Castiel’s Radio Missions – Ringling College of Art and Design

A Theme Park Interactive Game Concept Package by Alex Endicott and Sophie Kramer

Portfolios: https://alexendicottdesign.com | http://sophiekramerdesign.com

Ringling College of Art and Design, Rising Seniors (’25)

“Hello, hello, bem-vindo! This is Castiel, your angel of the sound waves and radio maker extraordinaire!”

In Porto Fado, a Portuguese city buzzing with the latest radio programming, visitors have the unique opportunity to visit radio builder and broadcaster Castiel’s shop in the Central Plaza. Tourists can check out advanced radio technology and even take a particular Angel Som radio for a spin. But their experience takes a thrilling turn when, upon leaving the shop, they receive an emergency broadcast from Castiel himself, drafting them into a mission to uncover hidden mysteries around the city.

Overview

Designed as part of RCAD’s course Entertainment Design III, Castiel’s Radio Missions is a small guest-driven interactive game created for the land of Porto Fado, a concept for a theme park land designed by the Entertainment Design class of 2025. It is based on the Legends of Nuum, a story written by the class of 2024 in the Spring 2023 Writing for Shared Worlds class.

Within this innovative interactive, guests can embark on three missions throughout the land, following Castiel’s instructions to unearth clues and solve puzzles with the help of RFID chips inside the radio device. Adventurers will unravel the secrets of Nuum (an otherworldly field of energy infecting our own), confront shadowy organizations, and face a looming menace threatening the very essence of Porto Fado.

Porto Fado

Nestled on the rugged western coast of early 1920s Portugal, near the border with Spain, the seaside city of Porto Fado’s picturesque setting offers stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. In the city center lies a populated shopping and dining district filled with shops and cafes, each with charming quirks. A bustling and colorful marketplace bazaar populated with local artisans, chefs, and storytellers overlooks the waterfront district’s restaurant and river, infamous for its unique boat tours. Looming over the city center is a towering citadel, an imposing structure of dark stone and metal with an eerie, fortress-like appearance with massive, menacing sculptures and symbols etched into its façade. 

With a diverse mix of historical influences, arts, and culture, Porto Fado is a rich and exciting paradise compared to heaven on Earth. However, under the surface and behind the facade of the locals, something sinister remains at play.

Unknown to the average citizen or tourist, Porto Fado is built upon the convergence point of Nuum, an ethereal plane of magic guarded by the balance of its well of energy. The division between this and the human world has remained solid, but it has slowly begun to crack with time. An ever-present aura of magic envelops the city, making it a hub for energy-induced activity surges.

However, the cracks between realms are beginning to manifest in strange physical and spiritual ways, causing disturbances throughout the city. These supernatural events have attracted the attention of two academic groups: the Society of Scholars and The High Order; both aim to conquer the energy of Nuum, but one group seeks to contain it, and the other seeks to control and weaponize it. Many of the attractions within this land focus on this story of rivalry and adventure as the two dueling groups race to the heart of Nuum.

Castiel’s Radio Shop

After hearing in-story broadcasts from Castiel, an anonymous radio host and builder, Porto Fado tourists are encouraged to visit his shop in the City Square to see the latest technology; borrowing an Angel Som display radio, guests will be able to take his innovative, first of its kind, portable devices for a test drive. However, as soon as they step out of the shop, these guests receive an emergency broadcast from Castiel stating that they have been spot-recruited to help gather intel on the mysterious elements at play in the city.

Similar to the EPCOT World Showcase Adventure games and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, guests can follow Castiel’s directions to find clues and solve puzzles across Porto Fado. Available throughout the day, guests will be assigned one of three different quests in different land areas and learn more about the history of Nuum, the two organizations, and the potential danger that lies ahead.

Storefront Facade and Interior Reference Collection

When developing a tonal theme for the attraction, our design team took a historical deep dive into the world of the roaring 1920s internationally, pulling from thriving cultures across the globe.

We drew much inspiration from Parisian and Mediterranean storefront windows and displays for our facades. We were often attracted to their colors, shape, language, and eye appeal. We also loved the more straightforward, era-appropriate radio stores scattered throughout New York City and London. This research aided us in conveying what kind of experience and story we could create within the store as a starting point for each mission, as well as helping our greater land area development and facade design team match the shop to the rest of the architecture of the land.

Along with looking at architectural references, we also wanted to look at the interiors of these 1920s shops to see what displays could look like and what sort of spatial layout we would be working with. With this in mind, we were able to better develop the theoretical guest turn-around for a mission and how many we could have running at the same time.

Game Play Research and Ideation

During our original rounds of ideation for guest interactives for the land, we knew that we wanted to have a type of experience that would incentivize guests to explore all of the different corners of our land and would allow them to further invest in the story of the two rival groups and the mythos of Nuum. With a deep fondness for the various IP iterations of the World Showcase Interactive games and the now defunct Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, we began to tinker with what a similar kind of game mechanic, combining audio instructions and physical interactives, could look like in a modern theme park landscape.

After looking into other modern interactives both inside and outside the themed entertainment space, we landed on the utilization of RFID chips. The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips embedded in our “radio” device would enable us to use real-time interaction and tracking within the environment to create our desired effects. These chips help detect when guests approach specific points of interest or interact with objects that contain corresponding RFID tags. This proximity triggers the device to display relevant information, unveil new clues, or activate parts of the mission, seamlessly integrating the physical exploration with digital cues and narrative elements. RFID technology integration effectively bridges the gap between the physical and digital aspects of the adventure, making the interactive experience more engaging and dynamic.

With this in mind, we began to design our concept for what this device could look like. Based on Sophie’s written treatment, Alex developed many sketches of devices that would fit our desired technological time frame while enabling us to interact with different types of toggles. Our final sketch below incorporates buttons, dials, and knobs to allow the guest to interact with the device in a multitude of ways and keep them on the edge of their toes for what they could do next.

Story and Mission Development

While Alex continued to work on gameplay device development and greater land area development, Sophie began to ideate the different types of interactives and stories that could be told within the frame of Castiel guiding guests to other areas of Porto Fado. She concluded that it would be most logical to develop a mission for each sub-area of the land: the Indigo District, Central Plaza, and the Waterfront. The team did establish rough story beats and locations for each of these missions, as seen on the map below, but decided to fully flesh out the story concept for the Indigo District mission (as it was not home to a C or E-ticket attraction like the other two districts are).

For all of the missions, guests begin at Castiel’s Radio Shop, which lies right on the border between the Market District and the Central Plaza. Inside, the shop is a cozy and inviting space lit by Edison bulbs, filled with the harmonious sounds of music and news from around the world through well-placed speakers. It’s decorated with rich vintage wallpaper, ornate wooden moldings, and mahogany shelves displaying myriad radio receivers, each artfully crafted in styles reminiscent of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The shop features a central wooden counter displaying various radio components as exquisite artifacts, overseen by passionate and elegantly dressed shopkeepers.

These shopkeepers entice visitors with the latest innovation—a portable radio named the Angel Som Handheld Portable Radio. This radio promises mobility and the latest technology, allowing users to enjoy broadcasts anywhere. As a part of their promotion, visitors are offered a field test to experience the radio firsthand outside the shop. Once outside, the radios activate, and users are unexpectedly introduced to Castiel, the creator behind the radio, who reveals a hidden agenda. He suggests these radios have capabilities beyond standard broadcasting and hints at a broader, possibly nefarious purpose. Intrigued visitors are then directed to continue their exploration of the Market District, thus intertwining their adventure with Castiel’s mysterious plans, adding an element of intrigue and excitement to their journey.

From this point, the individual story of each mission begins, and guests are led on their respective paths to each district. The full, detailed 10-page story treatment, linked here, walks readers through the full dialogue and scenery of the Indigo District mission, which takes guests through the back alleys of Porto Fado.

Storybeats and Storyboards!

The team also developed a beat-by-beat storyboard, which details the different types of interactions guests will encounter throughout their mission. Within the missions, we tried our best to include many different types of puzzles and interactions with the other guests, set dressing, employees, and the land itself to keep the guests interested and excited about the mission.

At the conclusion of each mission, guests will head back to the Angel Som shop at their own pace, and upon their return, an employee will chat with the guests about their journey. After taking back the radio, the employees will present the guests with a token of appreciation from Castiel: a pin that says “Radio Angel.” Donning this badge proudly, guests will know they are Porto Fado champions as they roam around the rest of the city, knowing there may be more to this city than meets the tourist’s eye.

Reflection

As a design team, we loved how this project turned out and are so excited to continue to share it with the themed entertainment community. We were fortunate to have been recognized for this project with an award for Best Proposed Use of Technology within the annual 2024 Best of Ringling student-juried exhibition based on recognition from guest juror Don Carson and department faculty. It was a delight to dive into interaction design with this project, and we cannot wait to dive more into this world in the future. Thank you so much for exploring the world of Porto Fado with us and for being one of our radio angels! You’re welcome back to Angel Som any time. Castiel, over and out!