Gillian Smith (Threadsteading)

I'm going with a moment while playing No Man's Sky that really got me thinking about how PCG supports player storytelling and how the real world context you're playing in important to overall experience. I'd just started playing the game and it was a rough start in every sense. I could only find time to play when my then 8-month-old was napping while laying on top of me (which was the only way he'd nap), so I'm in kind of an awkward position, totally in the dark except for the light from the TV, and trying to stay calm so he doesn't wake up. In the game, I'm in toxic environment with radiation damage when I'm exposed to the sun, trying to navigate to a resource, marveling at how beautiful the world is despite its harshness. Being a new parent is rewarding but also can be very isolating, and the lonely but beautiful world I'm exploring is really resonating with me. The slow pace of exploration in the game is giving me space to think and reflect. My shields are super low when my son wakes up and starts batting at the controller. I'm trying to make sure he's secure on the couch but also get the controller out of his reach so I can get to safety in the game, and there's this brief moment of tension that's almost palpable where I'm almost dead and the baby is getting cranky and then suddenly relief when I reach a cave and my shields recharge and I can put the controller down. The baby has become transfixed by the TV, so I start talking to him about what he's seeing on the screen. As a designer I'd mostly thought about gameplay inhabiting a space that's separate from the real world, but this one brief moment really changed that perception for me.