Intro
Manas is a student project developed as part of the USC Games Advanced Games Project course. It was headed by Omar Uraimov and art directed by Haotian Zhang. I served as a remote volunteer on the team as the teams’ sole Tech Artist. My responsibilities included Houdini tool creation, VFX, Blueprint Tools, Material Creation, and any other requests that the Art or Engineering team had.
Game Trailer
*Game is downloadable from this page*
My Work
Game Description
“Manas is an action-adventure game set in medieval Central Asia that immerses you in a land of mountains, valleys, and nomadic culture. Inspired by the Kyrgyz epic of the legendary hero, Manas, you’ll defend your village against ruthless invaders with the aid of your faithful steed, Akkula. Through engaging visuals and innovative mounted combat, witness the beginning of Manas’ epic journey!”
My Involvement
My interest in joining a USC team was sparked by a former classmate of mine. They had worked on a team as an artist, as at this point in time USC had to outsource nearly all the art in their games. Joining a team would allow me to gain more experience in game development and working remotely.
I originally joined the Manas team all the way back in May 22′. Over that summer I worked on prototypes and visualizations for the rest of the team. Fall 22′ marked the beginning of full-time development. Over the semester I met weekly with the rest of the art team to go over development updates and tasks. In Spring 23′ my involvement in the team become slightly interrupted due to my time abroad. I continued to work with the team and my role transitioned primarily to art implementation and VFX.
Takeaways
Working with the Manas team was a wonderful and educational experience. I grew as a developer, as a technical artist, and as a teammate. I’m thankful for the Manas team for having me and for my former classmate Brittany Ollendieck who originally encouraged me to take part. I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish and I hope everyone enjoys playing it. Thanks for viewing my work with the team!
