An early VR character study and interactive narrative experiment that laid the technical and emotional groundwork for complex digital actors.

Addressed the challenge of transitioning from "show, don't tell" to "play, don't show" in interactive media. The objective was to design responsive digital characters that foster genuine emotional attachment and guide user discovery, moving exposition away from scripts and into active exploration.

Blended contrasting visual styles: a 2D cel-animated character (Smart Heart) built in Adobe Creative Suite, and a fully rendered 3D antagonist (PortMaster) built in iClone and Blender. Integrated facial motion capture for lip-synced dialogue and leveraged tabletop RPG game-mastering techniques to create responsive NPC interactions.

This project helped establish the character pipeline, visual fidelity, and interaction standards for the larger Starjourn project. It showed how well-designed digital characters can strengthen stakes and deepen narrative texture in spatial environments.