Freeplay Parallels Indie Showcase 2017

I had the pleasure of being asked to speak at the Parallels Independent Showcase during Melbourne International Games Week 2017.  It's an event put on by the people behind the Freeplay Independent Games Festival about my virtual reality game, OfficeBots: Reality Bytes.  

It was my first solo talk and audiences terrify the beejeebus out of me but I'm glad I did it.  It was really well received and that was heartwarming to experience, especially since my talk was incredibly personal.

You can now watch the whole event here on Youtube.

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Resist Jam : Satyagraha (Episode One)

Recently, I participated in a game jam, Resist Jam along with 200+ entrants.  Resist Jam was presented in partnership with IndieCade, and media partners included IGDA, Devolver Digital, Global Game Jam, and Raw Fury.

#ResistJam is an online game jam about creating games that resist oppressive authoritarianism in all its forms, in partnership with IndieCade.

It differs from most game jams in that we're providing mentorship and workshops from experienced members of the game industry to make sure that as many people as possible can participate, no matter their skill level. Our objective is to empower jammers to make amazing and powerful games by focusing on diversity and inclusion.

I managed to develop a prototype for an episodic game series called Satyagraha, which is a stealth game fused with an interactive visual novel that introduces the player to non-violent resistance.  It was a "solo" project created by Pranee McKinlay in about 6 days using the Unity Engine.

Satyagraha : Intro Scene

The tight deadline of the jam and fact that it was a "solo" project, led me to the decision to use images, sounds, music, and 3D assets that were free to use or in the public domain.  

I developed an overarching visual aesthetic inspired by Sin City and Film Noir to bring it all together in a uniform manner.  By using Prisma and various filters from the Camera Filter Pack available on the Unity Asset Store, I was able to create this look.  Overall, I was relatively pleased with the results.

I taught myself how to use Fungus, a Unity plug-in for the first time to create the interactive text scenes.  I love teaching myself something new when I participate in a game jam and Fungus really suited my needs.

Music by Kevin MacLeod from Incompetech really helped to create the mood that I was going for and I appreciated the vast library of free music that he has made available for creators to use in their projects.

Programming is not a strong skill of mine which limited the features that I could include.  My strengths lean more towards the areas of game design, art direction, narrative design, and producing.

All things considered, it's a compact, enjoyable experience which has already been exhibited at Bar SK in Melbourne.

If you want to play Satyagraha, you can find it at FutureStateMachine's itch.io store.

I'd be stoked if you took the time to play it.  If you enjoy the experience, leaving a positive review really helps.

Here's some "Let's Play" videos that I made to show a few of the different pathways available to the player.

** Warning : there are spoilers in the embedded videos. **

PauseFest 2017 Panel : Progress, Direction, & Diversity in VR

I was asked to participate on a panel for PauseFest 2017 which discussed Progress, Direction, & Diversity in VR.  

I'm an introvert.  Public speaking terrifies me.  I'm not a huge fan of being in the spotlight but I like to challenge myself and push my limits regardless.  So I said yes. . .

The panel was ;

Bringing together women participating in Virtual Reality (VR) development and research environments from across the country, this will be a stimulating discussion about content and technology production. Reflecting on the current progress of this emerging medium, we uncover the value of bringing diverse voices into the creation of meaningful, impactful content.

Sitting on stools makes for a whole lot of awkward and I was incredibly nervous but it was a well received panel.  I was even quoted on Twitter a few times, much to my surprise!

"Without diverse voices, the industry gets stagnant" @FutureStateMach Pranee #pause2017

— Jess Vovers (@JessVovers) February 10, 2017

We need to start having more discussions about privacy, morality and harassment as we further develop VR #Pause2017

— Kate Pattison (@katepatto) February 10, 2017

Of course, many things I would have liked to have said never got spoken but the discussion flowed really well which is important in a panel.  I've got to say, it was a relief when it was over!

Photo by Mitchell Manganaro

Panel members: 

Leah Bunny, Founder of Carousel Creative, Real World VR & Virtual Soup
Emily Harridge – Founder – Visual Playground, PLaTO Reality, Real World VR
Amy Nelson - Experience Designer, ABC R&D
Katy Morrison - Producer - VRTOV
Pranee McKinlay – Game Developer - FutureStateMachine

You can watch the panel discussion here.