overall
Developed independently over a period of six months, this game explores the conflict between man and machine through a profound storytelling experience, using Artificial-Intelligence generated visuals.
With meaningful choices, meticulously crafted characters, intriguing dialogues and sarcastic mini-games, medoM allows the players to shape their journey and take control on the game's ending.
Story
Inspired from George Orwell's 1984, the story is set in a dystopian future where all activity is highly surveillanced. While robots were victorious, small signs of humanity still remain.
In this stratified world, the player finds themselves playing a robot with a human-origin component affecting their behaviour. The choices are divided between the two conflicting natures: robotic or human.
Ultimately, it turns into a tragedy as the hard truth unfolds, the story questioning the essence of humanity amidst technology.
Narrative Design
Through futuristic colors, mechanical sounds and visual effects, I tried to recreate the tension and uneasiness someone may have suffering from conflicting thoughts. As the component was forcing upon the player thoughts forbidden in the world they were in, these interactions had to be very impactful and sometimes confusing.
As this was my first experience with a new game engine, Ren'Py, I tried to make use of all its functionalities. Screen transitions helped create glitch effects and camera shakes provided substantial visual feedback for the player's decisions.
Since the theme did not allow for self-reflecting moments, the inner conflict manifested through mechanical robotic parts reporting the player's status or neural activity.
Script Writing
Researching storytelling methods and story acts, I aimed to write meaningful player choices, integral to the narrative.
By carefully designing non-player characters with intertwined backstories, players have the opportunity to build strong relationships, leading to more meaningful choices. To ensure consistency personality maps were used as frameworks in dialogue writing.
Using diagramming tools and personality maps, I created a framework that ensured consistency, and good organization, given the extensive nature of writing branching narratives.
USER INTERFACE & EXPERIENCE
Storytelling was not only conducted through dialogues but also through interface elements. With a futuristic look, blue tones and sharp shapes, the game's appearance instantly communicates its theme.
The skill tree presente an opportunity for replayability while showcasing my design competences. Taking the shape of a microchip, each skill was intentionally placed on a side corresponding to the brain hemispheres. As the player opts for a human-like playstyle, the central brain icon would change accordingly.
AI-Generated visuals
Given the size of the project, I generated the visuals using Microsoft's AI image generator, an efficient solution that also enhanced my prompt engineering skills. By learning about word priority, style transfer and keywords, I managed to preserve the vintage futuristic style I was going for.
This also enhanced the player's experience, as using AI art in a game about humanity and technology perfectly highlighted the emerging moral dilemmas.
Mini-games design
entangled puzzle
captcha check
fuse positioning
