Alternative Meet and Greet for DCC
Our project will involve creating a 2D RPG (role playing game) and accompanying website geared towards incoming Digital Cultures and Creativity students. Each student will receive a simple code for personal keeping from the website which corresponds to their building and room number. (Roommates will all receive the same code.) The goal of the game is for the player to collect up to a maximum of four codes from each floor of Queen Anne’s. By socializing in person, players can exchange codes which can then be entered into the appropriate game version of the room for a puzzle piece.
Puzzle pieces are cumulative fragments of story appearing as narrative images on the website, with four puzzle pieces comprising a single storyline. Initially, the building will appear empty and impersonal; however, as each of the four puzzles are completed, the appearance and liveliness of the building improves.
Miniquests relating to issues like cleanliness and appropriate behavior will also improve the map’s appearance. Finishing the puzzles and quests on every floor will result in the best possible “ending.”
By integrating real world interactions into our gameplay, we will ensure that socialization is a key element to “winning” the game. In addition, the multiple endings will encourage players to share their results with each other, as they would with any other game.
Presenting a meet and greet in the form of a game makes socializing easier for many students, who naturally gravitate towards existing social groups, by using the popular and relatable game medium to break the ice.
Monica will be working on in-game map design and will also lead story development. She will be using the program RPG Maker to design the levels and playable characters of the game, and will be responsible for ensuring that it is kept up to schedule.
Chester will be coding the website, which is the medium responsible for distributing codes and displaying collected puzzle pieces for individual users. He will ensure that codes will link properly between the game and website, and is responsible for keeping work on the website up to schedule.
I will be handling the artwork (puzzle pieces take on the form of narrative images and combine into a larger story) and will provide the work to Chester to be integrated into the site upon completion.
In the event that any group member finishes his or her task early, that member will then assist the group member with the largest workload or schedule discrepancy.
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