Alyssa Raetzel
Game Writer & Narrative Designer | Cat Enthusiast
Alumni of the 2024 The Narrative Department Writing Bootcamp.Fall 2024 Graduate of Wichita State University with a Bachelor's degree in Game Design.Experienced in creating engaging branching narrative--especially for Visual Novels.
Specializes in choice-based narrative, character creation, and worldbuilding.Ask me about my cat! :)
About
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in Game Design at Wichita State University - December 2024
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Information Systems at Pittsburg State University - May 2016
Skills:
| Unreal Engine 5 - Blueprints, Level Design (click to view) |
| Ren'Py - Narrative Design, Coding (click to view) |
| Creative Writing, Scriptwriting - use Twine and Highland 2 during writing process |
| Office 365 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) |
Proud owner of one very spoiled black cat:
Projects
May I Have This Last Dance? (Demo)
Lead Writer, Narrative Designer, Programmer, Producer
*Click HERE to download and play the game.
My personal graduation project for the Fall 2024 semester at WSU.
Visual Novel built in Ren'Py -- coded in Python using Visual Studio 2022.
Worked with a small (<15 people) team of other writers, artists, composers, and voice actors to craft a 4,000+ word script.
Murder mystery set in the Regency era -- researched the time period to ensure character dialogue and mannerisms were accurate.
Determined optimal placement of voiced lines, sound effects, and overall presentation of visual and audio elements.
Tragedy Equals Comedy Plus Time
Lead Writer, Narrative Designer
*Click HERE to download and play the game.
Visual Novel built in Ren'py for the ICT Game Jam 2024.
Worked with a small (~5 people) team of other writers, artists, and composers to create the 3,500+ word game in just three days.
Branching narrative with 3 different endings (2 good, 1 bad) based on if the player chooses to help the three villagers or not.
Features clowns and a Wizard of Oz theme.
Otome Visual Novel built in Ren'Py.
Joined the project later on when the demo already existed.
Worked with 3-4 other writers to collaboratively write new scenes while also providing each other with valuable feedback.
Proposed ideas for player choices, such as having multiple people to speak to when visiting a marketplace instead of one linear route.
Assisted with worldbuilding and how to incorporate that into the character dialogue, such as adding a comment from the main character when they see children playing that informs the player they they had grown up in the area.
Proofread script for grammar and syntax errors.
Text-Based Roleplaying
Writer, Lore Researcher
Ongoing hobby in which I write stories collaboratively with another person using original characters.
Create characters to fit that world's lore--backstory, design, dialogue choices, etc.
Use an existing world (usually from a video game) or design our own world from scratch.
If we use an existing world, extensive research is involved to ensure that the story we develop fits with the predetermined material such as places, people, factions, mannerisms, weather patterns, etc.
For Example... I spearheaded a story arc set in the FFXIV universe that ultimately explained why a particular character's father was still alive. My personal process in developing the story is explained in the documents below:
The mentioned characters (except Raven) and The Red Dragon location were created by me.
The events in the story were planned around what choices the other character(s) might make throughout it.
Game Writing Samples
Characters & Barks
Worldbuilding
Scripts
Characters & Barks:
A deadly assassin who looks more machine than human.- original character created for a roleplay campaign, and adjusted to act as a player companion character
- set in a sci-fi world that combines space and Cyberpunk (worldbuilding doc for one of the planets)
- includes basic info, key traits, and visual descriptions
Creachur - Character Bio & Barks
He's there for the violence, not the glory.- part of a WSU student's fighting game project called Ascension
- the game features 4 playable characters: a human with a demon-infested shield, a powerful angel from heaven, a savage demon, and a fallen angel.
- developed Creachur based on the request of wanting an "unhinged melee fighter demon"
- worked closely with the other writers on the team to develop backstories for each character that tied into each other, as each character knew each other in some specific way
Worldbuilding:
Scripts:
Three video game characters get stuck in an elevator together.- features Estelle Bright from Trails in the Sky, Regongar from Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and Cloud Strife from FFVII.
- short exercise from TND Writing Bootcamp; focusing on character interactions based on a "Feelings Matrix" chart
A weary stranger orders coffee at a seemingly harmless bar.- in-class assignment where I had to write a short story with only 3 lines of dialogue
- Genre: Urban Fantasy
- features werewolves and a hint of gore
technical Writing Samples
IT Support Knowledge Base Articles
- Created "Knowledge Base" articles for solutions to common IT Support problems.
- Wrote step-by-step instructions with screenshots.
- Designed to be understood by both technical and non-technical readers.- Word Docs Open Blank
- Printer Prints in Portrait/Landscape Mode Only
Game Design Document
- Click here to view
- Describes the details of a game idea I designed for my Game Design I final.
- Researched video game vocabulary and the project pipeline of the industry.
- Maintained consistency throughout the document.