One Prototype

Because of pure time limitation, I decided to just pursue “This Is Just A Normal, Run-Of-The-Mill Walking Simulator And Everything Is Fine,Don’t Worry About It.”

For prototype B, I made more illustrations of people and their speech bubbles (though I want to make significantly more for the final), and I replaced my initial “cobblestone” drawing with a more finished illustration, though this second version does create some distracting lines in the ground, so I may take another pass at it for the final. I also replaced the basic Unity water with Unity water “pro,” which creates more of a contrast between its realism and the lack thereof in the figures, walls, floor, and ceiling.

I’m still working on the sound of the game. I’m torn between leaving out the sound of footsteps entirely, or replacing Unity’s footstep sound with either the sound of a person walking through water, or loud, clacking, echo-ey footsteps. I’m going to try replacing the square walls of the “room” you’re in with a cylinder, but the effect will still be one of a manmade space. I’ve considered including the sound of water, getting louder the closer the “water” plane gets to the camera. I’ve considered adding in looping whispers with every person you collide with, so that there is eventually a layered mess of whispering (that might be interpreted as waves crashing or water flowing, if done right?). I’ve considered, given the bright colors, maybe finding some pleasant tonal sound for the footsteps, maybe a pleasant little background tune? Maybe, as the water approaches the camera, that pleasant background tune gets louder (and maybe more distorted), until it is incredibly loud and overwhelming?

Even though this was one of the first ideas I had for a game this quarter, I am not feeling particularly satisfied with it. I’m not sure why. Maybe I would prefer it being fully 3D. Maybe I can revisit this concept when I’ve
experimented more with Maya.

I’ve talked about the concept of the game with a couple people now, and have received a couple different interpretations. One person seemed to view it as a representation of anxiety. Another viewed the water as a potentially calming element. While I think the gameplay might be anxiety-inducing, the water does not represent anxiety to me – nor does it represent anything calming (or, at least, calming in a positive way).

All the figure illustrations are based on photos I’ve taken or figure drawings I’ve done in the past. Because I know not everyone I’ve taken photos of would be comfortable with their likeness being used in any way, a significant number of the figures are actually me. Given the way I push myself, the way I wish I put my needs before my work, and the way I so frequently don’t do that, it feels sort of fitting that there are multiples of me asking myself to complete tasks while I’m drowning.

In another class, I am revisiting a quarter-long design research project that I worked on a year and a half ago. The project was on the best way for men to participate in feminist spaces, on mansplaining, and on how to allow unprivileged parties to express their grievances freely without being forced to sugarcoat their complaints for the sake of the feelings of their privileged counterparts. I was really unsatisfied with the result. I made a video game for the final deliverable of that project. It feels a little strange to have been so unsatisfied with that video game project, to be revisiting it in a much different – but much more satisfying – way in another class, and then to not be particularly satisfied with a video game final project in this class.

Hopefully I can turn it into something I’m happier with by Tuesday, though. And if not, maybe I’ll revisit it in a year and a half, too.

Can you make out what is written in the speech bubbles? Some critiques I’ve received on prototype A have been about people being unable to read my handwriting – though, to be fair, that wasn’t really something I cared about for that initial prototype.