Story Progress

I have become very fixated on the project so thankfully I find it easy to work on over longer periods of time. However, I have to admit visuals will not be likely possible. I wanted to add little bird’s eye view maps, which is why I spent so long planning them out, but I don’t think it’s reasonable for the time limit.

In other news, The story writing is almost finished! I haven’t made more progress in adding it to Twine (only fixed a few mistakes here and there). All that is left is three more rooms and the ending!

The Miro looks a little crazy but – the green part is the written story, and the check marks on top are the parts already in Twine.

After that’s in the game I need:

• title screen of some sort
• ending screen / credits
• some sort of music for the background
• some of Bot’s lines for important rooms

If I have time I hope to add:

• the rest of Bot’s lines / quips
• sound effects (beeping / computers whirling / doors opening / etc)

My main issue with Twine right is I’m using variables to open doors (they pick it up in their inventory and can then “use” it afterwards). However! Because the main feature in my game is letting them explore in any order that’s open to them / discover different keys in different areas / the game lets them pick up the same item they already have.

Reflection:

When thinking about the story and the gameplay, I think(?) it works well together? I’ve limited information you can receive of explanations, as your own internal narrative is unaware. A lot of the times names only come up one and don’t mean a whole lot to the player, that’s because they are new names for the main character! Their memory was wiped and these names seem random to them because they are. The player doesn’t need to remember them, the main idea is the bigger picture, these details are just proof that there use to be a story here but no longer. Remanents of information the player disregards because it doesn’t serve them.

Originally, I wanted this to be a somewhat scarier game. Feeling unsure about the narrator (Bot) and have them be sort of an anti-hero as you try to escape them. I think as my story got deeper, I became more sympathetic to Bot and wanted them to be more internally conflicted about lying to you. They care about the player, they use to have a relationship with you. Now they’re hurt and alone and their ex-partner doesn’t remember them and they’re all they have to even try to escape. I think instead of fear, this tackles more of a sense of loneliness. The game is a text of internal thoughts and observations, only after reaching out to Bot do you get their company, and even then they have to hold back to not overwhelm you. I feel this game tone shift suits the story better. You are no longer scared of this big bad monster, but this old friend is scared they made you a monster and will end up alone.

With video games, I truly genuinely struggle to play them. I get very easily overwhelmed and find moving a character, fighting in different ways, listing to sound cues and music, and the bright visuals easily overstimulate me! In Rob Furr’s class on video game history, our main assignment was to play a video game from his list and write an analytical essay on it. I chose Disco Elysium because I already knew first-person shooters and other faster-paced games were too much. I timed myself and the most enjoyable amount of time I could play was 2 hours, I noticed after hour 4 I’d have the lights dimmed and volume down and click dialogue randomly to skip the sounds. However, I truly genuinely loved the game. I loved the character interactions and their human flaws and the deep social and political context within this world. I also liked how you had stupid little options that didn’t add anything, but for sure made your character overcompensate to brush it off and look umber than before. But despite this, it had some truly chilling moments and that’s what I’m looking for! My game doesn’t have to be constant angst and drama, it can build up to that and sometimes have less important options to allow the player to explore this space and worldbuilding.

Unrelated, my essay was so hard to write oh my goodness is worse hard. It was about the main character’s skills and attributes commonly reflecting OCD symptoms. It is not my best work but I still enjoy talking about it! Ignore the deadname, I’m too lazy to figure out how to re-edit this old pdf.