Rise of the Zinesters: Response
I read chapters 1 and 7 of Rise of the Videogame Zinesters (which I’d love to read all of over break). I’ll focus my response on Chapter 7 because the two chapters cover so much ground and I think of them in my head as two separate sources although they’re connected in the book. Chapter 7 of Rise of the Videogame Zinesters goes through steps to stimulate creativity in order to get the reader to actually design a game. I read it while thinking about my IF game, Unplugged. I’d already spent hours working on my characters, especially my main character Luna, but going through the basics of motivation, struggles, and relationship with the world brought me back from my detailed questions about what kind of cereal she eats to the main things a player needs to know.
The next section focuses on a second character, which originally was clearly Luna’s friend, Emma, in my game, but I realized that most of my interactions so far involved Luna’s dad and that I should spend more time considering how he influences her abilities and beliefs. I spent so much time thinking about the story, but forgot to make sure that each branch introduced a conflict.
Task 5, “Make Some Noise”, is meant to be taken literally to add a new dimension to the game. I was actually starting to love only-text IF — so I had a new challenge on my hands: how to write sound. I used words, but also the ‘text-style’, to add ambiance. An alarm sound is clear — however, you can also get the same feeling from the word “BEEP” flashing on the screen in a typography similar to classic alarm clock fonts.
By Task 6, I realized that most of this advice was not for text based games, but was still interesting to consider in terms of future game design. Plus, the introduction has said to “diverge from [the tasks] as often as possible… ignore the ones that don’t fit your vision”. I did ignore some steps, but there were other tidbits I hadn’t even thought about doing, especially in terms of adding rules for what the character could do. It’s difficult in interactive fiction to limit capabilities while also allowing player freedom to make decisions, but I think that by narrowing down rules, it’s easier to find clear branches that emerge from the narrative. Limitations can be helpful, especially when you’re as indecisive as I am. I also started to think about other possible games and how the process could be repeated without feeling monotonous.
The chapter accomplished its goal because I really did want to just create a game right after reading it, but due to deadlines, I decided I’ll put it away for now until I can come back to the drawing board for my next game. I got the general message that in game design, there is no single correct path to follow or rules that always apply. This can be both enticing and frustrating — sometimes I forget how I take directions for granted. In a way, this chapter focused on “direction” as a broader term and how to define your own rules and steps that work for you. Throughout this class, refining our process has been an emergent (look! I learned!) goal and something I will continue to do long after.
