Louisa-project proposal
What do you want to make?
A location-based game, which is active over a longer time frame of several weeks, blurring the boundaries of the “magic circle”. The gameplay will be facilitated by a web game with fictional spaces/chatrooms corresponding to real locations in Rotterdam. Unlocking a physical lock might open up a new area in the web game and vice versa. As possible spaces of real life game play I am picturing are supermarkets, internet cafes, parks, metro stations. Based on the concept of...
“...a networked narrative, also known as a network narrative or distributed narrative, is a narrative partitioned across a network of interconnected authors, access points, and/or discrete threads. It is not driven by the specificity of details; rather, details emerge through a co-construction of the ultimate story by the various participants or elements. An interactive scenario that is experienced through multiple channels and adapts to player behavior.”[1]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Networked_narrative
How do you plan to make it?
There will be different components connecting a web game with a Multi-User Dungeon style interface to escape game puzzles in public spaces. For the web game I will set up a server with a php database, connected to wireless arduinos in different locations of the city. I will look for locations where certain game mechanics, albeit not explicit, are already in place. For example unlocking a locker with a number code at central station. I will write a narrative and reveal parts of the plot in stages/levels of the gameplay through a text-based interface. In order to make sure the game is not too hard or too easy, I will plan several test moments with small groups :) I am planning to work on the electronic puzzles together with tech collective Telemagic at their studio in Rotterdam.
What is your timetable?
❃November
I want to run small test games with this set up, starting to form a narrative around the puzzles and their chosen location in the city. This results in a performative, location-based game for The Overkill Festival in Enschede. Taking place on the 28th November and 5th December.
❃December
I will start to make interface sketches, researching game methods, virtual "stage-setting" & role-playcommon on 1990s and early 2000s online platforms. This will help me choose how to design the web game.
❃January
Development Week at TETEM to build locks/containers and play test with audience. Talk to experts. Prototype puzzles at Telemagic's studio.
❃February
In this month I want to focus on storytelling, reading fiction and writing the narrative.
❃March
I want to build some mystery around the game and start creating untraceable manifestations around it.
Why do you want to make it?
Personally I am interested in the ways in which virtual worlds pull us in and dissociate us from our physical environments. From a young age I was interested in the meaning of a common reality and now as a maker I am searching for the moments this common reality noticeably crumbles. I am noticing the process of extreme personalisation of content online which is one of the causes reality is crumbling, which I expect to extend further and further into the spaces outside of the screen. For that reason I am to explore the experience of mistaking games for reality and vice versa, along with the feelings and social implications which follow. I would like to encourage players to look closely in order to find hints which would have otherwise blended into the environment smoothly.
Who can help you and how?
Emilia Tapprest (film maker and performer)
Frederik de Bleser (AI researcher)
Edwin Dertien (roboticist)
Naveen Setty (roboticist)
Tomo Kihara (game designer)
Roos Groothuizen (artist & designer)
Queer Arcana (Dungeons & Dragons mixed with immersive theatre)
Relation to previous practice
As a maker, my focus lies heavily on tools of interaction and gamification, interlinking digital and physical spaces. I am working with themes around gaming and the effect of new technologies on the player's perception of reality. By analysing gameplay methods and implementing them into RL settings, I am creating scenarios in which the viewer turns into the protagonist of an interactive fictional narrative. More specifically I am intrigued by the mental process of dissociation, methods of ludified surveillance capitalism and personalised virtual echo-chambers social media platforms construct based on user data. Since 2018, I have been experimenting with different event formats, testing game methods with small live audiences. These tests range from escape rooms to immersive theatre, treasure hunts and audio tours. This project will combine a lot of my findings and deepen this ongoing research on a technical and theoretical level.