About

 

West-Turn will bring back the experience of getting together with your friends to play games.

Remember the times when you would get together with friends to play a board game?  Or when you would all go to the arcade to play a shooter?  Part of the fun was not just what you did in the game–it was the friendly nudges you gave each other, the laughter and frustration visible in your friends, the ability to sit back later and talk about the events in the game.  In the past decade, this experience has become more and more rare, and Team West-Turn would like to bring it back.

We are creating a memorable, innovative game that friends play together in the same space using their iOS mobile and tablet devices.  We’re working with SmileGate, a world-renowned game company, to make this vision come true.

The game will use device-to-device local network so that players can play in their living room, at a park, or in a coffee shop, without the need for a complicated setup, or expensive equipment.  It will also feature simple analogue finger gestures and will embody a game design concept familiar and accessible to North American audiences.

 

SmileGate as our client

SmileGate is a South Korean online game development company and the creator of the world’s number 1 online FPS title, “CrossFire”.

SmileGate is skyrocketing to the No. 1 position among game companies world-wide, with the dream and passion to create timeless games that can be loved around the globe.

 

 

The project is being produced at the ETC Silicon Valley campus under the guidance of Jiyoung Lee and Carl Rosendahl.

And the team consists of six awesome members:

Sun Moon started to make games in middle school, because making game was much more fun than playing repetitive games. He possesses the qualities of Art, Liberal Art and Computer Science as being trained in interdisciplinary ways. He also learned programming C in middle school, psychology, philosophy and advanced mathematics in high school and anthropology, design in university. Having been doing all kinds of things: acting, band, Orchestra, conducting, composing, photography, documentary, AD&D, Taekwondo and modding games, he joined ETC to meet diverse people and to share good time together.

Danah was born in Seoul, South Korea and has lived in over 7 different places including: California, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Manchester in UK and manydifferent cities within South Korea. Now she is living and studying in San Francisco. Being in diverse environments taught her the importance of communication, adaptability, and perception in culture. These experiences and her passion for visual arts solidified her goal to study graphic design. After graduating from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign with a BFA in Graphic Design, she worked in the IT industry. Danah then decided to pursue her dream of becoming a game artist at the ETC. In the SmileGate project, Danah is working as an Artist.

Danny grew up in the jungles of Venezuela, amidst waterfalls, fried corn cakes, and baboons. He was raised there until he was 8, whereupon he was taken to a region where bulletproof vests were not highly- recommended vestiges. In America he learned French. He also kindled an interest presentations of all forms: comedy, magic, dance, puppet, piano, and radio. He went to Brown University, majored in East Asian Studies, and worked at Google as a Learning Designer for 5 years before coming to the Entertainment Technology Center.

Mohan has been a hardcore gamer ever since he can remember, a journey that began with ‘Prince of Persia’ being the first game he ever played. His fascination with Computers and the deep passion for Games spurred him to pursue Computer Science and Engineering as his Undergraduate Major. Data structures and Object Oriented programming became his main forte. Mohan’s industrial experience at Nokia Siemens Networks was instrumental for his exposure to the dynamics of Agile method of Software development as well as being a team player. Currently, Mohan is studying at the ETC where he is learning to ‘engineer’ Entertainment. During his first semester, Building Virtual Worlds course offered him a challenging opportunity to learn 3D modeling and animation. His first semester taught him to tell strong stories visually and create engaging games.Now, Mohan continues to learn his dream of creating games that entertain, educate and inspire!

Nora comes from Bilbao, Spain. After school I decided to move to Madrid and study Computer Science. There I worked for three years in Enterprise Risk Services, Deloitte, as a data analyst and IT auditor. The more I progressed in my career the more I missed a more creative environment and programming. In 2010 I decided to change profession and started a quest that has brought me to the ETC. Here I have experience the wonderful things that artists, designers and programmers can create together.

Zero owned his first personal computer at an early age. This special gift gave him a great opportunity to explore the coolest technology in the world. His love of computers and programming never changed since he was a little kid. In 2006, Zero left his hometown and went to France to pursue the Software engineering degree at Institut National des Sciences Appliquées of Toulouse. Contacting with people from other countries and cultural backgrounds broadened his horizons and invigorated his confidence in social interaction. During his undergraduate study, he accomplished many projects on location- based technology, Android platform and web development. He also took initiative to do the interns in the companies like Airbus and Sogeti High Tech. Inspired by Randy Pausch, Zero applied to the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University on 2011. At ETC, he is hoping to work with his love of innovative technology while learning new things about the world of entertainment.

 

 

Contact Us

Let us know your suggestions, comments and concerns by sending an email to: xiyuanl@andrew.cmu.edu