#theoretical part

[istorik45]

Theoretical part art

[fresherbrine]

Norse Mythology by Theoretical Part

[geekynerfherder]

'American Gods' by Theoretical Part.

[soloway-videogame]

Chapter 6: Circuit Workouts and Mythologies

While ideating on mechanics, I got interested in principles behind circuit workouts and music structures.

Specifically, we are talking solo and shadowboxing. They are similar in their core: for a set amount of time, you need to rapidly come up with combinations of different movements bound to certain rules. If we are talking music, solos are always in harmony with music. If we are talking about boxing, you are bound to actions of opponent, and certain combinations of movements work better together, providing much more damage in the end. That thought made me abstract from concept of pure rthythm, and consider how I can incorporate elements of fighting games. I was inspired by Player Mythologies talk led by Alexander Jaffe, lead designer of Riot Games. During the lecture, Alexander Jaffe talked about who players imagine themselves as when playing games. I wanted my players to feel challenged yet powerful, experience the sensation guitarists (or, what is worse, bassists) feel holding the guitar. At this point, I was a bit inspired with Scott Pilgrim Vs The World game. It was a fighting game, but it created a sensation of "keysmashing makes some sense", as nearly for every movement combination during combat resulted in some cool special effect, or additional damage, or some bonus. But it meant, I needed a combination system to play with.

[soloway-videogame]

Chapter 5: References and Searches

At this point, I have started digging into all the numerous iterations on rhythm games I could find. First of all, I was looking into Crypt of a Necrodancer. This rhythm rogue-like required fast yet strategic way of thinking. I loved idea of the puzzle that would, at the same time, preserve core idea of fast reactive movement of rhythm games.

In addition to this, I have looked into Parappa the Rapper. I was interesped in "phases" in a gameplay, as well as how the artists have framed the plotline at the first place. Also, I have glanced into two games not bound to buttons as much. First of all, there was osu! Peculiar part behind osu! was use of mouse position as an input for the rhythm. In a similar way, Trombone Champ used position of one of the joystick and button to abstract an experience of playing trombone.

[soloway-videogame]

Chapter 2: Audience

soloway is intended to engage human beings familiar with history and curios about digging deeper. My target audience is queer, loud, and believes that many world issues are intertwined together. My target audience likes indie games like OFF or Papers, Please; and loves good music. I am thinking a bit about fans of Cranberries (the band), especially ones who listen not only for melody. My audience is NOT tankies or anyone who thinks that peak leftist ideas are handful of XX century chauvinist dudes from Europe. It will potentially be exciting to adapt the game for custom controller community, such as one for Clone Hero, to make it a multiple level gameplay average user would be capable of finishing in 2-3 hours, learning about Ukrainian music through times and people. It would be nice if the game consisted of ~10-15 levels 7-10 minutes each, where each level is dedicated to one specific musician or band. This way, my target audience would have a chance to savour the game gradually, after work or school, not bound to space and time to do it. My target audience is terrible at schedules. Aside from this, it would be great to expand the work into cabinet that would travel on conferences, exhibitions, and festivals. I do see smaller cycle /~10 minutes gameplay/ being placed in space like Wonderville, letting people get engaged in game on big loud and queer events. Like my audience.

[soloway-videogame]

Chapter 1: impetus

Hello, I am Ukrainian. Born Ukrianian in 2000 meant seeing numerous pieces of Russian media where Ukrainians are depicted ignorant, greedy entities of a poor taste and low culture. Being Ukrainian immigrant to US meant interacting with people who thought Ukraine is Russia, as well as ones who knew of Ukraine only because of Chornobyl, and ones who didn't know this country ever existed. Being Ukrainian means knowing your friends and loved ones are being bombed on a daily basis. Being Ukrainian means constantly seeing symbols of genocide of your people being picked up by western leftists, polished to shine, and displayed happily everywhere around as like they are "progressive". There is nothing progressive in hammer and sickle as like there is nothing progressive in imperialism.

It is hard to formulate the biggest reason behind my research coming to existence. Maybe, it is the fear of loss of my culture: the consistent genocide, deportations, and looting of museums are not best influence on history preservation. Maybe, I wanted to talk about misconceptions behind communism youth on West seems to ignore: it is not "good because not capitalism". It is terrible because it is an empire. Most importantly, I wanted to approach an unfamiliar layer of my culture, explore it, savour it, and gift it in some form to new audience. Because Ukrainian culture is worth cherishing. Vocal and Instrumental ensembles were on a raise in 1960s-1970s. By default, they were in opposition to USSR government. Not only Ukrainian funk and big beat bands were inspired by western counter-culture bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but also they would borrow from native Ukrainian music tradition, what was deemed unacceptable by Soviet government. These two influences created playful genre that would combine jazz, rock, and folk motives in unique amalgamation of sound, delivered on DIY musical instruments. (source) Numerous bands from that era did not survive: some would breakup, some musicians would be secretly executed due to their pro-Ukrainian activity (source). But even now, their unique sound inspires composers in and outside of Ukraine, including projects like Gogol Bordello, Kolo, and Balaclava Blues. I will be talking about Ukrainian culture, and Ukrainian protest because I believe that I need to. Because it is who I am.

[soloway-videogame]

Chapter 0: what is soloway?

Soloway is a deconstructed rhythm game that talks about joys and struggles of Ukrainian funk musicians in a playful manner. The project is based on a research on the origins, features, and politics behind Ukrainian Funk musician communities. The author deems the discussion of this cultural phenomenon crucial in the days of global unrest caused by Russia's imperialist tendencies. The author has chosen video games as a medium for this project due to deep belief into the power to engage and captivate the video games posses. The author believes that funk is a music of joy and playfulness, and believes that the media that talks about funk should be playful as well, one way or another. The questions the project is exploring are: 1. What are distinct traits of Ukrainian funk music? How, and why this cultural phenomenon came to live this specific way? 2. What was the fate of Ukrainian funk musicians in Soviet Union era, and afterwards? 3. How to talk about Ukrianian funk with people outside of Ukraine? How to talk about Ukrainian culture outside of Ukraine? Stay tuned for further conversation!