RMIT: RMIT graduates featured at Melbourne International Games Week

An innovative narrative adventure video game by an RMIT design graduate is on show at the Big Games Night In – an opportunity for game lovers to connect and celebrate Australian game-makers.

Sussurus was written and directed by Caleb Noller as part of his Bachelor of Design (Games) where he teamed up with artist Sarah Carlton to bring his idea to life in their final semester. The result is an adventure game unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Set in Egypt and inspired by a nightmare that Noller had as a child, the game combines gameplay with cinematic storytelling in a way that aims to enhance the narrative experience. In designing the game, Noller set out create a rich story underpinned by a potent 3D exploration element.

“To achieve this combination, I applied a transition effect to the screen so that the game has the effect of almost walking through a film but experiencing it at the same time,” he said.

“In my experience of the Bachelor of Design course, there’s a lot of room to explore your own interests. You learn the teacher’s processes and techniques, and over the course I was able to get closer to what’s been in my mind. I found the course really valuable.”

The sophisticated way Noller’s game transitions between environments and scenes, as well as the strong and unique approach to world building, art direction and design, were all highlighted as reasons why the game won the ACMI + RMIT Games Prize earlier this year.

The award provided Noller not only with a cash prize, but also the opportunity and space to further develop the game, with a view to creating a vertical slice with which to potentially apply for future funding.

Sussurus is available to download and play for free until Sunday 9 October as part of ACMI and Melbourne International Games Week’s Big Games Night In along with other RMIT graduate-lead games.

Some of the other RMIT games on show include Butterfly Dollhouse by Chase Profaca created in collaboration with Joshua Bowyer, Jessica Schembri, Jessica Tuohey and Jam Walker (runner-up for the ACMI x RMIT Games Prizes) and Cult of the Lamb by Massive Monster.