Interactive Story Proposal

It is often thought that connections are formed over a long period, through hardships and situations that both parties have experienced, but I think his not true. The core concept of my story is to show that meaningful connections can be formed over a short period. With this story, I am showing that you do not need a long time to bond with someone. But with little time, depending on the situation, setting and environment; strong relationships and connections can be formed.

Personally, a real connection means you feel comfortable being yourself, this does not mean that you have to share your whole life story, but at the moment you feel secure talking to that person. This story would show the act of forming bonds through similarities.

In this plot, The player (Onye) is heading from Edmonton to Calgary for his close friend’s funeral. The story begins when his car suddenly breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Confused and seeking help, Onye is standing on the side of the road waving at cars in hopes of finding help. Coincidentally, Shawn, an elderly man sees Onye waving frantically at cars and decides to stop for him. After speaking for a while, they discover that they’re both heading to Edmonton. Shawn decides to give him a ride for which Onye is grateful.

As the ride goes on, Onye learns more about Shawn, and what he has gone through and you also learn more about your character Onye. We learn about Onye’s close friend, how he died and the relationship that he had with his friend.

What makes this interaction interesting is that at first glance, there seem to be no similarities between the two characters, they are of different races, Shawn is an older man while Onye is on the younger side and they grew up in different backgrounds. But as the story progresses they start to bond over grief. The story ends when they get to Edmonton, and Shawn and Onye part ways. But what happens when they part ways depends on the choices the player makes in the story.

As the ride goes on, the player is provided with choices as to whether to remain quiet or interact with Shawn. For example, when Shawn asks why Onye is heading to Edmonton, the player is provided with choices such as telling the truth, lying, or not saying anything. These options, affects what the player knows about Shawn, Onye and it also affects the direction of the story, and how it unfolds. If the player decides to keep quiet, or not interact truthfully, then they never form a connection hence the main purpose of the story is not accomplished.

For this story, I plan on using Twine to implement the interactive elements. Before I create this story in Twine, before implementing the story on Twine, I plan on making a story tree which would help me flesh out the story and help me decide where to put the interactive elements.

In this story, I hope to add pictures and background sounds that will help the player feel more immersed.

I do not have any experience using Twine, and I will be learning about the program as I work on this project.