project evolution

The original pitch for this game was to do with narrative-appropriate media, and the levels of immersion afforded by each. It's drifted a bit away from this. From the 2024 application:

My research project will be the creation of a mixed-media narrative game using both digital and analog assets. It will be accompanied by a research essay, documenting how the narrative was deliberately shaped by the media chosen, and how this choice of media affects the immersion the player feels in relation to the reality of the fictional narrative and it’s characters.

and

Early-game narrative will be as immersive and “realistic” as possible,  and later immersion-breaking narrative techniques will be used deliberately to create the sense that reality itself is breaking down because of the emerging supernatural threat. This will be accomplished by using less epistolary and more impossible documentation as the story unfolds, changing the focus from first-person roleplaying as a researcher, to the third-person POV of the other researchers.

Media will be selected based on what media is best suited to each story beat, and the resources available.  The progression of the story from grounded to fantastic provides a framework to decide what media will most effectively communicate the narrative distance required for that story beat, and at what point the player is most likely to uncover it.

This idea has got away from me now. It's still in there, it will just not be pointed at quite so hard. I forgot about the gradient in realism - but I decided in June that I couldn't accomplish realism in any way - it's just not my skillset (or budget) at the moment. My installations in Experiences and Interfaces class taught me I can't be so careful in a rush. I work best with stylization.

I haven't decided if I'm including it yet, but the fact that my artifacts could and may be hack jobs inspired me to make them all forgeries - it's just researchers making fakes under the manipulation of entities. Because I want the player to have to make something, too.