disney world’s epcot pavilion “mission: space race” game

Easily the most high-profile project I’ve ever art directed, and the one with the largest public audience. As an installation in Disney’s Epcot center, this mega budget 72-player LBE (location based entertainment) kiosk game engages thousands of park visitors every day, 7 days a week, year round. In fact, with an installation lifespan of up to 20 years, my video game has a theoretical exposure of 44 million gamers!

I created and presented the pitch to the top Disney execs at Imagineering, and was honored to learn that I was the youngest person to ever be allowed to pitch directly to them. But that was soon eclipsed by actually winning the bid.

Fuel assembled a team of producers, artists, 3D modelers, animators, and coders, and I art directed them in an intense 6-month collaboration with Disney’s Imagineering theme park team.

I created the original sketches and storyboards, conceived and designed the multi-player kiosk-based video game, the aesthetic of the on-screen animation, and the heads-up-display interface that overlaid it. I also reveled in a rare opportunity to work with Disney’s brilliant set designers to create the physical button + screen interface of the kiosk installations.

Absolutely incredible.

1. gaming interface

72 players split into two teams, each controlling a shuttle. The teams each need to cooperate by managing a dozen 3-player kiosks to assess and repair an ongoing barrage of technical damage to the ship during flight. First ship to Mars wins.

Development art below.

2. race monitor

On a jumbo screen in front of the “mission control” game room is a 3D animation of the race between the two ships, with health and progress for each ship on a heads-up display.

3. kiosk

One of the most interesting design challenges was the gaming kiosk. Disney World entertains guests from every conceivable corner of the planet, of all ages and abilities. I needed to design a control panel that could be easily understood at a glance, by young or old, tech savvy or not. I even had to reconsider how I used standard color cues (e.g. red implies “bad” or “stop” in the West, but it means “good” and “luck” in Chinese culture).

Having the Disney Imagineering set design team construct my design was an especially satisfying piece of the puzzle.

4. online

Disney built an online version of the game as well.