Message from Rilla Khaled– To Nā ‘Anae Mahiki: “I’ve spent the last 3 weeks talking to many of you and watching many of you, and have been blown away by just how much you’ve achieved. You are an incredibly talented, dedicated, and considerate group, and I know now what the future of Hawaiian games looks like: you.”

Message from Nancy- “As one of the Skins-team veterans, having been involved since the beginning back when I was an innocent, fresh-faced university student, I had a blind hope/expectation of 5.0 being the best workshop yet. If only because the IIF team improves upon the curriculum design and project compiling methods with every rendition, making it more fluid and resulting in more and more ambitious projects. Of course, this being the first time coordinating a workshop outside of Montreal, there was an added level of “danger”, not knowing much about the facilities or (in my case at least) the community. It very well could have failed miserably. I was constantly aware of that risk in the weeks leading up.

The participants brought us all beautiful gifts of sweet scented Leis and Hawaiian candy.

The excitement is tangible. Prem took photos of everyone and guests began to arrive.

Its game time! Community has arrived!  Everyone gathered as the introductions began with Nā ʻAnae Mahiki Collective participants spoke about their experiences, their dreams, and their hopes for the future. They had not seen the final game build- It was going to be epic. 

He Au Hou was played and laughter and smiles spread across the room as the participants sat with players and answered questions about the game play. These few photos cannot show enough of the joy and excitement as the guests played the First Hawaiian game prototype, designed and created by Hawaiians themselves.  It was fantastic, well received and fun to play.Comments poured forth raving about the success of creating such a complete prototype and in such a short time.  

We all feel so proud of the accomplishment of the Nā ʻAnae Mahiki Collective- Skins 5.0 participants and the teachers, team leaders and all of the behind the scenes staff. This has surely been a memorable experience. Life long friendships were forged and we are looking forward to passing  We are looking forward to hearing about their success and their future successes too.

Aloha and good Morning

We have been working for 14 full days now. I am feeling both happy and excited because things are progressing at an amazing pace.

We started the morning with a Google Hangout discussion with the recent winner of Canada’s Smartest Person and gamer champion: Stephanie Harvey. She said, “To be more creative in developing games you need to make games; paper games, reverse engineer games, and write game rules, stories and documents, play games. You do not have to work in a triple A company to make a game- you can do what you love at home, in a restaurant, anywhere. Her presentation about breaking out into the game industry made me believe that anything is possible if you are creative, organized and love what you do.”

Tomorrow is the unveiling of our prototype game. Community has been invited to come to see what everyone has been busy creating. There are many more small breakout meetings and everyone is working quietly. One can tell that participants are having fun creating this game, there is still heartfelt laughter filling our space. It was a long day and a late night of working as all of the final programming and game integration of cinematics sound and images came together. Testing and more testing to search for ‘bugs’ went late into the early morning hours with the game engine taking more than 6 hours to render the final prototype.

This is certainly exciting!

It was relatively quiet this morning- I can feel the anticipation as everyone continues to work on their programming, assets, and environments. Waiting for the play test this morning is feeling emotional for me- everyone’s work is going to merge into a dynamic blending of sound, level design, art, and programming.

“I’m feeling very ecstatic that the project is starting to come together. All the work that individuals made, is becoming integrated in the larger video game. I feel really happy that the work I have done in level design, and sound design, is reflecting the visions that I had for certain planets. Watching these things being integrated makes me feel that we have all become ha’i mo’olelo. It really feels as though we have become storytellers who can immerse others into our world through our own respective practices.” said Kauwila.  “I felt that, I was in a forest, when I saw the 3-D Lehua file. I felt that I was meeting Kamapua’a in real life, that I was watching the world being created when I heard the Kumulipo being chanted. Our character is just neutral enough to feel as though you really are the character. You become the character.”

The play testing has me wanting to continue to explore the prototype. I promise not to give you any spoilers about the game play, except to tell you all that the game involves mystery, travel, and challenges rooted within Hawaiian culture. The cinematics and the play testing were quite experiential- I loved the sound integration and the storyline. Well done my friends.

Mahalo

Today is another day of intense production and digital creation by everyone. With our play test scheduled for tomorrow, it is a bit quieter. Devon Shimizu said “I’m surprised how similar many of these digital media programs work. It makes sense, but for some reason I assumed that it would be much more complicated. The important thing is when you learn how to use these programs, do not let your preconceptions stop you from starting. To learn you have to start somewhere.” Everyone is focused on the different areas that they are working on.

Continuous small meetings are flowing from one area of the room to the other and back again as participants are cross referencing and fine tuning their works. Computer monitors displayed the game’s characters and levels becoming real. The participants come and quietly chat about geneology, Hawaiian language and stories with Lillikala. I observed her in several small discussions with participants consulting when I over heard Rian telling Lilliane “I am so fortunate to have been selected for this.” Of course there has to be some play breaks and singing too; laughter is wonderful.

“I feel so fortunate and honored to be part of this workshop. It is a rare blessing to have the chance to work with a group of people who are continually enthusiastic and excited about completing every aspect of our game. There have been so many educational experiences as we have proceeded through the process of building this game.” said Rian Barreras. “I’m looking forward to learning more and building more games in the future, but I’m pretty positive nothing will match the heart and energy this group has formed.”

Anticipation for our prototype playtest is increasing by the minute.

Malhalo

Aloha Awakea Kākou

Production is now in full swing.  Each day we enter the Halau nana, where we’ve created our classrooms, to find participants who are often early and into their work well before our scheduled start time. We have local visitors almost every day and I guess they are getting the word out. On the weekend, I attended the La Hoihoi Ea Hawai’i Sovereignty day event  where I heard about our “amazing game workshop”.  Community is excited. This is certainly inspiring!

I thought it was about time I introduce you to the organizers, instructors and other collaborators.

There has been a lot of coordination behind the scenes to create the Skins 5.0 workshop here in Honolulu. In October 2016, Jason Lewis, Skins Co-Director, attended, as usual, the imagineNative Film + Media Festival. There he met four individuals from Kamehameha Schools in Hawai’i, Kehau Abad, Ryan “Gonzo” Gonzales, Bryan Kuwada and James Paul. He told them about our philosophy and method, sparking an interest in bringing the Skins workshop to Hawai’i. They went home and began to nurture the seed that would make Skins 5.0 a reality.

It took over 6 months for Jason, Kehau and others to develop the partnership agreements and budget, select a team, and organize travel and lodging. It takes a lot of people to ensure that everything flows smoothly and to troubleshoot before it is required. One month before the workshop, four Research Assistants were hired to update and develop the curriculum, lesson plans, and schedule.

We feel that all that planning was well worth it when we hear participants making comments like this: “Aloha mai kakou, I am enjoying this workshop very much.  It is so exciting to be a part of this collaborative effort that will help open the doors to Hawaiians and other indigenous people to express their culture through video games.

I would really like to continue creating games of my own but also collaborating with other participants (and future participants) for sure.

I met so much great people from this experience already, I know for a fact that many great things will come from these new friends in the future.  I am proud to be a part of this team and doing my best to represent our culture in the right way but also creating an interesting game to play.  Spreading this new gained knowledge and inspiration is also something I am planning/willing to do, let’s create more creators!” –Nathan Nahina

 

 

 

“The opportunity to tell a multi layered story,  in a multi dimensional game of time and space with inclusion of many voices in our community has been incredibly rewarding. While many had different story ideas, the ideas all resulted in telling a pono story built in the past, present, and future of Hawaiian sense of place. I really love that we honored so many different mo’olelo through the process, and decided to start our game as the kumulipo started in po. I believe the team did a masterful job of weaving our ancestral stories with a contemporary way of storytelling. I believe this is a way to build tangible skills and create a thriving creators, storytellers, and makers in our community. I would absolutely recommend this workshop. I hope we’re able to build a strong and lasting partnership with IIF. Me ke aloha.” – Forest Frizzell

 

It has been a real joy witnessing the germination of the Skins 5.0 seed. Participants are a real joy to watch as they have become a unified team, taking on game-industry roles to turn one of their stories into a playable video game during this three-week intensive workshop.

E holomua a hana i mau pā‘ani wikiō maika‘i

(Go forth and make good games)

What a fabulous day! At the end of week two, the story was approved and we entered into the production phase. It is amazing how everything is coming together.  “I joined the mo’olelo through video gaming [workshop] to learn how to take stories, history into another media. The learning curve has been steep especially with the technology classes, but I have enjoyed learning level design, sound and working on writing the mo’olelo especially with so many students who are fluent in Hawaiian language,” said Noelani Arista.

The week-end review was spectacular; the sound, and imagery fabulous! All of the participants are working at an incredible pace putting their knowledge to work.

Here is the game back story to whet your appetite for more.

… At the time, that turned the heat of the earth; At the time, when the heavens turned and changed…The coral, worms, starfish, phosphorous, Ina, Halula, Hawae, Haukeuke and kanaka were birthed from po. He Ao Hou

You and your twin sister, Lehua, are competing at space-sailing canoes, she wins and you are compelled to challenge her to race home. You are the first  into the arms of your Tutu who is sitting in the space hub on a lauhala mat. Tutu asks you both if you have heard the story of the shark who brought fish to the old couple. Tutu tells the story while lying in bed. He is not well. Lehua is sitting on the bed leans over and kisses him. You are watching her as she goes to the door, where she looks back hesitantly at him- her eyes water, and as you see the door close. You know that she has left. You become aware of a sound that becomes louder and you wake up from your dream thinking about Lehua as you hear Tutu coughing.  

A week has passed and Lehua still hasn’t returned. Tutu whispers “You both must be here to ensure everything is taken care of–it is up to you both now. Keep our stories alive, our people– Go now, quickly.”

A message from home tells you that Tutu has died; space/time seems to stand still. Your grief has caused the stars to be blurry and your ears are deafened by a ringing silence. It is up to you to find your sister.   You decide that you cannot wait and you pilot your ship away from your home. Where will you go? Will it be Ahupua’a? or Wai? Pele? With so many planets to search you choose one of many. It is where your sister may be, your quest will  begin and you will have to decipher challenges to gain knowledge about where your sister is.

Know that your whole team is an inspiration! Have a well deserved weekend everyone. Mahalo Nui

When I had a moment to speak with Vance Tolentino he said, “I was looking for an opportunity to get back into this kind of work and luckily this program came up. I never thought I would meet Native people from the mainland. I found Simon-Albert and Pippin Barr and all the other staff so interesting. This was a crash course in five different programs that I did not get to do before and it was not easy learning them all so fast. This workshop has rekindled my fire. I feel confident that everything will work out fine. Even though I did not learn the programming software, I know where to find the lessons and will be able to learn that too. It feels good to do this kind of work again.”

When the last lesson was complete, lunch arrived and everyone was chatting, laughing, and genuinely have a wonderful time with a much lighter relaxed feeling blossoming.

As lunch came to an end, the storyboards were looked at and assets lists were made with participants selecting the pieces they wish to bring to life. The excitement is tangible, the mood happy.

“I really got interested in Blender, 3D modeling and animation. I  want to continue making things

in 3-D modeling,” said Dwayne Shimizu. “We just finished all of the learning and I am actually going to be able to jump in and create with all that we’ve learned. I am really excited for that. I also wanted to add that the catering is really good and to always remember to tip the wait staff- the end”.

Today was a good day. We gathered around the table and chanted together before we went our separate ways for the night. Enjoy your evening everyone- Mahalo

This morning, I arrived to find most of the participants had arrived early. They were busily discussing the development of the story dialogue and the characters that they will bring to life over breakfast.

Considering all of the software the participants had to learn in such short time, I feel so blessed to be here to witness their accomplishments. Today will focus on the last two large components of the learning phase: 3-d digital drawing and how to create game play triggers. 

Each day, I am seeing the participants grow as a team, sharing their ideas, discussing what they would like to develop in the game and dividing the workload. As Indigenous people, we cherish the same things: land, culture, language, history, and sovereignty. Although we live half a world apart, we are so similar in our ways. They also use consensus to formalize their decisions. The participants are sharing their oral history, their stories, their language. The way they describe a person is so interesting. It is done holistically- interpreting the significant role that stride, movement, posture and status plays in personality and power. I feel honored that they freely share so much about Hawaiian culture. Every day is filled with laughter and it is truly a joy to be working with them all.

“Applying for this workshop is the best choice I’ve made in years. The technical aspects are intense and the timeline is daunting (the cultural aspect can also get severely tedious) but the mentors and instructors are patient and passionate. I look forward to what we will accomplish. I’d recommend Skins to anyone needing the tools and the courage to put their voice and vision into the world.” said Mox

Malhalo Nui

Everyone is excited about the story line and they are working together to develop the context of the game play. They are dreaming big and want to include several levels, mini challenges and cinematics that are in the planning stages.

The participants are working together to develop the conceptual design of not only the main characters, but the environments they will travel through, and the tools that will help you, the player, survive in the game. There are important design decisions to make about the characters and challenges. How can they best express Hawaiian culture? The dialogue has been “sketched” in English, but will be finalized  in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi — the Hawaiian language. The work is challenging. The amount of things to finalize is now peaking and may seem as tall as the surrounding mountains. Soon, everything will come together.

“It’s a lot of information, it’s a little intimidating too, but very fun and worth it. We get to make an end product! It’s really exciting and I really hope that this grows into more. All of the workshops make me want to learn and I want to do more. I didn’t learn these programs before, so I’m really glad that we have people who are masters at teaching the software.”      Maki’ilei

In this workshop, all the participants have the opportunity to get an introduction to each of the software programs to find their preferences and strengths. The lessons are presented with participants following along on their own computer.  The days have gone by so quickly, with so much to learn, and so much to do. It is amazing to know how much technology and software is actually used in the creation of a game.

Most of the participants are taking only short breaks and working through lunch to try to gain as much knowledge as they can about the software they are learning. Many work in the evenings to come back with new iterations of the script, concept art, 3D models and gameplay ideas.

The comradery of the team is steadily growing and  at the end of the day, when everyone is tired and their minds filled with what they’ve learned, there are still smiles and laughter. This is truly a Hawaiian dream that is inspiring participants to want to gain momentum and to take the time to meet, to build games together and to continue to create.

Mahalo Nui