=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1628/Creative_paper1
|storemode=property
|title=None
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1628/Creative_paper1.pdf
|volume=Vol-1628
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==None==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1628/Creative_paper1.pdf
'APARTMENT 613' - HYPERTEXT GAME
Carlos Ramírez
University of Seville
Urbanización Pino Grande, 39
41410 Carmona, Seville
+34 676 333 486
carrammor@gmail.com
The way the narrative is conveyed is mainly through Verne's inner
1. STATEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF thoughts. The story uses a first-person narrator, which is Verne.
ARTISTIC GOALS What we read is what she thinks; what we play is what is
I have been studying and applying narrative in video games for happening at the same time, blurring the line between story-time
five years now, since I finished my Master's degree in and discourse-time. There are obviously ellipses as well, which
Scriptwriting, Narrative and Audiovisual Creativity at Seville are activated by hyperlinks or certain events. Dialogues are
University. I published my Master's Thesis, a narrative approach occasionally used to express other characters' feelings, and they
to character representation in video games, which awarded a pass can also serve as a way to choose between more than one action
with honor. Later on, I started to work as a narrative designer at a available to the player, in a similar way to dialog trees in
local video games company. Currently, I teach a subject on video adventure games.
games writing at the Game Design Master's Degree in Seville
while working as a game designer at a newly-created company. Apart from story there is a rich background story for players to
Apartment 613 is my first incursion into the world of interactive discover. Players can spend some of their daily actions to read a
fiction, after having tried programming in C#, testing (at Firefly pile of old newspapers which tell a lot about the circumstances
Studios) and writing. that have led to the current situation of the world. These are pieces
of information such as interviews, articles and bulletins sent to the
With Apartment 613 I have tried to convey a feeling of isolation tenants in the building. Rather than just filling the story with a lot
and loneliness, even when you're surrounded by your loved ones. of unnecessary lore, this backstory can be useful if the player
What your parents need and what you need as a young girl may wants to survive as many days as possible.
not go in the same direction. As Verne, you may start to feel how
your parents resign themselves to the fact that the only thing you 3. LINK TO THE PIECE
can do is wait for the death to come. You will see how Verne's Apartment 613 can be played on philome.la:
feelings change from resignation to the desire to know what's http://www.philome.la/carlosrmrz/apartment-613
happening outside the apartment. It's a way of expressing the
process of maturing and the urge to explore that come with this 4. TOTAL LENGTH AND LENGTH OF
transformation. DEMO PORTION
Apartment 613 can be presented and even finished in 10 minutes,
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK although the piece can take about 30 minutes to fully explore all
Apartment 613 is a piece of interactive fiction that borrows some content, i.e., different storylines and endings. Besides, players can
game mechanics from games like Gods Will Be Watching be challenged to survive the greatest number of days, which may
(Deconstructeam, 2014), leading to a hybrid between interactive require many attempts.
fiction and hypertext game. It is also inspired by Cormac
McCarthy's novel The Road, whose post-apocalyptic setting and 5. PRESENTATION FORMAT
sense of isolation and abandonment have been extremely Due to my current place of residence, I am not able to attend
motivating. Hypertext 2016. However, I would like to express my most
You play as Verne, a girl who doesn't know anything about the sincere interest in attending Hypertext 2016 remotely, if possible.
world outside the apartment where she and her parents live. You'll If there is a way this can be arranged, please let me know.
have to help them survive as many days as possible, gathering
information before the arrival of one of the uncanny delivery
6. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
persons who supply food to the tenants in the building. Apartment 613 can be played on any computer connected to the
Internet. It doesn't require anything to be downloaded or installed.
What this means is that you will have to decide whether you trust It doesn't have sound either, so you don't need speakers. If you
strangers or not. Apartment 613 is, above all, a game of intuition. prefer not to rely on Internet connection, I can send you an HTML
If you want to try surviving as many days as possible, you will file which can be opened directly in the browser and played
have to gather information about the delivery persons and other offline.
external menaces. At the beginning of the game, you only have a
week's supply of food and water. Whether you trust the strangers
that supposedly come to help you or shut yourself in the
apartment, afraid of the outside world, is up to you.
In order to make the game more interesting, you only have one
action available per day. This action can be used to do inventory
of your supplies, to read about the world you live in or it can be
saved for another day.
7. IMAGES
Figure 1. Story title (Illustration by Isabel Cano Pérez)
.
Figure 2. Deliverywoman (Illustration by Isabel Cano
Pérez)
.
Figure 2. Deliveryman (Illustration by Isabel Cano
Pérez)
.