Yesterday I submitted the pre-production portfolio! I’m not going to showcase the entirety of the portfolio here, but I’ll go through the main points to keep anyone reading this up to date.
Research area: Locative games, narrative/game writing, emotionally resonant writing, independent NPCs. Theme-related: Relationship between past/present, memories tied to places, letting go
Research questions:
Aim: Create a locative mobile game with emotionally resonant narrative based on themes of letting go.
Deliverables: Downloadable game build, video of the gameplay, professional development portfolio (PDP)
The game in overall will be a mobile game, that gives players riddles to solve. Upon solving a riddle, player uncovers a spirit who lives in that location. The spirits share a past, and all of their arcs have to do with them needing to let go and move to the beyond.
There will be a focus on memories, and letting go versus moving on. The focus on memories was inspired by when I talked to my peers about Dundee landmarks, and discovered the most fascinating part was hearing what memories people have tied to places.
When creating characters, I want to base them off on metaphorical meanings and real world experiences of the landmarks. For example, people often have reflective moments and deep talks in waterfront. So, the spirit haunting waterfront should be reflective person and a good, insightful listener.
The game plot’s structure is inspired by tragedy from Aristotle’s Poetics, and Madoka Magica Movie: The Rebellion Story. In first act, player awakens spirits and they have hope, in second act things start to fall apart/things start to get uncovered and the hope is questioned, in third act the truth is out and the spirits need to accept it or not. All spirits have two endings, one where they accept it and one where they don’t.
In second act, player also gains new ability, the ability to get memories from spirits, go to location that memory happens in, solve a locative riddle, and view the memory.