Death-of-the-Artist

Death of the Artist

Gameplay Engineer & Programmer

GameMaker Studio · Team of 5 · 2025

A 2D narrative adventure centered on exploration, character interaction, dialogue, and selling artwork.

Game Overview

Death of the Artist is a 2D narrative adventure developed by a five-person team in GameMaker Studio. Players explore interconnected spaces, interact with characters, progress through dialogue and narrative events, and sell artwork through an in-game interaction system.

I focused on player movement, room transitions, dialogue and NPC interactions, cutscenes, tutorial systems, UI, and gameplay integration.

My Role and Contributions

Systems Worked On:
Player Movement · Dialogue · NPC Interactions · Selling System · Room Transitions · Cutscenes · Tutorial · UI

Implemented WASD player movement and room transitions, including fade effects.
Developed the dialogue system supporting NPC conversations, character portraits, and narrative interactions.
Implemented gameplay logic for artwork-selling interactions, connecting dialogue, UI, sales information, and player actions.
Developed NPC interactions, cutscenes, and tutorial functionality supporting narrative progression and onboarding.
Integrated UI and gameplay components and supported team testing and iteration.

Technical Highlights

Dialogue and Selling System:

I developed dialogue and interaction functionality supporting conversations between the player and NPCs. The selling system extends those interactions by allowing the player to sell artwork while displaying relevant sales information through the UI.

NPC and Narrative Interactions:

NPC interactions support character portraits and dialogue presentation while controlling the progression of narrative conversations. Interaction prompts communicate when the player can initiate conversations and other contextual actions.

Player Onboarding:

I implemented an in-game tutorial introducing the player to movement and core interactions, providing contextual instructions as the player begins exploring the environment.

Challenges and Solutions

Coordinating Dialogue and Gameplay State:

Challenge: Narrative interactions needed to coordinate dialogue presentation, NPC state, player input, and UI without disrupting progression.
Solution: I implemented interaction logic connecting player-triggered NPC events with dialogue and UI states, allowing conversations and related gameplay actions to progress through a consistent interaction flow.

Connecting Selling With Dialogue:

Challenge: Selling artwork involved more than a standalone button; the interaction needed to work within NPC conversations while updating the appropriate gameplay and UI information.
Solution: I connected the selling interaction with dialogue and UI systems so that player actions, sale information, and conversation flow could function together as one gameplay sequence.

Development Team

Team Size: 5
University of Utah