Before the Sun Rises is a bullet hell style game set during the medieval witch hunts. Your sister, a presumed witch, was taken from her bed during the night and set to be burned at the stake. It is up to you to move and dash to your sister Bridgid, evading the mob as they try to stone you on your path.

I developed this game with Natasha Spinelli. We followed Situational Game Design theory to ideate and develop the game over the course of 4 weeks. I was responsible for the programming while she handled asset creation. We collaborated on the game and narrative design. All the visual assets in the game are 100% original.

Tools

Godot, GD Script, Maya, Substance Painter

We wanted to do an action game inspired by some of our favorite Hack and Slash games. We thought an Isometric style was the most achievable style of such a game, but we narrowed the scope of the game to focus on movement and dodging give to the feeling of thrill without a full combat system.

This project taught me the importance of clear communication and understanding the full 3D asset integration pipeline by working directly with a 3D artist.

This project aims to explore both the bridging and tension between religion and scientific advancement. Technology has been said to drive a generation away from religion. At the same time, media like Ghost in The Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and The Matrix demonstrate the long cultural obsession with machine consciousness and the fusion of technology and spirituality. Why do we as humans, creators of the machine, attach ideas of divinity to them? Perhaps as science demystifies nature, the unknown migrates to technology, and the machine becomes divine.

Video games and algorithmic screens are often used as a form of escape from the material world and its problems. The same could be said of religion. Religion and technology hold hands through that. For some, screens distract from prayer, for others, the screen airs televangelists and serves up TradCath influencers for the feed.

Additionally, technology and media remix and distort religious imagery into new forms almost completely disconnected from their origins. To the point that, despite the pervasiveness of said symbols, we fail to register that they are indeed spiritual in the first place. They become additional fodder for the consumption machine.

This project depicts a church which is hollow and overtaken by technology. It has been turned into a server farm, with server racks replacing church pews. The servers hook up to the centerpiece, a disheveled amalgamation of screens, enshrined by a mass of wires. The screens depict a new, remixed Christian symbol, featuring anime crucifixion scenes, in an effort to highlight their absurdity while directly referencing the role of escapism fulfilled by both religion and technology. Rachel Rossin's SCRY (2023) installation is an inspiration for this piece, where a collection of paintings and screens depict anime mechs in a formation resembling an altar. The piece Jesus Touch (2015) by Electroboutique is also an inspiration, offering commentary on the role of technology obfuscating the meaning of images.

Team Members

Natasha Spinelli: Design and 3D modelling of the cross centerpiece