#interact21

Following up from a couple of posts ago, discussing Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, thinking about this game made me consider the tone of my own game a lot more. Hellblade has a dark fantastical feel, exploring psychosis; and thinking about Alex, when I picture it in my head it’s saturated with bright colours to showcase the Swinging Sixties, but also feels like a film noir. I suppose that makes it sound like a highly stylised and slick spy piece like Man From U.N.C.L.E or… Austin Powers? No. Not Austin Powers, but I'm sure you know what I mean. I hope.

Although I picture the game visually exuding 1960s pop culture, I still want that darker tone to it. After all, it does follow a woman experiencing trauma. Her husband is killed and she seems to be the next target. What she discovers further down the line in the game is traumatising in its own right for anyone, I would say. I think if i want to develop the game concept further I would need to find a balance in tone for sure. The Swinging Sixties was a revolution, it was politically charged but also culturally exciting and fun. Displaying that within the context of a dramatic story could be challenging because I still want this game to feel real, as if it was happening to a ‘modern’ woman, but I also want to immerse the player in sixties aesthetics and sensibilities. If it’s done right, I think this could gain traction amongst gamers in the same way that Mafia 2 did.

I still really love Mafia 2.

I know I also want to incorporate a choice the player has to make within the game that doesn’t change the ending of the game, but shifts the tone of Alex. It’s something I’ll go more into detail in the proposal.

All in all, thinking about different games for the blog has really helped shaped the tone I want for Alex so far.

In my future Dungeons and Dragons inspired fantasy game for mobile, the player will join a party of adventurers! Since I have no artistic skills to speak of, I went to the Hero Forge website and created these miniatures so free. I would highly recommend creating a rough idea of what your characters look like before commissioning a design artist.

Meet Iris, a sarcastic, anti-social elf ranger, who is a hunter, rather than a beast master. She thrives in the snowy mountains of the North, as it is her favoured terrains and there’s little she doesn’t know about it.

Next, meet Remi, a rule-obeying human paladin who worships the deity Majere, god of meditation and order. Remi wears a copped spider on his shield as a symbol of his devotion.

Devin is a sneaky gnome rogue who is always looking for trouble. She’s clever and witty but hardly anyone would call her charismatic. She believed in two things only, good luck and good fortune.

Klaus is a magnetic red-skin tiefling bard. He plays the violin so beautifully he can sweet talk even the most stubborn of merchants into a deal. He’s clearly the most beautiful and charismatic of the group and knows it well.

Almost fifteen years ago (come the 20th of March) The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion released. I missed it at the time - my first Elder Scrolls experience was shouting really loudly in people’s faces in Skyrim. Over the years, the awkward AI and voiceacting of the NPCs in Oblivion has become a bit of a meme. There’s a whole reason as to why they’re so awkward here, but the gist of it is Oblivion NPCs have weird conversations that sound oddly humourous.

I first became aware of the Oblivion NPC meme when my friend sent a live stream of a video simply called ‘Oblivion NPC Dialogue Live Stream’ from Whacked-Out Entertainment. Watching it I was completely confused as to what I was watching. The live stream was a series of short videos, showing a man in an American accent going about his day, talking to a camera man and making what seemed to be simple observations. The screen was mocked up to look like the HUD from Oblivion, including a section for the man/NPC’s name, which was Greg Thompson. I was still so confused. DId this man make these videos as a parody of Oblivion? They looked old. Was that deliberate?

I had to know.

Dipping into the vast realms of other ‘Oblivion NPC Memes’ I found a lot of mean spirited and seemingly exploitative videos where people with mental health conditions were filmed as passed off as an Oblivion NPC. It didn’t really sit right with me. So why did this new one work without feeling exploitative? Who is Greg Thompson?

Looking into it I discovered Greg Thompson is an English teacher from Texas, who in the late 80s and early 90s made his own educational show At Home with English which was broadcast on public access television. In the episodes, Mr Thompson teaches how grammer is used in every day conversation, displayed  through his nosy camera man who won’t stop asking questions. Greg speaks clearly, distinctly and slowly, obviously to help aide his students, but as it turns out, a bit like a bad NPC.

The reason I’m writing about this is because I think it’s a good example of Convergence. This old media that was created to help non native English language speakers, has been repackaged if you will, into a form of (extremely niche) entertainment, that importantly for me, doesn’t feel mean spirited.

It’s not just me though. Greg Thompson’s NPC videos have been steadily uploading from late 2020 and checking the comments shows that fans are actively engaging with it and even creating, or asking questions of, the lore around Greg Thompson. I can see why. Each video seems to show different snapshots into the live of this version of Greg Thompson, who likes carpentry, riding his bike, swimming and sliding on floors since he was 3 years old. 

Through his performance in the videos, Thompson, most likely unintentionally, creates a character who seems to have a wide eyes, innocent and wholesome outlook at the world. Other dramatic events in Greg’s life include him scandalously getting robbed “Why would someone rob me!?” he says, looking around his trashed living room, “I am not rich!”, getting stuck on a roof, standing up to an abusive boss and deliberating what to wear to that night’s party.

Perhaps it’s just the horrific world we currently live in, but I needed these. Greg lived rent free in my head over the next few days while I was still processing everything. Did he ever get his TV back? Did he find a new job? Why does the camera man (Mr Perfect) keep asking him all of these random questions? Why was he digging that massive hole, is he really a Necromancer?

More videos keep getting uploaded, most recently a trip to the supermarket where Greg puts too many things in his basket and struggles to carry them.  The biggest question that kept me up at night was what was Greg Thompson doing now?

The most recent interview is here from 2009. Some people in the comments have recently asked for an update and I am pleased to say that according to those who did the interview in 2009, Mr. Thompson is still happily living in Texas, though may be unaware of his sudden internet fame. Thank God.

The live streams of edited videos broadcast every few days. Here’s one that’s currently live. This is the content we need right now.

Can’t believe I forgot about the existence of Eastshade. 

Its one of the most stress-free games I’ve ever played. Even more so than Stardew Valley or any other farming sim. 

It’s a game about a painter going to an island called Eastshade to paint key locations to fulfil the last wish of their mom. And the locations are absurdly beautiful. Everything is so calming and colourful and designed to be picturesque. It has to considering the main game mechanic is to paint. All you do is capture the scene you want and then the picture is painted onto a canvas on your easel. Simple.

The voice acting is a little off but considering this game was made by one guy and some volunteers I’d give it a pass. The soundtrack is seriously one of my favourite of all time. 

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about my project’s user experience, particularly with its accessibility focus.

In research, I found some great existing tool and tips for testing out some of the accessibility of apps.

Color Safe – lets you (or your design team) input your colour scheme and will guide you to an accessible colour combination/contrast ratio for users with different conditions.

VoiceOver – a screen reader app for iOS and Macs and;

TalkBack – the Android equivalent.

I also found guidance online about how to use these Screen Readers to test how your own app or project works them for the best user experience for those who will have these apps enabled.

Also, of great use from everyone and anyone, is getting in the habit of using Alt Text. These image descriptors (for those who can't see your images) can be used on everything from websites to making your social media posts more inclusive.

I’m not sure if FOMO is the right phrase but it feels about right in relation to my general reaction to interactive media. Faced with a needless choice I get anxious and stroppy. Why would I choose to fumble in the dark or go down blind alleyways when I know someone has a bird’s eye view they’re not sharing? It’s for their amusement, their analytics. No thanks. Give me a site map. Let me be the judge of your structure. Let me make a free choice of whether I want to experience this path or that destination.

So why did I set all this aside for Bandersnatch, the interactive episode of Black Mirror? Because Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. I trust them. I watched it and enjoyed the experience at the time, but now I can barely remember anything about it. I just googled Bandersnatch site map. Ah the relief! 

My then 18 year old hated Bandersnatch. It made him uncomfortable and he thought it was taking the piss. It was I think, I said. It didn’t help.