The workshop that we had today from Seth Giddings was about Simulation and that there was a difference between that of a narrative and a simulation – especially within games.
It was interesting to be having debates into how video games are all simulations and thinking about how narratives are part of it but then that doesn’t make it a story.
The interactive part of the workshop was the most fun.
I hate trash magazines. Purely because 98% of it is obviously absolute tosh and I’m not wasting my time on that shite. However, my team used that to our advantage and began to make a game based loosely on Top Trumps and Talisman.
Aim: Get to the party first with all of the parts on your checklist to guarantee you entry!
Checklist:
Cocaine – 1 bag
Alcohol – 4 pack
Bitches – 2
Attire – 1 outfit
On each corner of the outer part of the board, you can pick up parts of your checklist dependant on your roll of the dice, special abilities and whether you get caught in a battle with other players, the po-po or the paparazzi etc. Once you have fulfilled your checklist demands, you must enter the building. Depending on what character you have – they may be only able to go through a certain way i.e. Paul the Alien has to take the roof because he’s an E.T. He can’t be seen!
Once you’re in the building, you’ve got to get round the whole floor (3 times) without losing all of your checklist items in battle with people lurking to mug you in order to get into the party. Once the 3 times rotation has happened – You arrive at the door to the party, you’re in and you win!
Those are the rules put simply but as we didn’t get a chance to play test it, we didn’t manage to iron out any problems that may have come around. Everyone seemed to like our idea which was nice and a good confidence boost. Part of me would like to make this digital yet this will probably have to be for some time in the future as I have a bit too much on at the moment.
For notes on Seth Giddings’s workshop and the Simulation talk, see Lectures/Crits/Talks book, bright pink tag labelled Seth Giddings Workshop, pages 27 – 34.
Twilleir 