Jules Emma
Game Designer | Programmer
Who am I?
My name is Damien Jules EMMA, born December 6th, 1999. I'm a video game enthusiast from Reunion Island who likes to play games, but also program, write stories, and create games.
I obtained a Scientific Baccalaureate with an Engineering Sciences option, specialising in Computer and Digital Sciences in 2017 with First Class Honours and a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science in 2020 with First Class Honours.
I have a Twitch channel on which I stream gameplay, which I edit and rebroadcast on YouTube, and I write fiction that I publish online, mainly on Wattpad. I currently have a few writing projects underway, including fan fiction and a webnovel in an original universe. I've also done some pixel art and image montages when I was inspired or when I needed to. In fact, I used to edit images for a voluntary organisation, the Association Coloris, until it closed down.
At the same time, I'm learning Japanese, Korean and Italian on my own.
Bachelor's degree projects
Bachelor's degree in Game Design
Some projects I carried out during my Bachelor's degree in Game Design at Institut Artline.
Internship and company/studio/freelance projects
Professional projects
Some projects I carried out or am carrying out during internships and jobs for companies/studios or freelance.
Personal projects
Personal projects
Some projects I carried out or am carrying out for personal purposes.
Bachelor's degree in Game Design
Game Preparatory Class (1st year): 2022-2023
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
The project for this module was to create a game prototype on Game Builder individually. My project was called Destination: Ether.
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
The project for this module was to create an escape game on Minecraft Java Edition as a group.
We were divided into groups of eight, and I was the project manager for mine. But it didn't take long for the disappointment to set in: of the eight members of the group, four didn't show any sign of life, one ended up disappearing along the way and the other two were more active towards the end. Basically, I did about 85% of the work. On top of that, there was very little communication within the group.
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
The end-of-year project consisted of a game jam on RPG Maker VX Ace. For four weeks, me and Sébastien VOGLER worked on a small action-adventure RPG with turn-based combat and puzzles.
2nd year of Bachelor's degree in Game Design: 2023-2024
The focus during this year were board games.
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
The project for this module was to create a game prototype on Game Builder individually. My project was called Destination: Ether.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Concept
Destination: Ether is an action-adventure game played primarily in third person. The player takes on the role of Chronus, a sword-fighting fox capable of temporarily stopping time in a futuristic city. He must navigate the floors of a tower filled with puzzles, enemies, and platforms in order to reach the top floor and the door leading to the final destination, Ether, the domain of the gods.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
The city and the central tower
The city: game tutorial
The player can move freely around the city in which they appear when the game is launched. This allows them to discover the first mechanics of the game. It is here that the player must pass their first test, which is to find the gatekeeper of the tower and answer its question correctly.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
The city and the central tower
The central tower
Once the tower doors are open, the game enters its second phase: climbing the tower.
On each floor of the tower, there is a test that the player must pass in order to reach the next floor. The only floors where there is no test are the ground floor and the 6th floor, which serve as checkpoints.
There are three different types of test:
Platforms
Puzzles
Battle stages
Final test
Platforms: the player will have to pass a course of platforms that can be stationary or moving. There may be traps along the way, such as fake platforms or lava pits.
Puzzles: the player must solve puzzles in order to progress. The puzzles are multiple-choice questions posed by a console or a gatekeeper.
Battle stages: some floors will be battle stages where players will have to fight enemies.
The final test, on the top floor, is a question that will force players to think hard, because if they fail, they will have lost the game.
At the end of each floor, except the last, there are two energy boxes that allow you to regain health.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Battle mechanics
Health
Health is symbolised by a bar at the top left of the screen. The player has 100 health points, which decrease according to the damage taken. Health points can be recovered from energy boxes and checkpoints.
Energy boxes restore 25 health points and checkpoints fully restore the health bar.
When the health bar is empty, the player dies and reappears at the last checkpoint.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Battle mechanics
Player skills
Chronus can walk, run, jump, interact with his environment, carry objects, fight with a sword and stop time for five seconds.
Sword Fighting
The player fights with a sword in hand-to-hand combat, inflicting 2 points of damage. They can use the obstacles in the arenas to take cover, and run by holding down the sprint button to avoid enemy attacks.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Battle mechanics
Player skills
Stopping time
This is the main mechanic of Destination: Ether. This ability stops time for five seconds. During this time, all enemies are at a standstill, allowing the player to attack them and move around without any problems. The player must wait 15 seconds between each use.
To let players know how much time is left before time returns to normal and they can reuse their ability, a cooldown will be displayed in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Battle mechanics
The enemies
The game's enemies are robots that attack from a distance. They all have a colour, which helps define their power: yellow < blue < red < white.
The yellow, blue and red robots can be found from the first floor, but the white ones can only be found after the 6th floor.
The arenas can have the following configurations:
3 yellow
3 blue
One blue and 3 yellow
2 red
One red and 2 blue
One white
Game and Level Design Initiation Project: Destination: Ether
Making-of
I managed to master the game and level design, even though I had to remove some elements not mentioned here and some floors of the tower during level building due to lack of time. I also had problems finding someone to test my prototype.
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
The project for this module was to create an escape game on Minecraft Java Edition as a group.
We were divided into groups of eight, and I was the project manager for mine. But it didn't take long for the disappointment to set in: of the eight members of the group, four didn't show any sign of life, one ended up disappearing along the way and the other two were more active towards the end. Basically, I did about 85% of the work. On top of that, there was very little communication within the group.
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
My role
As I said earlier, I was the group's project manager. I was in charge of narrative design, build and programming, as well as managing the Minecraft server, which I owned. (The server no longer exists.)
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
Work carried out
During the first week of the project, we researched escape rooms in our respective regions and did some initial brainstorming. We had a hard time agreeing on a concept, but after pooling our ideas, we settled on the principle of a matryoshka, i.e. having rooms that fit into each other.
This is how we chose to set the scene: a car in a container on a cargo ship moored on a desert island.
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
Work carried out
Scenario and gameplay
The scenario, which I worked on, is that a group of people with no apparent connection have been captured by a stranger, played by the game master, and they have twenty minutes to escape.
In the car, the players have to find the key hidden under the seats to get out and find themselves in the container, plunged into darkness.
Inside, players have to find the code to the car boot in order to get the access card to get out. The code is made up of four numbers hidden inside the container.
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
Work carried out
Scenario and gameplay
Once outside, they find themselves on the deck of the ship, with several containers arranged to form a maze. As well as the containers, there are lasers to deactivate, the switch for which is hidden in a container.
Just after, another laser blocks the path, but no switch this time, so they have to be bypassed by passing through a hidden passage in a container leading to the boat's hold.
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
Work carried out
Scenario and gameplay
Once off the boat, the players find themselves on a deserted island and have to find the code for the helicopter to escape.
To do this, they need to find a pickaxe to break down the door leading to the control tower, where the chest containing the code is located.
Escape Game Project: The Matrochka Protocol
Work carried out
Personal work
I implemented most of the puzzles and clues and did a large part of the build. I also fine-tuned some of the puzzle details. I also did the trailer.
The boat is based on a schematic I found on the Internet that I reworked.
Game Preparatory class (1st year): 2022-2023
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
The end-of-year project consisted of a game jam on RPG Maker VX Ace. For four weeks, me and Sébastien VOGLER (another learner at the time) worked on a small action-adventure RPG with turn-based combat and puzzles.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
My role
I was in charge of programming and designing the game's combat system. I also took care of the narrative design. Not only that, but I also helped Sébastien with the level building, correcting mistakes and doing a bit of decoration.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Brainstorming
During the brainstorming session, I proposed the idea of a labyrinth within a temple descending in depth with puzzles and turn-based combat. We agreed that each floor of the temple would correspond to a particular theme and that each floor would be divided into three rooms, apart from the entrance and the final floor.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Floors between the ground floor and the final floor
Each floor between the ground floor and the final floor consists of a central hub, a room with combat only and a room with puzzles only. Players must choose one of the two rooms on each floor, and once they have entered one room, the other closes permanently. In the central hub of these floors, there are also two staircases, one that allows you to go back up and one that is blocked by default, allowing them to go down once the chosen room has been completed.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Entrance and final floor
The entrance features a central hub and a shop where you can buy items and equipment. In the central hub, there is a staircase for descending and an NPC who heals the team when spoken to.
The final floor is the treasure floor and includes an arena with the final boss and the treasure room.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Basements
The theme of the first basement is ice, that of the second is lightning and that of the third is shadow.
In the combat rooms, players can randomly encounter groups of enemies as they walk, as well as fixed enemies and a boss at the end of the room.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Classes
Classes are determined by default. The team is made up of a swordsman, a protector, an archer, a healer, and an alchemist. Like the enemies, each class has its own specific characteristics. The swordsman can use physical and special attacks with his sword and dagger. The protector can only use physical attacks with the dagger, can wear a targe or shield and can protect at least one ally. The archer can use physical attacks with the dagger and physical and special attacks with the bow. The healer can use physical attacks with a staff and heal allies. The alchemist can use physical and magical attacks with a staff.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Concept
Game start
The game begins in an abandoned village where the temple is located. On the way, the players meet an NPC who tells them the legend of the temple and its treasure, the Amulet of the Sun, and gives them the key to the first floor of the temple.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Conception
We started by creating test labs. I created a lab for the random encounters and one for the fight against the first boss.
Over the following weeks, we each separately worked on our own part of the game, while reviewing progress together several times a week. Sébastien took care of the level building for each part of the game, while I created the characters, classes, enemies, equipment, and items. I also often made changes to the game's decoration and programmed the game's introduction and ending. I also helped Sébastien program the puzzles.
For the combat system, I created a script so that when characters level up, their HP and SP are recalculated according to their new maximum HP and SP. I also had to add some scripts I'd found on the Internet to improve the combat interface. I had no other way than to use scripts, RPG Maker VX Ace being limited at this level.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Work carried out
Tests
I took care of the testing phase by having two of my friends test the game. I recorded the two tests so that Sébastien could watch them on his own.
Following the first test, I made some changes to the various enemies and combat rooms to reduce the encounter rate and make the enemies more resistant.
By the time of the second test, it was too late to make any changes to the concept. However, an interesting comment came out of it: I should have included a way to see enemy HP in the combat interface.
Game Jam Project (End-of-year Project): Sun Of Honor
Post-mortem
What went right
The start-up went very smoothly, and we quickly came up with ideas for the game. We managed to help each other design the levels, and we were able to communicate quite frequently, which enabled us to move forward quite quickly.
What went wrong
There were some disagreements about the level design. We didn't have the same ideas for the design of the hubs, particularly about the position of the shop in the temple, which slowed us down. In the end, we managed to come to an agreement on this. We also had a few disagreements about the theme of the level building in the second basement. Sébastien thought it couldn't be done with RPG Maker VX Ace tiles, but I managed to convince him otherwise.
There were also some technical problems with the programming of the puzzles, more specifically the one in the first basement with regard to being able to slide on the ice. Sébastien came up with a solution, even though at first I had my doubts about the validity of the solution due to a misunderstanding of the instructions.
What to do next time
The main area for improvement would be team cohesion. Even if we were able to communicate properly, we were slowed down by our disagreements over the design of the game.
Professional projects
Personal projects
Writing project
The Alchemy of Love and Freedom
The Alchemy of Love and Freedom is a webnovel set in a steampunk universe named Nyctolats in which the readers follow the adventures of the alchemist Alan Kuronomi and his girlfriend and student Kataria.
Game project
TAoLaF: Nocturne
TAoLaF: Nocturne is an RPG set a few decades after the events of The Alchemy of Love and Freedom. In this game, you will be playing as the committed Nyctalf urban artist KitKat.
With KitKat, travel through the Empire of Orion to tag on the walls the Nyctalfs' cry of pain while they're being abused and discriminated because of the war. Avoid the Imperial Militia and the Secret Militia sent by the Orion Council to arrest you. Earn more followers on your blog to upgrade your skills and unlock more territory to tag.
The K!75UVERSE Guide (In French)
The K!75UVERSE Guide
I have made an online encyclopaedia on carrd.co to develop the elements of each writing project I made personally. The website is in French only.