Coscoroba is an alternative controller experience developed over a 14-week period by a team at the University of Utah as part of the Projects I class. Originally, Coscoroba was going to be shown off at an in-person event at the University of Utah, but due to the circumstances around the time of its release, has only been demonstrated remotely. Coscoroba is an on-rails cooperative first-person shooter where two players take control of a ring-mounted gun on a retro-futuristic airship and must work together to protect the ship from an ambush. Each player controls one axis of aiming as well as one of the guns on the turret platform, and through strong communication and cooperation must take down the ships assailing them. Below is a recording of the initial presentation of Coscoroba at EAE Play 2020 via Twitch.tv:
Pictured above:
Top row, left: Original prototype controllers, developed during early stages of development
Top row, middle: Final controller in transit from the graduate lab of the University of Utah, circa March 2020
Top row, right: Concept art for the boss ship that appears at the end of the gameplay demo
Bottom row, left: Environment concept art for the rock pillars found throughout the world of Cygnus
Bottom row, right: Promotional postcard art for Coscoroba, edited from a render of the final environment
Coscoroba was created by a 12-person team at the University of Utah from January to May 2020. Aidan O'Keefe was one of the producers on the team, joining the project at its genesis and fulfilling a variety of roles throughout development. Aidan handled electrical engineering duties for the controller as well as creating the initial Arduino to Unreal Engine interface used for the controller prototype. He then moved on to head the audio portion of Coscoroba as the team expanded, coordinating a team of more than 10 freelance voice actors and actresses and creating the overall soundscape of the project with his work on sound effects and the audio systems in the game. Aidan also handled social media management on Coscoroba and was the public face of the game during presentations of the project alongside the vision holder, Hayden Griffin. Meet the team below:
