Level 0
Level 0: Exterior Day. Market. Orientation.
The student-player (SP hereafter) [14] (age in square brackets)… SP[14] moves around amongst the stalls and sellers… finds a storyteller who gives the SP the narrative so far… and a list of items needed on his quest to attain greatness.
To save boring gender stuff (putting him/her, his/hers) I will refer throughout to him, by which I also mean her.
Tania we discussed this some weeks ago and had decided to go with a gender-neutral student-player. I have in mind Keisha Castle-Hughes as PAI in Whale Rider, a tomboy-ish figure, David taking on Goliath. That’s in this SP[14] mode which extends to Level 2. Taking on a little more shoulders by Level 3 SP[16].
The purpose of Level 0 is orientation:
- establish the narrative
- learn the key strokes
This is achieved by:
- meeting the storyteller
- getting the things for the quest ahead
Let’s discuss the things he needs… use the comments to do this… I’ll kick it off… a thing like a compass which helps the SP find his way through the game (remember the compass which points to the thing you most desire in Pirates of the Caribbean? Which disturbingly for Elizabeth one time points to Jack)…
January 31st, 2008 at 7:03 am
So tell me more about the story teller. I dont recall hearing about him before. Is he one of the musicians?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:01 am
Yes, he could well be one of the musicians. You know, like storytellers in India (Rushdie’s Shah of Blah) or in Morocco, poor, slightly crazed. Only I think we need some character to come on — like panto — to set the scene, to give the student-player (SP) the necessary background to make a start.
February 1st, 2008 at 6:53 am
Yes I like the slighly crazed character, the wise idiot.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Can you do us that character (slightly crazed wise idiot storyteller fellow), to fit in with the musicians who can be busking at the market? I think he’s key. We’ll use him as a mobile (NPC, AI) and he’ll appear on different levels throughout the game, offering hints to the direction of the gameplay.
By the way I’m very soon going to establish a gallery on lmsfarm.co.nz/vij (the CMS) of all the art you’ve created so far…as a reference, and also as skyte because my part of the project won’t have visible elements for some weeks yet. Is that OK?
Micah if you’re tuned in here could you get some wee tracks to me for the same purpose?