Project: Gateway
Vertical Slice
You wake as The Appointed of a river-jungle civilization on the day of the festival. The Structure at the village’s edge has stood for generations, overlooking the stilted pathways. As you move through familiar paths, small exchanges with those who shaped you give you a glimpse of your history and what lies ahead. The procession gathers, the mask is given, and the platform waits. With a simple act, you open the Gate. A leap of faith.
A step forward.
INTRODUCTION
Project: Gateway is a cinematic narrative adventure starting off in a warm river-jungle civilization on the day of a communal rite of passage. You play The Appointed - an ordinary citizen prepared for an extraordinary task: to cross the settlement one last time, and perform the opening of an ancient Structure that has stood at the edge of their world for generations.
(Early production footage)
A VERTICAL SLICE
The vertical slice is the first glimpse into a larger story. It’s a short, self-contained chapter, about 15-20 minutes, that lets you step into the village on the morning everything matters and lets you feel some of what this game could offer: presence, community, and a single, decisive act that carries you across the threshold and into an unknown future.
You wake in your hut, the world already in motion. A brief traversal segment teaches you the rhythm of movement, then you drift back through paths you’ve walked since childhood. Along the way, you meet the people who shaped you, brief, lived-in interactions, provide glimpses into your history and what lies ahead. The procession gathers. The platform awaits. You take the mask, perform the opening, The Structure answers, and the adventure begins.
What does this provide you as a player?
A small arc you can finish in one sitting, with just enough touch on the general feel for the game's early stages.
In the bigger picture, this slice is the foundation. It presents the cinematic language, interaction feel, and voice. With those anchors set, the worlds beyond The Structure can alter in mechanics and art direction with confidence, different places, same spine, so each new passage feels like a true continuation.
SOLO DEVELOPMENT
Building a vertical slice alone is equal parts choreography and carpentry. You’re writing, designing, blocking, lighting, timing performances, and wiring logic, often in the same day, while keeping the broad perspective in mind. It’s demanding, but it’s also a rare chance to let tone, pacing, and visual language stay coherent from first blockout to final polish.
Working solo across many tracks also means shaping a loop that never drowns you. To build a beat until it reads well, play it once from the start, polish just enough to learn its trajectory, then move on to the next task before polish turns into unnecessary decoration. To resist the gravity of ‘more’. More systems, collectibles, and branches can all feel like progress on paper until they dilute the moment on screen. The slice does not need to demonstrate everything; it needs to demonstrate truthfully.
CINEMATICS
Project: Gateway is designed as a cinematic experience, with cutscenes and cinematic sequences carefully woven into its gameplay and story.
Upon entering The Structure, you're introduced to the ‘bridge sequence’, a tightly choreographed passage that threads chapters together across the wider story.
It leans on graphic composition, bold negative space, and rhythmical edits: shapes lock, rotate, and reveal; light pulses in measured steps; motion and music working together. It’s the connective tissue between acts, designed to provide an atmospheric break and transition between events.
My cinematic workflow is practical, repeatable, and greatly inspired by existing work found in games, movies, and TV shows. I start with a scene in mind, it's scenario, purpose and intent. I gather references, compose a shot list, then block camera paths and actor marks in-engine. Using Unreal's Level Sequencer, I manage camera cuts, easing curves, and timing passes until cadence matches my vision. Lensing choices, gentle handheld noise, and tableau locks are tuned per shot. Exposure and correction is driven through a dedicated post-process volume; color intent comes from lightweight LUTs and lit up with a three-step key - fill - rim scheme.