1. The core idea of the story, I realized, is shared with many other classmates, which is a story where technology has taken over the lives of most people. This particular story takes place in a dystopia where all children are more or less mandated to be using screens all day- as a lot of their time is taken up by education, and they spend their free time online looking at short-form algorithmic content and maybe spending a moment chatting with people. Children are essentially never seen in public. Our protagonist comes from a family who not only has trouble looking at screen for any amount of time but also is rebellious against the regime (surprise). There is a cure for this, but it is only available through the regime, and the family does not wish to be subjugated to the System. The protagonist has trouble because she is extremely lonely and it is difficult to leave the house despite her desires. She craves any form of human connection and is tempted by the System. Her father was able to be there during her younger years but his current job requires his presence almost always, meaning she is almost entirely alone most of the time. They know some Others but they are few and far between these days. Attempting to engage with new Others is risky but could lead to some meaningful human connection…
2. Map sketch.
This story has a few different turns to take based on some decisions, so locations of plot points will vary. This is a rough layout of the world (I guess think along the lines of 1984 x Matrix x Uglies?)
3. Plan.
Given that 3 of my classes have their problem sets due on Wednesday nights, I will plan to work on this project on Thursdays and Fridays. This week I will iron out more of the premise and mapping, trying to complete the choice skeleton as well so that I know where everything will be. Hopefully Sunday and next week I can have a first draft and some experience with Twine (I hope I can make the game CLI-like, similar to the tutorial example which I really liked). Throughout this time I can be pulling people for playtesting so the final week/few days I can be polishing the project.
My biggest challenge I think will be time, which is why I am not going for something like Unity despite my deeper desires.
