Blog Update 4

Weekly Progress Update

This week was a very code-heavy week for me. I decided that the best course of action would probably be to prioritize the coding at first and then focus on the more artistic aspects.

Reflection on Progress

I feel good about my plan to focus on the code first. I think using placeholder assets at first will allow me to add a lot of functionality to the game now, then I can kind of structure my art and assets around the functionality I implement. 

As far as tangible progress goes, I've implemented a map and navigation system, as well as the base for the ui. My map is made up of 4 images of the 3d box I created. For navigation, I created 4 arrows to navigate up, down left, and right. The camera will move to the corresponding room when an arrow is pressed. The arrows will also be disabled when there is no room in the direction they are facing. 

Inspiration, Ideas, Readings, Research

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClyMT4V-0wc - Pixel Chix: The 2000's Girlboss Tamagotchi

• https://freeonlinelaceygames.neocities.org/ - Lacey Games (Horror parody of early 2000's 'girl's games' websites)

Artist Profile

A videogame that I have been taking a bit of inspiration from is a visual novel created by Dan Salvato called Doki Doki Literature club. This game appears as a stereotypical anime-style dating simulation game, but in reality it is a satirical almost sci-fi horror game. Essentially, one of the characters within the game gains ai-like sentience and realizes she's a character in a dating simulation game. That is when the horror elements come into play. 

Dan Salvato's unique satirical twist on this genre of game inspires me in many different ways. From a narrative perspective, the game does a really good job at playing off of many of the tropes that female characters in this genre are subject to. It appears as a very stereotypical and surface level take on a dating simulation game before the sudden shift into horror. Once the game becomes a horror game, the characters all become much more complex and less stereotypical. Although the game's main focus isn't necessarily about these patriarchal tropes, it still manages to utilize and subvert them. The action of taking the flat and stereotypical characters and being able to make them compelling in itself highlights and critiques the existence of those tropes.