What, specifically, is this piece trying to accomplish—above and beyond satisfying the basic requirements outlined in the prompt? In other words, what work does, or might, this piece do? For whom? In what contexts?
As I created this project I originally gravitated towards more expected topics that I knew I could easily dig into. However, I came to the conclusion to write a story about squirrels, more specifically the squirrels at the University of Illinois. The story essentially travels through the player’s day of trying to make it to an exam on time while there is a crazed squirrel epidemic on campus. The story originally was me just messing around but then I realized it was very relatable to how I feel as a student. Being in college is this weird balancing act of pretending you know what you are doing, while simultaneously having absolutely no idea. I am a junior in college and I still feel as though I am constantly in this state of just “winging it” hoping that my choices will lead to the best outcome. Thus, I created a story where the choices you make don’t lead you to a clear conclusion. I didn’t want to create a game where there appeared to be strategy or a reason why one choice leads you to the next. These past few years I feel as though we, as students, are all blinding trying to navigate the world around us. Sometimes this works in our favor, and sometimes it leaves us feeling just as confused as the squirrels on campus. This work was designed to resonate with students in a way that we all are just hoping for the best by making choices even if we don’t know where they will lead us. In a portion of my story I give the player a choice of two objects to bring with them in their backpack in case they come across a crazed squirrel. The choices are an umbrella or a bathroom towel. Two choices in the “real” world you would never pick to use to protect yourself, although may be the best you can find in a messy college student’s apartment. My goal is that this game gives the player a break from their current stressors. It is a story that is relatable specifically to students on this campus, as we all know the feeling of running late to a class, stressing about an exam, and getting slightly nervous when a squirrel runs by you on the sidewalk. We all work ourselves too hard and continuously are worried about what comes next. I want this game to poke fun at the minds of college students while also mirroring our ongoing uncertainty of what is ahead. This story is not suppose to make sense, it isn’t even supposed to come to a conclusion, but rather try to replicate the feeling of not having a clue what you are doing but hoping that somehow everything ends up alright in the end.
What specific choices did you make to accomplish the goal(s) you outlined in your response above? Consider the rhetorical principles, methods, materials and technologies (everything from pen and paper to Photoshop) that you chose in your process. Include choices that you might not have consciously made, such as those that were made for you when you opted to work with certain genres, materials and technologies.
Reflecting back on my assignment I now realize that the order of my choices had more of an impact on my project than the choices themselves. From the start, I knew that I wanted to work with Twine. After studying ‘Howling Dogs’ I found the potential of the program to be very unique and I wanted to learn more about it’s capabilities when it comes to storytelling. Despite my excitement to be working with Twine, I quickly realized the limitations I put on myself for the project. For one, I have never used this application prior to this class, meaning while I tried to build my story I also had to learn how to adapt my idea to fit the Twine platform. I realized that by choosing my platform before choosing my idea I was limiting my options for a topic. I was trying to come up with ideas that would fit into the functions of Twine, rather than finding a platform that fit my idea. Twine is a great platform for telling a narrative. However, many of my original ideas couldn’t be told in a simple narrative format, making it impossible to mold into Twine’s functions. Now, reflecting on this order of choices I realize it made this project more complicated as a whole. Another major choice I made while creating this project was choosing to use squirrels as the base of the story. I felt that by making the story about squirrels it allowed it to better resonate with college students. As weird as it may be the squirrels on campus are constantly a talking point for their weird personalities and unpredictable actions. I remember my freshman year I would always call my mom and tell her how the squirrels on college campuses behavior was so out of the ordinary, yet everyone just accepted it. This description reminded me of college students. We all live in this bubble of Champaign-Urbana where our behaviors/choices are not socially acceptable anywhere else but here we all pretend it is normal. In a way my choice to use squirrels acts as a representation of college students. We take over Champaign-Urbana acting anything but our age yet everyone just turns a blind eye and let’s it happen. While making my project I also made the choice to not give a clear reasoning as to why the squirrels had been released. I feel as though giving a conclusion as to what happened to the squirrels defeats the purpose of this story. As students we are unsure as to what the future holds for us or what happens beyond graduation. By keeping the fate of the squirrels a question I feel as though it best exemplifies the uncertainty of students.
Why did you end up pursuing this plan as opposed to the others you came up with? How did the various choices listed above allow you to accomplish things that other sets or combinations of choices would not have?
In the beginning stages of this project I changed my concept multiple times until I finally decided on my current idea. Originally I had a plan to create a story that showcased the player’s impact on the environment by tracking their choices during their daily routine. I liked this idea because I would have been able to easily make an impact with the game by allowing the player to explicitly see the power their choices have on the bigger picture. Nevertheless, my expectation ended up not being the case. I realized that my capabilities with Twine was not extensive enough to make an accurate judgement of player’s carbon footprints. The choices of each individual player could easily go back and forth between multiple endings too easily throughout their daily choices that the end result would just be based on if their last choice was good or bad. Looking back on this idea I could have easily made it work if I had used a format that was similar to a BuzzFeed quiz that tracked the amount of A, B, C or D’s you chose to create your result. Although, like I mentioned before, I made the mistake of choosing my format and then deciding on my idea. I ended up deciding on my current topic by researching other popular Twine games. I realized that the majority of games created on Twine are narratives. This then lead me to wanting to create a story rather than a quiz in order to best use the platform.
How did you draw on research and course readings when creating your project? Here you should discuss at least 3 sources, at least two of which should be from the course readings. The final source can also be from the course, or it may be research that you sought out on your own for the purpose of this project. In answering this question, consider how you can articulate the theoretical grounding behind your work, connecting that groundwork to your goals and choices.
When I was preparing for my project I often reflected back on the “Sound Engineering” by Jody Shipka. In the article she talks in depth about struggling to come up with an idea and mode that works best with it. While she had an overall firm grasp on the concept she wanted to work with she had to go through a lot of trial and error on the mode. I on the other hand have continually enjoyed the idea of working with Twine but I had no idea what I wanted my story to be about. I feel as though I let the idea of it being a multimodal assignment get to my head making me feel limited on deciding on a concept. Val had a similar experience when she was struggling to pick how to show the money and power hungry people of America. She knew the impact she was striving to create but finding the best way to display it and connect with her audience was daunting.
The article “Visible Guerillas” by Karen Spingsteen also helped me better understand how to reach my goal of showcasing the uncertainty of college students through using “appropriate reproach”. While the Guerrilla Girls used this function to slightly alter a common image of a woman, for example a nude women painting and putting a gorilla mask on it, I did my own version in my work. Rather then using the altercation to disgrace someone else, I used my altercations to draw attention to my story. By using a normal routine that is common for students, such as running late for an exam, I am able to put them in a situation that is comfortable. I then altered the usual routine by inserting random interactions across their journey. By doing this I am changing the expectation they have based on the choices they make. By creating this unique unpredictable experience I am able to support my goal of showcasing the uncertainty of students. This idea, while used differently by the women of the Guerrilla Girls movement, helped me spark ideas in my own work.
Finally, as mentioned before, Howling Dogs had a huge impact on the creation of my story. Not only did looking into the narrative nature of Howling Dogs helped me come to the idea of creating a fantasy story, but the way the creator played with the idea of choice. Much like the Howling Dogs, I didn’t want the choices made by my players to be clear. I liked how in the game of Howling Dogs it felt like the game was playing you, and that while you made your own choices-the results didn’t always line up to what you expected. I realize the strategy and depth of my project is not anything compared to the thought process that went into Howling Dogs, but I do believe my work was inspired by the unpredictability that was evident in Howling Dogs.
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