For Char NG, I wanted to utilize the bizarre way in which the site spits out words to mimic the fear and anxiety the main character is experiencing. As she opens the door to the basement and descends further and further down, the realization of her situation sets in, as she notices that she is experiencing fear for the first time. I specifically used areas of text where CharNG created several repeating words or phrases, as I believe it exemplifies the nagging thoughts which repeat on loop when anxious or worried.
The most interesting thing I find about N+7 as a program is how it can recontextualize a story by simply changing a few words. I found this particular excerpt engaging, as it turned someone initially threatening and imposing into a mango. This notion ties into my narrative because it showcases how her emotions about the man change once she realizes their values are entirely different, and he is nothing more than a bitter child. Instead of fear, she looks down on him as if he is something weaker, like a mango. I enjoyed manipulating my text as it redefined my message, plot, and tone in inventive and unpredictable ways.
For the Oblique Strategies page, I wanted it to feel like a choice based game where the strategy cards define the outcome of the game. While the choices here are already determined, the page implies that a choice was made, and the result redefines the ending of the story. I played with letter-spacing and color to add emphasis and a sense of dread to the storyline and the application of the cards. The cards chosen are actions that the main character partakes in as an attempt to make her way out of the current situation.
I utilized the Annegram Generator to create alternate phrases to "Us against the world", which the mimic killer says in an attempt to convine the vampire to team up with him. The new variations are meant to show how a phrase or meaning of a phrase can be interpreted in different ways, or misinterpeted entirely. It asks what alternate things he could have said, or if in a different universe, what he woukd have said instead. The Annegram Generator always pushes me to think more abstractly when it comes to writing and here it suggested words I would have never come up with in relation to one another on my own.
While in class we used Botnik for game titles, here I used the Radiohead Botnik instead, as I felt the band and their lyrics represented the melancholy of my story well. Words like 'hurt', 'poisioned', and 'frightened' added to the mood of the story, as the vampire dismisses the causation of the mimic killer's actions. Using Botnik, like Annegrams, allowed me to include words and phrases into my narrative that I would have been unable to concieve organically.
My bitsy game fully encapsulates the narrative as a whole, playing through each interaction and sequence. You play as the vampire main character as she uncovers the mysterious trail of blood further and further down the cathedral. I chose Bitsy because I believe that an 8-bit game is both simple and expansive, as it adds a sense of setting, atomosphere, and interaction that text cannot. I used color and shape with intention to add contrast between the main character and her surroundings.
(Continue on to About Me)