Adrianna Mandzy

Audio, Narrative, and Environment design

Darkspire Citadel

Lead Narrative design, Lead Audio design, Level and Environment design, Project Manager

Senior Project

Welcome to Darkspire Citadel

Wreak havoc as Nyx in Darkspire Citadel, a grueling retro-inspired hack and slash rpg, where you venture through rot and tortured souls to reclaim your lost memories and body parts.

Narrative Design

Worldbuilding and Character Development

To create the story, I had to imagine a world where Darkspire was settled. I drafted various prologues to flesh out the world, and would lead into the time when the game would take place. I desired to weave a reality where gods are willing to shed their flesh, resulting in the creation of a "perfect" being, or so they thought.

I wanted to explore what would happen if there were twists and turns within a long, branching lineage. A collective consciousness that breaks down over time, resulting in a complex character within a broken world, the player can traverse.

A prayer that the people of Darkspire would recite to purify their mind and spirit.

Themes explored:

  • Mental health (PTSD, psychosis, anxiety, depression)

  • Familial Cycles

  • Generational Trauma

  • Mortality

  • Religion

  • Alchemy

Dialogue System

To interact with the world of Darkspire Citadel, I integrated the Pixelcrushers Dialogue System.

Visualizing the layers of the Citadel

Sound Design

Ambience in Ableton

From creating the narrative, sound was always key to how the story would be told. To accurately portray the protagonist's mental state, I wanted to design audio that would ebb and flow constantly throughout the player's ears to replicate Nyx's psychosis. In order to portray a rich environment, the audio needs to help immerse the player within the world. I wanted to create a sense of tension, using layered ambient tracks to produce a bass of dread.

First, I recorded and edited the raw audio in Ableton. The above shows the layout of my various whisper recordings, which would travel through the player's ears as a layer of ambience to help portray Nyx's mental state. I applied various audio effects to the raw audio, emphasizing echo and reverb to replicate a dizzying effect.

FMOD

To create dimension within the ambience, I split the multiple audio tracks into three groups within FMOD. Each grouping would play and loop at various stages of the game, following the player's journey.

P.T. Rescore

Audio for Games solo project: rescoring a clip of a video game
Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro
DAW: Ableton
Audio sources: self-recorded, freesound.org, P.T. (2014)
Gameplay: P.T. (2014)

Art

About Me

Hi! I'm Adrianna Mandzy(she/they)
I'm a recent graduate with a BFA in Game Arts from Pratt Institute. My work mainly focuses on narrative, audio, and environment design. My goals throughout each project are to explore the oddities and obscurities in life and other realms to disturb or comfort the disturbed.

Gran Turismo 4 Rescore

Audio for Games solo project: rescore and compose for a clip of a video game
Self-Composed, Mixed, and Mastered
Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro
DAW: Ableton
Audio sources: self-recorded, freesound.org
Gameplay: Gran Turismo 4 (2004)

Short Stories

Skin

Lead Narrative Design, Lead Audio Design, Level Design, Environment Design, Producer

Discover the mysteries surrounding the infamous Aurora Psychiatric Help Center, become lured deep into the shadows, and try to escape.

A 3-level survival horror experience, playing as a newly admitted patient seeking help, dive into the suspicious shadows that lurk just outside your door.

A Journey on Aethralis

Interactive Fiction Solo Project in Twine

Take the role of Nova Zara, a fresh recruit stationed on Aethralis working for the famous NeoTech Enterprises. Explore Aethralis and NeoTech, and try to uncover what's buried within.

Narrative Map

Modeled and Rendered in Maya
Textured in Adobe Substance Painter

Modeled in Maya
Rendered in Unity
Textured in Adobe Substance Painter