An ARG Exploration

PDF for my ARG Blog

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 05:32:36 -0400

ARG Teaser

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:43:44 -0400

ARG Teaser

Teaser

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:36:53 -0400

I’m sourcing some creative commons audio from ccmixter.org for my teaster. I’ve managed to find a music clip which will be pretty effective in setting the mood for my teaser. I’m going to see if it has any clips of a clock ticking that I could use.

I’ve also found a website that converts text to speech, so I’m also using that to create some audio. In final cut pro I’ve been able to change this to sound like it’s a conversation happening on a telephone which gives the effect that I’m after. Unfortunately there aren’t any with Australian accents, so I’m using British instead. It was easier that trying to find any males who would be willing to read out my script into a microphone.

Player characters

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:29:33 -0400

I was just going back through my notes from the lectures, about the players being active participants in the narrative, and I realised I hadn’t really given the players a ‘character’ as such. So I went back over my plot and tried to think of a reason why these particular players have been contacted and why they should be involved in the game. Then I came up with the idea that the players are selected because the character of John Martin knows them in the future - they are part of the rebellion together and he contacts them because he knows they feel passionately about music and will help him. So I just need to make some tweaks to a few things and that should fit in nicely!

Photo

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:10:10 -0400

This is one of the sites I used as inspiration for my Research company...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:26:04 -0400

This is one of the sites I used as inspiration for my Research company website

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/

It’s very official looking, and the colour scheme is good - its very clean.

Here is my mock up so far - I’ve used the clouds in the background because I want players to think this company is working for good… the clouds represent optimism I think.

Inspiration for my legislation posters that will be placed on noticeboards in the CI faculty...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:51:59 -0400

Inspiration for my legislation posters that will be placed on noticeboards in the CI faculty building. I want them to have a genuine government feel so I’m using examples that I could find from government websites. I’m also looking at examples from charities.

Blog mock up

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:49:00 -0400

This is what I’ve done so far on my blog mock up. This is the blog of John Martin. I wanted the blog to create a feeling of what life might be like in the future time. There are some images of protesting, buildings demolished, police, etc. I used creative commons images from flickr and played around with them in photoshop to get the right look and feel. I’ve made a countdown timer which is an important part of the game.

Pullman Research

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:19:40 -0400

This is my logo for the Pullman Research group. I wanted this group to look legitimate and trustworthy when players first land on their website. This is why I’ve used the colour dark blue, which is associated with reliability. I also worked in the DNA strand into the letter ‘P’ which gives it medical legitimacy.

"Usurpents"

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:15:00 -0400

I came up with the name of the religious extremist group by looking up words that mean to try and take over something. Usurp was one of the words I found. The meanings of this word fit perfectly into what this group is trying to achieve. I also liked that I could use a play on words, and call them the Usurpents, because the serpent is often associated with a wily, malicious person, or even the devil. I want there to be no mistake in player’s minds that this group is an evil group. This also helped me to design a logo for the group which will appear in the game. The colours of this logo are black and red obviously because this is associated with discord in Western culture. This is all helping to paint the picture of this group.

u·surp

verb (used with object)

1. to seize and hold (a position, office, power, etc.) by force or without legal right

2. to use without authority or right; employ wrongfully

Narrative idea

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:37:00 -0400

When I first started thinking about the theme ‘A Better World’ I started brainstorming about what would make my world better on a personal level. One particular thing that sprang to mind was music. Music is such a huge part of my life and enriches so many of my experiences, and I thought, if there were more music in the world perhaps it would be a better place. In my brainstorming I linked music to lots of fun things like friends, parties, bands, gigs, dancing, etc… Then when I was researching about the benefits of music I came across a site that talked about the NEGATIVE effects of music on the brain, and how un-harmonious rhythms and loud music could cause clouded judgment, stress, and even went as far as to say it promoted drugs, sex, crime and rebellion. (Have a read http://www.angelfire.com/me4/mindandmusic/). I then got to thinking about whether this could be true, and what would happen if music was banned. Would there be less drugs, crime and rebellion?

This led me to the narrative I decided on. In the year 2020, the growing racial tension in Australia has led to constant outbreaks of civil fighting and extremist groups causing havoc. Having tried and failed with many other strategies, the Australian Government decides to ban music in an attempt to create more community harmony, or a ‘Better World’. This decision is based on studies conducted by leading Australian research institute, Pullman Research, into the negative effects of music on the brain. The studies found that music was in fact very dangerous and led to emotional instability, disorganised behaviour and rebellion.

After years of no music, the civil fighting did ease slightly, which was enough for the government to decide the law was working. The government were now in discussions about whether to take the law a step further, and ban art, and literature. However an underground rebellion had formed, of those who believed in freedom of speech and self expression, and of those who believed that having no form of creative outlet was actually detrimental to their mental state. John Martin heads this rebellion, and through his investigations he discovers that Pullman Research is secretly headed by a religious extremist group called the Userpians, who deliberately falsified the results of it’s studies in an attempt to have music banned. This confirms all of John’s beliefs - that music does not negatively affect the brain. The Userpians have discovered that John knows their secret, and are trying to track him down to kill him before he has a chance to tell anyone. This doesn’t give John much time.

He decides that the best course of action is to go back in time (of course they have time machines by 2020), and change the course of the future, so that no person should have to suffer through a life without music, or any other form of creative expression. He travels back to August 2011, a month before the first study was ever released by Pullman Research into the negative effects of music on the brain. But he can’t change things on his own. He needs the help of the QUT Music students.

Sean Stewart - Lead Writer for 'The Beast'

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:24:25 -0400

Some interesting comments on immersion and letting the players put the pieces of the narrative together by leaving gaps on purpose.

http://www.seanstewart.org/interactive/args/

Dark Knight ARG

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 07:40:51 -0400

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iti8Ivy—s

ARG's used to promote games and album releases!

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:53:36 -0400

ARG's used to promote games and album releases!