Virtual Talk at Guildford College & Bracknell and Wokingham College
On October 22, 2024, I was invited to give a virtual talk to students from the CreaTech Faculty at Guildford College & Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Dora Vrhoci is a professional Narrative Designer based in The Netherlands. She helps Game Development Studios design compelling stories for their games.
Contact her for collaboration, free consultation, or a chat about games, writing, or design.
Portfolio
Introduction
My name is Dora Vrhoci, and I am a professional Narrative Designer based in The Netherlands. I help Game Development Studios design compelling stories and coherent worlds for their games. As a Narrative Design and Storytelling professional, I have worked as a Game Designer, Quest Designer, and Editor.
Contact me by e-mail at dora.vrhoci@gmail.com for a free consultation or collaboration.
Narrative Design
Working as a Narrative Designer, I help Game Development Studios build immersive and intricate worlds for their games. I'm committed to achieving ludonarrative synchronicity, making sure that the game's narrative and gameplay are weaved into a coherent unit.
Storytelling
Storytelling is not just a tool in my arsenal as a Narrative Designer; it's the very essence of my craft. Through the art of storytelling, I design narratives that breathe life into the worlds of video games.
Quest Design
Quests play a key role in engaging players and immersing them in the game world. Well-designed quests also contribute to the overall player experience by offering opportunities for storytelling, character development, and gameplay variety. Quest Design and narrative development are inseparable. I can help game development teams create well-structured quests that advance the game's narrative and provide challenges.
Editing
My keen eye for detail led me to take on the role of a Copy-Editor for multiple years, ensuring that every sentence flowed flawlessly and every comma found its rightful place. Later, as Managing Editor for multiple projects, I orchestrated the editorial processes with ease, juggling deadlines, content curation, and team collaboration. I eventually embraced the role of Editor-in-Chief for a local magazine in Maastricht, leading a team of talented writers and editors. In short: if you need help with editing and reviewing written content, whether in games, magazines, or blogs, contact me!
Design Philosophy
Originally trained by the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF) and inspired by the philosophies of Stanford d.school and IDEO, my personal design philosophy is rooted in User-Centered Design (UCD). I was taught to prioritize understanding the needs, behaviors, and preferences of users throughout the design process, ensuring that the end product or experience meets their expectations and enhances their lives. By employing iterative design, prototyping, and usability testing, I strive to create solutions that are intuitive and efficient.
My Blog(s), Press Release(s), Writing
Exploring Sibling Dynamics in Alien: Romulus (2024) — A Review
Directed by Fede Álvarez, Alien: Romulus (2024) is the latest installment in the Alien franchise. Álvarez gained recognition for directing the horror films Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016), setting high expectations for audiences familiar with his cinematic style.
Circularity in Storytelling — with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers of Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).
It’s simple: The story ends where it begins.
Circular storytelling means that some elements from the beginning of the story (re-)appear at the end of the story. Elements (re-)appearing at the end of the story are usually in a stark contrast to the elements at the beginning of the story.
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) is a heart-warming story that ema
It’s simple: The story ends where it begins.
Circular storytelling means that some elements from the beginning of the story (re-)appear at the end of the story. Elements (re-)appearing at the end of the story are usually in a stark contrast to the elements at the beginning of the story.
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) is a heart-warming story that ema
Parasite (2019) Review: A Violent Collision of Two Worlds
Directed by Bong Joon-ho, Parasite (2019) is a Korean dark comedy-drama that masterfully exposes the reality of class division, following two families whose worlds violently collide as one infiltrates the life of the other. Beyond the narrative, Bong employs visual architecture and beautiful camera movements to emphasize the contrasting worlds of these families.
If You Heat It, It Melts: How Andersen’s Icy-Cold Queen Evolved into a Heart-Warming Sister
It is well-known that a major source of inspiration for Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen (2013) was Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen (1844). Buck and Lee follow the Danish writer’s story by building the feature’s plot on a search for the Snow Queen.
Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant: A Dialectical Fusion of Memory, Remembrance, and Forgetting
The possibility of interpreting the characters’ past in multiple ways produces alternative narrative tracks, or alternative histories, within the story world.
Book Review: Stephen King’s Pet Seminary (1983)
Stephen King is undoubtedly a masterful writer with a unique ability to tap into our deepest fears. “Pet Sematary,” like many of King’s works, is a finely crafted tale of horror. The story is structured with precision, the sentences are meticulously composed to support the ebb and flow of tension, and the characters’ thoughts offer a raw glimpse into the dread and horror they experience as the story unfolds.
