FREEDOM RIDERS RIDE AGAIN

Take a ride down South where the Devil comes out.

[freedomridergame]

[freedomridergame]

[freedomridergame]

[freedomridergame]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUYAVIRgdM8)

[freedomridergame]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYA-TfDUjek)

[freedomridergame]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvm-my1VuUg)

Freedom Riders will be a choosie!

[fangoriousfae]

“If you read many of the Steam reviews [for Rust, a zombie-survival game where each player’s character has a randomly-generated race that cannot be changed], you’ll see complaints from people saying that they just can’t get immersed in the game because they don’t have a character that looks like them. That’s the best argument for more diversity in games that I’ve ever heard! Time and again, I’ve seen people say that they don’t feel like games need to be more diverse, that they hate how diversity’s ‘being pushed into the games industry.’ But if you can’t get immersed in a character who doesn’t look like you in a first-person game, okay, but just imagine what that means for all the players who are minorities!”

Seriously, anyone who likes video games, likes thinking about game design, and cares about social justice should watch Extra Credits. They’re really intelligent with the way they analyze the mechanics, aesthetics, story themes, and other stuff that go into the design of video games. They’ve been getting shit from privileged gamers in the comments section, so it might be nice if you could give them some views, maybe even some likes and subscribes.

[freedomridergame]

I hope that Freedom Riders can foster the same empathy in gamers that Rust has managed to bring to its players.

[flyingpurplepizzaeater]

Sometimes people use “respect” to mean “treating someone like a person” and sometimes they use “respect” to mean “treating someone like an authority”

and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say “if you won’t respect me I won’t respect you” and they mean “if you won’t treat me like an authority I won’t treat you like a person”

and they think they’re being fair but they aren’t, and it’s not okay.

[do-as-youre-told-deactivated201]

This is so well put I am stunned

[freedomridergame]

FREEDOM RIDERS - Gameplay possibilites

So how is the game actually going to play?

First-Person, that’s important. Constrained controls, and consequences for how you behave.

For instance, you can only turn your head so much before you have to shift positions, and fidgeting around may attract attention.

Jumping could be something neat to work with, since it'd likely be inappropriate at any time. If the Freedom Riders had been jumping on all the furniture in the bus stations, or constantly hopping in place, they wouldn't have been allowed on the bus in DC!

Maybe acting out, in a way that doesn't agree with the rider’s code of non-violence, or is disruptive, could result in a game over... but only if you do enough to really cause a disturbance.

One thing I really want to include is Hold <key> to Sing The Freedom Riders sang songs all throughout their protests, on the busses, and in the jail cells. I want the player to feel that connection with the npc’s around them, they can always call out to the other riders who are going through the same trauma as you. 

[freedomridergame]

This is actually one of the videos that really made me want to make games that were different. I want to make experiences. If it were like you were there, in that car, in that crowd, how would would you feel? What if you could be at that speech, or be in that protest? You could walk with Ghandi, you could fly with Yuri Gagarin.

[freedomridergame]

Games need to deal with race in a productive way. Freedom Riders could be a start of that discussion. This is a horror game about the terrible things real Americans did because of ideas like the ones propagated by the stereotypes still in games.

[freedomridergame]

Chris Milk was one of the many people who inspired me to create this game, because I believe he’s right. Technology gives us unprecedented tools for building empathy.

I want us to be able to look into the past as well, at the experiences that have shaped who we are as a society. Freedom Riders could be a nudge into that direction.

Imagine the bags sitting above you, rocking on the rack as you ride into Rock Hill. There’s no one around, you can only hear the sound of the road beneath you. The other riders are waiting, just like you, in anticipation. Outside the windows you see only the green trees and the stretch of highway before you...

[freedomridergame]

Freedom Riders site launch!

This is the official Freedom Riders game webpage!

Freedom Riders is a game based on the protests of 1961 in the Southern United States. You will play as several riders, and witness many significant events relating to the rides. You will be a non-violent protester who must endure the violent resistance of the South to desegregate their interstate bus stations.

I’m making this game because I feel like the world is ready for it, and someone needs to just put it out there. I think games like this could be a start on the path to something great, games with real significance. If games could provide a new way our society looks at it’s problems, then maybe we can solve them.

But what do I know? I’m a full-time student, and I’m currently working in Unity, alone. (But am open to creating a team of the right people!)