Narrative and Game Designer Portfolio Pieces
Mass Effect 2 Mission Logic Project: Using articy draft 3 and Unreal Engine 5, I recreated the logic behind Mass Effect 2’s final mission and its leadup. The decisions the player makes throughout the game have a major impact on which characters can survive to the end, and this video is a brief walkthrough of how that logic path works. Playable at: https://mariomergola.itch.io/mass-effect-2-mission-logic
Recent Blog Posts
- The Good Writer’s ConundrumI stole Stephen King’s book from the library. It was enjoyable and excellent. It was easy to read. I breezed through page after page of golden insight, only pausing for the audible “ah-hah” or deep breath as something King wrote hit home. Like most accomplished writers, King urges his fellow brethren to read as much as possible. Inhale books and learn from them. This isn’t earth-shattering news. Until he makes a new argument. Read bad writing. King goes into some…
- Grammar Matters… Until It Doesn’tPeople tend to gravitate toward their talents. If someone is better at hitting a baseball than catching a football, they’re probably more inclined to pick up a bat in the future. It’s the same with writing. Many writers start out as avid readers. It makes sense. You inhale so many words from others that it’s only natural to want to vomit out your own. But that’s not the only path to writing. Nor is it guaranteed to produce good writing.…
- It’s Time to Call Yourself a WriterThere are many ways to give a writer anxiety. People often talk about “the blank screen,” where nothing has been typed yet, and clearing the hurdle of starting feels impossible. Then there’s the idea of perfectionism. And rejection. They go hand-in-hand. Until you separate those hands, get over the fact that your finished product won’t be perfect, and still get rejected. Or being ghosted. Entirely. Not knowing if the person you contacted hated your work so passionately that, instead of…