I think we have another IP student that needs to see this

http://www.today.com/video/today/39635116#39635116

like down the thesis example and then some.

3/1/2013 plans for a post break week

I must confess I don't have images to share this week. I found most of my week stolen by my other class and the fallout of ideals against fairness. I'm declaring that now that I lost this week. My work towards fixing and improving my game to be better and something new as opposed to the traced copies of my classmates left me with a project late and therefor uncounted. I now understand the values being displayed in that class and won't have to worry about it in the future.

So what is a student to do now that he is secure in the knowledge that IP is the only thing that need concern him? He worries about projectors and monitors. About display ratio's and color correction.
All things that will be fully studied when he returns to the structured life of class.

This is all I can really say at the moment. I believe that this will be a productive break for me. I just don't know in what manner yet. Until then I hope you have a wonderful break and I will see you when I return to the structure.  

2/23/2013 Another day another post

I think things will work out. Have a few more images

2/15/2013 annoyed and sick again

Well I would be annoyed if I wasn't sick with this evil cold. A cold foot from hell that crushes my brain, drains salt from my eyes and has ignited my nose in a stinging discomfort.

No I'm not annoyed.. not any longer. I was annoyed Thursday. I admit that without defending it. I was annoyed by the continued pressing of a singular idea from the class. "You cannot do this."
I cannot create a journey. Should I instead create a singular scene?
Should the scene be heavy with the dialog I so desperately want it to be? I could do that.
Shall I also wrap it in abstraction? have movements and additions that make no reasonable defense as to their importance? I could do that.

But will I feel like I will have locked myself to creating this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqd3XtX23l8

Ignore the dialog. I have visuals that have been inspiring appreciation. Paintings with a texture and gravity that has captured something grand. I should focus on those instead. I could do that.

Perhaps I can give them a little bit of an animated push instead. I planned on letting my clouds live and spark with a little energy.

But will I feel like I have locked myself into creating this?
http://www.effectgames.com/demos/canvascycle/

Perhaps I should avoid animating events. Perhaps I should freeze my work into a wall of frames. Or I should enshrine my progress within a book. An idea I had near the end of a semester past once entertained. Some believe that turning the pages of a book bring about the same connection and discovery as a game as simple as mine.. So I could do that...

But I cannot do that. I cannot yet yield to the challenge before me. I appreciate my peer's sound and reasonable advice. I don't doubt their sincerity in wishing me success in my work. But I cannot Back away from my goal yet. These other doors won't close until the eve is upon me. And I walk a hallway that still has such doors branching off from it. The hall becomes shorter as I continue to walk forward. But I have not reached the end  yet. I'm more focused than ever. I'm even happy I've got a crowd who I can shock and wow when I pull off the impossible vision....but it must be a dream. I'm too much a cynic these days to not believe things will go sour.

Its a funny thing but I feel like I should add this now. There is such a strange feeling within this studio. These works are clearly our own. And yet I see more often than not a disagreement in what is to be done with a piece. How many times have a reached out and asked another "is there something I can do to help?" does it outnumber the times I have said "I don't think you should do that?"

I say this because we really tore into the pieces and ideas presented to us Thursday. We did not ask Ellen if we could have helped make her work come to fruition. Instead we demanded and dictated and forced Ellen to bend her ideals to our view. I have not felt so guilty before in a critique and yet I know that I have in all likely hood done similar dictations in the past.
I don't know.. I got annoyed Thursday when it happened to me. So I'm not some innocent party when I contributed to the same feelings Ellen may have felt.

They are right. I cannot do what I've outlined this week to others. It is not reasonable given my engagements, illness and abilities. I should cut my losses....I don't want this post to end the way it does but....................................................................grade be damned. Emotion be damned. I just hate the way this week has turned out. Here is to a better week to come. I have work to do so excuse me. I cannot compose any more thoughts about this now. 

2/9/2013 bad time for a sick day

So yeah...Basically lost Friday to illness. And of course I'm only able to make this post is because I was woken up by a nightmare about it. So apparently I have incredible alarms hidden within my subconscious.  



 so I've got my background clouds for the sky boat. Got my area where the boat will drop the player.

Got what might one day soon turn into a hive city.






Some images that currently look like these two.

 And I've got my final postcard image. The faces don't look too bad. could be better but are not the worst.

 The other thing is that this pixel art stuff is now about
90% of what I'm working on these days. Can't escape it
cause I'm crafting idea images for my other video game
projects. I figured I might as well toss those on here just to share them. I notice that my rough stuff is gonna need a lot of cleaning before I think it's ready for the final games. But it's been fun. I get a muted palette for my IP project due to the nature of the stories tone. Then I balanced it subconsciously by tossing some vibrant stuff into these concepts... gonna need to think about bringing some of that color back for the next batch. 

Oh plan for Tuesday- storyboard of the game is a given. Would love to have a live reading of some of the scenes as well. Might provide the needed context for what is happening on top of the environments.

2/1/2013 Pixel art

The last image here is the really interesting environment. I'm wondering where the character will stand but it also gives me a lot of ideas for the area. One thing I need to sort out is the color palette of the journey. black and white is fun (all these pieces started as such so I could build the forms 1st) I'm just worried that the player would fall into the tones of the scene because I can't change the personal lighting on his sprites. (3d games do have some advantages when it comes to this sort of thing) Anyways these are fun. I might talk about why pixels are great next time. But for now I'm just gonna show these. 

1/26/2013 forgot to do this

Forgot to do this blog post.... but then again I don't feel like there's much to say.
 ...
how are you?

1/18/13 Writing from other perspectives

So my newspaper article was a little bit of a side step. I say that because I didn't go too much into the details of what I'm trying to invoke. I guess I wrote it from a perspective I fear I will have to face. That of an audience that has a casual exposure to video games. Frankly its an audience I will find myself brushing against if I continue down this route. I don't fault them but it may lead to a stilted surface conversation because of a gap in experience. Anyways can't say that the newspaper piece was of any great literature. I started with a boring character and he stayed boring throughout his small writeup. I think the only part I would keep in a rewrite would be the bit about how he only really wanted to sit down.

But that's done. I have other things to write and do. Like my characters for this project.

I've tied myself to using "Jack" as my lead characters name. I would say it's because I could make a Jack and Jill reference...but really its because its a short and easy name to use in dialog.
I need to finish up work on his model. AKA animate it so I can plop him into the unity engine and advance the environment art.

Since most of the other characters are skeletons with small clothing changes it shouldn't take me too long to fill out the rest of the cast...Course I'd rather like to say that in past tense.

The one thing I did this week was story board the work out so I can at least see a progression.. they work well enough in concert so if the worst comes to it I can present them along with my final piece to help shore up any lack of content......wait have I already telegraphed doubt and insecurity? I need to get back to work then.   

1/11/13 The Blog lives again

1) Please reflect on what you learned about yourself over the course of the semester, what you heard in the course of the review, what resonated for you, and how you will proceed with this information as you begin next semester.

Oh what Have I learned about myself? Uhhhhh.. Do I really want to sit down on the therapist's couch? Well I guess it is rather comfy. Alright lets see...I think I can boil this down to a basic idea that I don't seem to be able to get over. This gallery showing is meant to make a statement. That's a simple idea right? I should be creating a work that makes a well reasoned effort to tackle an issue of the world. Even when that statement is a logical one born from an artistic style. "splashes of ink can form something!".....To me that statement doesn't have teeth. To me that's really a statement that can be answered with a simple yes or no for the bubble sheet scan-tron 9000. 

The more interesting question. The one I'm sure you yourself maybe have asked is why did my work shut down? And that question and the answer I believe I may have for it is a layered one. One that in this setting would be an ideal fit. To be fair I do like images that are just pretty. I like thinking about creating environments for use in games and otherwise...But those pieces don't really ask or present a good artistic statement on their own now do they? I don't think they do.

I managed to take in a lot of wonderful environments over the course of this break. Both from life and from the games and movies I derive many pleasures from. But the fact that I failed to truly create last semester has got me really interested (and concerned, and fearing) Its interesting that last semester led me to have the "I'm not an Artist!" talk before break began. Of course I'm a artist! It is time to pull the camera back and capture the elements and emotions surrounding such a moment of doubt.

So I begin a new semester as one would. Wounded and frightened for having experiencing the past. Hungry and driven to rise to the future.

December 11th. Late post. Reinvestment

Things will be different.

I am writing this post to the mind trapped in its fortress. I will be different. I cannot let it prison itself behind indifference to the work. I must advance. Even if I feel worry I must advance. I cannot sit back and let one drawing be the only statement. A statement that I have avoided trying to understand or unlock.

Things will be different. 

November 30, 2012 Not right now

No blog post right now. Got to work. Abstract needing to be extracted from my abstractions. Facing another pivot moment which is a glorious moment to have right before a review presentation. Not sure how much will be turned at the moment. I know there are nice things in what I've done but I believe some new rules/ideas/materials/objectives might be in order.

I'll create a new post Sunday or Monday that showcases my work and ideas for the future.

In the mean time this stupid debate came up again. I'll use the term stupid here because on both sides it seems to encourage a level of zeal that blinds many from seeing eye to eye or attempt to understand the other side or experience it themselves. Its... A debate I might a moment to address at a later time. But for now I think the short answer is "ignorance blinds." And that is a stamp that I could apply to many reactionary shouts on both sides.

http://kotaku.com/5964751/this-art-critic-thinks-video-games-have-no-place-in-the-museum-of-modern-art?post=54767310

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/nov/30/moma-video-games-art

the funny moment that comes out of this is someones argument that art is insane by referencing our latest penny stamps speaker. Janine Antoni. I think the insult tossed around there was "art snobs" which I suppose could be set against the terms the critic from the guardian suggested such as Gamebollocks.

(Can't we all get along?)

November 17, 2012. Becoming a habit?

Another late post and another early morning writing?
I hope it's not gonna become a habit.
Anyways before I talk about what I hope to have for the December review. Let me just get these images out of the way.

All here? cool. Been playing around a bit so that's my excuse for a later blog post. These are just three of several combining attempts. I picked these three for display because they all have some element of interest that I would like to refine for a finished image.
For the review I really hope I can produce and be able to display some images that are refined on a technical level. Having loose sketches around my studio space has been fun. But what would be really nice is to have a couple images that I can use as a benchmark for the rest of the project. This is a journey of scenes and if I can't show my panel that the scenes are real..well..That would be disappointing.
 I think that sums things up so back to work I guess?

( This writer is alright but can we have the guy who wrote longer press releases back? He sounded like he had something more involving to say.)

November 11 2012. Got nothing

Got nothing much to say.
Slowed down. Played more.
Rubber bands and bundled string make interesting brushes to use with Sumie ink.

Should be making more intentional images then I am.
Should at the same time avoid copying Yoji shinkawa's art style because that's just something you shouldn't do.
Should have made a better grant proposal. Of course I missed some minor details that I caught after the fact.
Should contact every IP student who is making a book for their final piece and should have us band together to create a special setting/show platform for our work. That way we can display or stuff proudly in one of the art galleries without having it be overlooked. Got this idea after learning that Colleen is heading down a parallel route as myself. Including similar current issues.

Shouldn't continue to post blog posts without images.
So I didn't

Shouldn't write this blog entry at 1:25 in the morning.
Help others to help ourselves. 
Goodnight.
(the mind shuts down and the vessel is thankful for a moments rest)
 

November 2, 2012 put your feet up and comptemplate

Work slowed down this week so I could reflect on what I have done and will do. This means of course that there have been less energetic waves of action but a silent lake allows one to understand the full effect of a single dropped stone.  (what is the stone in this case? I'm not sure. I just wanted to complete the image)
This Grant and group critiques are like a rainstorm catching the traveler on the pilgrimage. Forcing you to seek shelter from an empty structure and spend time meditating. 
...I was planning on talking about artists like Yoshitaka Amano and Yoji Shinkawa this week. About Ashley Wood and world war robot. Amano and Shinkawa being two artists I am once again intently observing due to the materials I currently explore... But that's not the important thing of this week..

I've said this week that my project is about taking the participant on a journey through something. And that will remain true..But to walk without reason is wandering. To plan every step is tourism..

 I think I don't have a good reason why someone should take this journey. The grant has gotten to be a sticky issue as I continue to work on it. How do I ask for money when I cannot really speak towards the importance of it? 
I believe I touched on a important distinction this week when contemplating Maureen's desire to enshrine meaningful moments people have with certain fabrics. I saw the quilt she envisioned as the container. The binding of a memory book. Her role was to create the framework to capture and expose these individual moments in a unique fashion. The quilt is not the work itself but the canvas holding anothers expressionistic oils...     I believe that the journey I promote may be a similar structure. A device that will allow me to rest some thought or desire upon. I feel that I have been building a scaffolding of bamboo around an empty shell. Scaffolding has it purpose and everything I have worked on so far will carry me to the end. But now its time to sit down and contemplate what it is I am building towards. What direction I should travel.. Even if I am simply walking towards the warmth of a distant fire it is a direction of intent.

I don't know if I am using the proper language to explain my thoughts on this matter. I was accused not so long ago by a friend that I wrap myself in metaphors and make strange/clouded arguments by doing so. This blog post really is to just continue my personal reflection on what road to take next.   

I hopefully will be able to arrange a small but intended journey for next weeks critiques.
I also feel a desire to write some fragmented poems or moments to complement it.

(A clouded head is a wonderful puzzle. You can squeeze and grasp the edges of the aether before you, but the golden center with its crystalline glow still denies you the nirvana that drives your thoughts pursuit. pressing hands into something weighted yet yielding so you may touch enlightenment.)
((needs a rewrite but that image might be something. but really now don't get food poison cause its not as glamorous as I make it out to be. I haven't painted a clear picture here and instead have used only the ghost of a watercolor frame))

October 26th 2012. Abstract yoga bends.

Work achieved

Even more sketches (including a very weird elephant. Don't have an idea where that came from..its not like Ganesha was a recent topic.)

Started to play around with some of the abstract pieces in Photoshop. I think this might become a parallel collection. 

This one isn't really changed that much..but I'm wondering how it would look printed large scale or redrawn in white conte.

 two quick things. far right could be painted into a gnarled tree I guess. The other one is here just cause I like what happened to the background.
Otherwise..ehh.
Not quite feeling these. But just started and it really wasn't that much of an investment.


Anyways I really enjoyed the yoga break. I said it there but it really was a fun chance to change pace and play creatively. I've always wondered why the school doesn't push for more collaborative moments. (to be clear I'm talking about finished works by group effort. Not individual works that have received a peers eye and advice.) At any rate I wouldn't mind having another such session in the 2nd semester to relieve what will no doubt be a stressful period.
 The project moves forward.

Next week I'll take some time and talk about other artists and what they do that interests me. I will also continue to use sumie ink but also branch out into other mediums to help take certain potential images to the next stage.   

oh and to a certain someones previous question. Ran, Kagemusha and in my opinion "the best film ever made"- Seven Samurai.

And on a side note Count Orlok and the live organ are the only things I can recommend people should go to Nosferatu for. They are the two elements that still remain strong after all this time. 

("Write something bad, something awful that you would never want to show to anyone. That's your challenge for the day. Start there. Tomorrow, do it again." - Jonathan Coulton on solving writers block.)

 

October 18th 2012 -- Pix plz?

alright so this feels like there's really not that much to say this week. While I didn't really do as many sketches as last time (and yes I did more than just those few images last time. The wall shall be filled I tell you!) I now have a new favorite sketch come out of the break. I just...Can't show you it right now cause its locked away on my PC right now..The same PC whose mouse decided to finally squeak no longer and whose replacement is still on its way from amazon. But anyways.. the Sketch has some nice depth to it and I'll upload a copy when I can.

I'm just gonna use this space instead to say that the power city performance of  Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" was  wonderful. The football game made me feel sorry for Illinois fans who made the trip up to the rain soaked blow out.  And watching Kurosawa films back to back provides for a full but satisfying evening.

Next week will likely involve a similar brief blog posting. But with photographs.

(K thx bye) 

Oct-10-2012 Late post is late

Do I feel like I've been putting in the work hours this time? Yes. Do I feel like the time I've spent loosely sketching ideas has moved my project forward? Yes. Do I know what this direction will culminate in? Not yet...and I'm cool with that.

Breaking myself away from previous ideas just to sketch and explore in a wild abandon has been above all fun. Starting to sketch without an idea in my head as to what I'm creating and have something apparate a short period of time has been great. I do not know where these individual ideas will transect. Nor do I know when they will do so. For now my goal is to simply continue in this direction and have the pieces answer for me. I have to thank Cogswell for giving me the small push needed to venture into this process. With time I hope we both can be proud of the result. Whatever it may be and become.


(your gonna need a lot more pins...)

Friday 5th of October. Oh for @*!& sake!

Work achieved
Sketches branching into high fantasy, more colony ship setting, etc.

Created a new story introduction.
Focused on the idea of Chop Suey
 
........Failed to take photos of the sketches that now hang on my walls for this blog entry AND now only have a physical copy of my introduction to the chop suey graphic novel. 

Did not achieve 12 hours of extra work outside of class. Pretty sure of this.

Le sigh- This week could have gone better. Being sick didn't help. Having my computer delete my copy of chop suey doesn't help. Not having images of my sketches doesn't help...And this was the week that caused me to abandon the video game... Board games are still in but my focus isn't on that. This absurdest graphic novel which should give me both a narrative and artistic freedom to toss in whatever I find interesting in the moment is.

Here let me instead post what passes for a proposal draft for chop suey instead.

Patrick Holloway
Proposal v0.1
(subject matter is…subject to sudden changes at a moments notice)

Hello and welcome! You will soon be holding in your hands a copy of
“Chop Suey- the graphic novel”
Chop Suey is an illustrated adventure through the bizarre, ironic, and amusing tales
of the recently departed. It begins with someone unfortunate enough to board and
depart Charon’s riverboat. Being swept along by various circumstances he finally
arrives at The Last Table. An absurdly large open aired food cart run by Death itself!
My intention is to sweep the reader along through the personal musings and stories
of Deaths patrons. I believe it will provide me a wonderful framework to twist the
story to whatever suits my current taste. By framing my story as the final meal at
the end of life I can touch on countless themes, be it regret, true wisdom, the things
that bring us together and, of course death.
And the entire thing will be strange! I plan to leverage and splice together many
bizarre elements that I have been exposed to. Chop Suey is a dish made out of the
combination of various leftovers a chef has towards the end of a shift. Much like
that dish, I will be leveraging many interests of mine and hopefully serve something
wonderful from the concoction. Where else will you find a fully armored samurai
sitting down and delicately enjoy a crème brulee?
The core framework of Chop Suey comes from my personal travels. Let explain
using my most recent and expansive. Chop Suey owes its heart to Shanghai.
Having spent 8 weeks in china I couldn’t help but be influenced by the life I lived
in Shanghai. I met and befriended strangers with unique stories and lives. Unique
lives such as Jeremiah Kiplagat of Kenya to “bubble” from Datong, China. I ventured
forth and explored the night markets and their tantalizing food vendors. Savoring
everything from the wonderful kebabs to an adventurous experience with a
scorpion. This idea of arriving someplace and sharing in these little moments is
a wonderful one. I think this project needs to be executed simply because of the
moments I experienced and the stories that are born from them. I feel that they have
a weight to them that can help broaden your view of the world at large. Toss in the
absurd humor death would surely bring to the experience and there you have it.
Of course I cannot have death be a character in my novel without 1 st paying tribute
to the wonderful author Terry Pratchett and the wonderfully strange and classic
film the Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman. Bergman created a personification of
death that was a present character in the film. Death proved to have a dark sense of
humor, was crafty and imposing without motion. (He was also a master of chess!)
This was a movie that broke the mold and made death someone who could be
spoken with. To be pleaded with. To say things needed to be said in the narrative
from a unique perspective. Death in the seventh seal was so much more alive
than just a skull in a cloak that reaps a lot. Terry Pratchett in turn took the death
personified from Bergman and made him absolutely hilarious. He also made
death the hero of the diskworld. Death did his job but was such an understanding
character that you can’t help but support him as he does his job. So I undoubtedly
will owe Pratchett a paycheck or at least a heart felt thanks for his interpretation of
ends specter.
But that is a worry for another day. And while any fan of the diskworld novels will
likely enjoy what I am attempting to create. It is designed to be open to anyone who
enjoys the absurd and the poignant. May you soon dig in and enjoy.

("Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure - that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets"-Queen)

Friday 28th september. In the crossroads..

Work achieved

abstract and more grounded sketches for settings, moods.
Began to novelize the story to take a look at it from a new angle
Research into alternate mediums

Honestly not a good week of progress. Spent a good portion wading in the water after setting my boat on fire. I am pretty close to killing my project as it stands and starting again with clearer and smaller goals. And yet I'm still attached to my idea so I can't just give it up yet.


an excerpt from my writings. (yes its a dark introduction into the setting)

His body was cold. Being exposed to the vacuum of space for 74 years does that to a corpse. I wasn’t concerned about him being dead. Nor was I concerned about the re-bar that pierced him to the exterior of the satellite. I am very much aware of the potential acceleration that can be granted to objects using a suits traversal jet. No, what concerned me was that he was out here in the first place.

 After finishing a slow orbit around the scene below me, I snapped my finger sending an electrical signal through the organ rope that would cause it to contract. Landing like a cat would returning from a tree to soil, My hands worked automatically working the release and return of the rope to my wrist using my right while signing for magnetic soles to activate with my left. The satellite shifted below me from the contact, a long dormant flame ignited to life. Tiny bursts of energy slowly correcting the disturbance I had caused it. The body did not move. Too ridged with deaths chill to greet my arrival. I saw my reflection within the cracked glass covering his face. An emotionless eye peeked through the crack and fell upon my grey form. He never blinked even while I produced a battery operated saw from a hidden pouch and advanced upon him. I began to sever his right hand away from his frozen form. I could feel the vibrations of the saw grind their way up my arm as I worked. In a few short minutes the hand finally disconnected itself and started to drift with purpose. As if it was trying to flee from the body that had held it captive for so long. I didn’t let it get too far. 

so yeah.. its something.. but I'm not sure if its the setting I will keep. My other sketches speak of another setting. The ship designs below being ambiguous enough to fit wherever I decide to place them.

 

It would be fun to go back and just redraw these and flesh out some more of the details

 

 To me these other sketches are of some foreign world. It looks interesting but I'm not sure what narrative I would tie together with them.

                                                                        Tribal huts?


Right now I have to decide if I really want to hold myself to an interactive movie. Or do I want to jump into a new medium or change how the player will interact with the game. I'm currently at a cross roads. Honestly given my level of progress so far an animated adventure might simply be too much to handle...Well we will see how it advances.

(You ever try to glue together something you threw through a wood chipper? My thoughts are in need of gorilla glue...)

Friday 21st September. Figure it out.

Work achieved

Physical work-not enough done.  2 hours of loose sketches

Some time spent writing plot elements but until I storyboard it…it’s not really resolved.

Investigative work done- plenty but still left with some necessary choices unresolved.

This Time I decided I should talk in brief about a few (relatively recent) games that are interesting pieces from the wealth of 54 years of creation.  But before that would you like to see the 1^st? Here it is.

                                       (tennis for two, reproduction for the 25th anniversary)

Tennis for two

Created by a nuclear physicist named William Higinbotham. The game Tennis for two was created because  “it might liven up the place to have a game that people could play, and which would convey the message that our scientific endeavors have relevance for society."-Higinbotham

Tennis for two is the most basic of games from a design standpoint. Two players attempt to score points against one another using a simple controller. It’s quite interesting to see and compare this game with the later and far more famous game pong. I honestly find tennis for two to be far more interesting. The blue streak of the ball as it obeys gravity vs the single white dot of pong…

But I mentioned that I was going to talk about more recent artistic endeavors. Not spend time referring to esteemed creations from video games birth. 

                                            (Thirty Flights of Loving, Blendo games,PC)

So let us instead jump to a game that came out this year. Thirty flights of loving is a short narrative piece (it’s at the most only 20 minutes long) The game leaves much of the story details to the participant to fill in afterwards. The game railroads you through its narrative but because it’s set to such a rapid pace you don’t mind it. The game is wacky, colorful and a good study in the power of good jump cuts. Starting from entering through a hidden wall in a bar to in the end wandering around an art gallery opening that is celebrating the car crash that killed you. 

                                                  (Dear Esther, The Chinese Room, PC)

Moving onto another piece of participatory fiction: Dear Esther is just like thirty flights is based around you walking through the set pieces of the story. Set on an island which may or may not really exist. You as an unnamed party explore and wander over and round streams, crags, caves and the ruins of several beached ships and abandoned abodes. As you progress in your wanderings, A narrator reads letters from various perspectives. The entire experience is centered on exploring: Not only the physical environment but also the events hidden under the letters contents. This game is to be again internalized by the participant. This will again appear in the following games.      

                                                          (Yume Nikki, Kikiyama, PC)

Yume Nikki (translated it means dream diary) was created and released by independent Japanese game developer Kikiyama in 2005. As a freeware cult game, Yume nikki garnered a bit of attention for being made in an engine usually intended to be used in the creation of role playing games. The goal in yume nikki is to gather every item/power in the game then use them to seal the doors of the girls dream world.  But that is only if you wish to see the (disproportionally dark) ending. The real goal is to wander and try to absorb and make sense of what you are seeing. From monstrously large heads who upon eating you lead you to another area entirely, bizarre architecture littering otherwise completely black worlds, drawings that a child would make roaming freely. Meeting fishermen and piano players alike while crashing onto mars… Then there is the girl herself. Locked? In a room where her only actions are to play a video game and sleep (leading to the dream world and all of its creepy-pasta nature. Why won’t she leave? Why does she have to collect powers such as removing all facial features, meet and become a yuki onna (snow wraith) that summons snow? I may bring this game up again later when I talk about the players importance in everything. But that is for another night. 

                                     (LSD, OutSide Directors Company, Sony PlayStation)

LSD dream emulator (The L,S,D stand for hundreds of titles for the game. Such as linking the sapient dream.) The content of the game is based off of the creators dream journal that he kept for several years. The goal is to explore 365 dreams that are created by how you play. Slowly as you progress things continue to get stranger and darker. If you touch an object in the game it will transport you to a new environment. Seemingly random from beginning to end, the events in game may have some meaning but it is so obscure and opaque to be rendered meaningless...But that’s also a conversation for another week.  

                                  (The Stanley Parable, Davey Wreden, Half life 2 mod, PC)

And finally we have The Stanley Parable. Perhaps the best short work of interactive meta fiction I know of. The game starts of explaining how “Stanley” (and perhaps by association the player) enjoys being told to hit buttons in certain ways. (like most video games seem to) Then the player is allowed to move. Walking down hallways and hearing the narrator explain what is going on and which direction Stanley will take when given a choice. And then the choice itself appears. And then you can ignore what the narrator already explained would happen… This leads to varied endings and fights with the narrator. Do you choose to follow his every predetermined step? Ignore everything the narrator tells you? Obey some and resist others? The piece is a wonderful work of participatory art. The act of control becoming the key element of discussion raised within the work. Fully Self-aware, It is undoubtedly my favorite piece out of this small set of games I have outlined.

Next week I will likely talk about the players’ role in the game and how I will involve them within my own work. This will of course require a complete draft of my game sitting/ pinned to my walls. So stay tuned.

(He writes a thousand words on games, including this…)