Interactive Story Proposal

 1. Premise and Purpose: What is the core concept of your interactive story? What are you trying to do with it?

Within the game, my goal is to create a compelling atmosphere and story. I want it to genuinely chill the player and have some sort of effect on them, not just something they can breeze through without thinking too much about it. I don’t want it to necessarily be a challenge or puzzle, more so an event that unfolds with them. To do this, I want to create a deep sense of loneliness and seclusion, as well as put the players’ trust in an unreliable narrator, their only companion. I hope to use visuals, text, sound effects, music, and pacing to establish this. The premise is you, the player, wake up alone in a space station, not a single soul in sight. Your memory is shotty and you’re stranded. While you progress a lone character, trapped out of sight will guide you, but you can’t remember if it’s safe to trust them or not. The main inspirations for this are for sure Disco Elysium, Portal, Firewatch, and Zork.

2. What are the core story components, such as characters, setting, and basic plot? Why are they interesting and compelling? Who is your player?

Within my story, the player will be a person named Mirah and they will be unable to view themselves until later in the game. Mirah (mirror) is an android, built to store consciousness for when humans pass. They were a failed bot and only can achieve vague memories (that are unbeknownst to them, not their own) through certain triggers such as photographs, phrases etc. This could also be implemented by using passcodes to download memories within the space station. Moving forward, Mirah awakes alone in an abandoned space station with no recollection of who or what they are. The player and Mirah assume they’re human, and that’s never brought into question until they find out the truth. They must search and explore the different levels of the station, almost like a dungeon, until eventually, they set up communications to talk to someone locked in the upper decks. This unknown guide will provide narration and input, allowing Mirah to further advance the levels and discover memories. The narrator knows Mirah is a failed android but doesn’t tell them as to advance their goal of getting the station’s pods operational through Mirah. The narrator, for now unnamed, will likely be a droid as well looking to escape, as a virus wiped all the human scientists out. They don’t care for Mirah and actively prevent them from escaping before they get them access to the pods. Depending on the ending and the player’s actions, they can learn different truths about the situation, or remain ignorant. I feel as though there will need to be some sort of evil plot from the narrator to be more compelling, but I will have to flesh it out more while I plan it out to see what and what doesn’t work.

3. What are the interactive elements? How will they be meaningful to the story or concept of the work?

Within the game, the players will have control over limited actions Mirah can do/say and where they move throughout the map. It’ll be up to them to put 2 and 2 together and gather information and passcodes/items for the future. If they don’t make decisions, nothing will happen or progress. However, depending on their decisions will impact what they do or do not learn about the situation. Hopefully, this will help immerse the player in this space and suspend their disbelief to be enraptured with the story.

4. How will you implement it? What is your current plan for making your story? Do you have all the skills and tools you need, or are you looking for tools?

Currently, I am leaning towards using Twine, but worry if I’ll be able to create interactive visuals with it and will have to experiment further with it. I’m excited to make digital interfaces of old windows computer aesthetics alongside more retro text and technology. I am not a big fan of digital art but can manage when necessary, and always use a program to pixelate my art for me, rather than make pixel art by hand. I am unsure how I’ll make music for it, as I haven’t made anything before, so finding programs for that will be interesting, as well as maybe a text-to-speech for the narrator. It is likely there are free programs/resources if I delve. I know I want a very limited colour palette, with bright blues for the classic blue screen of death, as well as maps of the station.

5. References

Disco Elysium – The Final Cut. Windows 10, ZA/UM, 2019.

Portal. Windows 10, Valve Corporation, 2007.

Firewatch. Windows 10, Campo Santo, 2016.

Zork. DECsystem-10, Infocom, 1977-82.