I keep meaning to use this blog more, but every time I start writing a post it balloons to 2000+ words and becomes a Thing. I am predisposed to writing Things, mostly because I want to put my best foot forward.
So this isn’t a Thing. It’s just a brief description of what I’m working on lately.
Games:
Homeless: A Game For Social Change
I’m the Lead Writer on this, as well as a software designer. I came on to work with the Creative Director and contract writers to make sure this is a socially responsible, interesting, and overall human game about homelessness. I want to challenge easy reactions to the problem of homelessness, and particularly those which are common in Vancouver, where the game is set. We’ve reached alpha, are some ways towards beta, and are hoping to ship soon on iOS and Android. Homeless is based on the Unity engine.
Homeless is my day job.
LaGrange Point Five
LP5 is an isometric RPG with procedurally generated dialogue and narrative, set in a too-close-for-comfort venture capitalist future. LaGrange Point Five is one of several LaGrange Points, which are self-correcting areas of stable gravity nearby the Earth. They are ideal for space stations, and particularly waypoints for interplanetary travel. LP5 is based on the Unity game engine.
LP5 is in pre-production.
geist
geist is a first-person horror game co-designed with Kyle Carpenter, longtime friend and co-founder of Medium Difficulty. Set in the same universe and time period as LP5, geist uses a similar dynamic narrative engine, as well as a novel control scheme, to generate tension and terrifying moments during your exploration of a space station gone wrong. geist, unsurprisingly, is also based on the Unity game engine.
geist is currently in prototyping.
Other work
I have also been consulting on several Kickstarter campaigns, some unannounced, some successful (as with Nick Yonge’s recent Emerald campaign.)
Writing
In December I graduated from my MA degree. My major project from that degree was a psychoanalytical investigation of Silent Hill 2 and the relationship we have with the characters we play based on the work of Dan Pinchbeck and Aaron A. Reed (who generously shared the source code for some of his games). I am editing the project into a manuscript called THERE WAS A HOLE for eventual publication. It will double as a primer for game studies and psychoanalytical methods and as a critical work concerning Silent Hill 2. This project informs much of my work on LP5 and geist.
I’m also working on an essay about Frictional Games’ latest project, SOMA, and how it continues their tradition of psychological investigation through game mechanics. It’s long and almost done. I’m still thinking about whether I should publish it here or on Medium Difficulty.
Obsessions
I am really loving Welcome to Night Vale.
Anyway. That’s it for now! Follow me on twitter @karlnp. Please. Thank you.
(This blog post was composed, edited, and published using Draft. Give it a shot. It rules.)
