Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates, Video Games | Tagged: Andrew Reid, Brian Baglow, Brian Diamond, entertainment, film, rpg, Scottish Games Network, Storyworld Jam, tv, University of Abertay, video games

Developing the Cure – A Crossmedia Storyworld Jam In Dundee

By Phil Harris

For those who haven't experienced a "Jam" they take place over 48 hours and people gather together to try and create something cool. Game Jam's are one of the most popular varieties but last weekend, in Dundee, I attended a Storyworld Jam, where a number of creatives tried to develop a consistent story world with the theme, Cure.

It takes some type of idiot to write an article and work as the lead writer on a team making an interactive comic in the jam but, ladies and gentlemen, I am that fool.

Story worlds are something I thrive on. From when I first started creating worlds for tabletop roleplaying games at the age of eight until I got my first work developing seven thousand years of background history for a game which has, unfortunately, fallen into development hell and on to my current job. They are something I always feel proud being involved with and there was no way I was going to turn down this opportunity.

Andrew Reid, in conjunction with a host of helpful people in and around the University of Abertay, put together the first event and I asked him how this differed from the usual game jam.

Game jams are very specific towards one creative discipline and we wanted to embrace different disciplines within the one space.We felt that creatives were at their best when they were creating with other people in different disciplines, rather than within their own expertise, which offer different perspectives on development.

I'm not sure there was anything like this event before, especially recently, and I feel its good for creatives to come together, especially since that's the way the industry is going and events like this help people making the transition within the industry.

Andrew's right too, as the lines between interactive media blur the experiences people demand get greater. Whilst it is appreciated that not every game needs this cross media activity enough others do and people who understand each field and how they operate together are always going to be valuable. Notwithstanding this fact both film and TV and becoming more and more interested in the opportunities the games industry offers and events like this become invaluable in helping them understand what is required of them.

Jams have a theme and the best ones are the single words or images, the ones that make you really think out of the box. "Cure", certainly was good, from the comic books, "Crime is a disease…" to cured meat, each and every team was looking at a clever take on the use of the word and my own team, a group of talented first year students who collectively call themselves Ramensoft and I debated concepts for over two hours before settling on a dark story about a child's journey to be accepted to receive a cure. Leaving me to concentrate on the world history, plot and design (as well as recording fighting cats – don't ask) whilst the rest of the team worked on the development that design and breathing life on those embers, through art and code, with excellent music and sounds from Freelance Audio Designer Brian Diamond (who assisted a number of the teams).

The beauty of the subject matter was the variety of different topics being developed around the room. Millenium Bug[z] had their moustachioed hero of the 90's fighting as the cure to the dreaded Millenium Bug before the year 2K, a game where your Renaissance doctor has entered a town destroyed by plague and you reanimate the dead to find out how the disease wiped out a city. There was Nostrum, where you play a mage who cures villagers of disease and have to follow the spell casting procedures accurately to get the best and an endless runner where you play a new age healer, running through a hospital trying to heal people with stones and being chased by a guard. Healing speeds you up and doctors slow you own but if you're caught, it's game over.

Another thing jams provide is a lot of free thinking, where ideas and concepts which might be shirked for not being mainstream enough can find their voice and character. To achieve this you often have to cut corners and make compromises, my story required far too many backgrounds for our art team to handle reasonably and I changed many of the story locations to ease this fact, but often you find you have achieved something very special and learned a significant amount about yourselves and how you fit into a team. In fact, given the frighteningly short development cycle anyone taking part in a jam should be proud of their achievements and dedication; even if the final product doesn't quite work or match the initial concept.

The Storyworld Jam had a great turnout for its first outing and I asked Andrew how he'd like to see it develop:

Even though there are a lot of games people here they have embraced the idea of trying something new, like an interactive medium or digital interactive piece that is not necessarily a game and I think that's already a positive step. Why not come and create something different and stand out a bit. We need to open up to other people and build up our network.

We spoke to Brian Baglow (Scottish Games Network) about contacts with the film and TV industry and my brother who is studying film is also interested in making a film in 48 hours.

I think we've got the ball rolling to attract other disciplines in and its just the case of making sure they know about the event.

We wish them well, because any event of this kind is not only fun to be involved in but also enjoyable to run and with the growing links between all disciplines, as noted, the future is looking bright.

There were numerous people Andrew wanted to thank, who helped him develop and run the jam and they are as follows:

Max Wrighton, Gian Dbeis, Lee Gillespie, Louise Macaulay (Storyworld Jam team)

Jörg Ihle (introduction to Storyworld concept/working with EUCROMA students)
Caitlin Goodale (branding for Storyworld Jam)

Dayna Galloway, Robin Sloan, Iain Donald, Ryan Locke, Alice Rendell (support and advice on running jams)

Grant Reid (photography for the opening of the event)

Raz Ullah, Robyn Mayer, Richard Bruce, Dan McNamara, Danny Proctor, Abertay Union staff and University of Abertay Dundee's Students Association (logistics and operational support)

And finally, all participants of the Storyworld Jam (for making it a very successful first-time event!)

Phil Harris (@PhilipGHarris) is a games developer who is currently working with One Thumb Mobile on their MMORPG Celtic Heroes. He also writes for Pixels for Breakfast.

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