|
|
<DOCTYPE html>
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
<title></title>
|
|
|
<meta charset="utf-8">
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../style.css">
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
<div id="content"><h1 id="papa-louies-ghosteria">Papa Louie’s Ghosteria</h1>
|
|
|
<h2
|
|
|
id="papa-louies-ghosteria-is-a-comic-like-fan-fiction-written-by-us">Papa
|
|
|
Louie’s Ghosteria is a comic-like fan fiction written by us</h2>
|
|
|
<p>Following a discussion about the texts <em>Notes on Deconstructing
|
|
|
The Popular</em> by Stuart Hall and ‘Game Modding: Cross-Over Mutation
|
|
|
and Unwelcome Gifts’ from <em>The Player’s Power to Change the Game</em>
|
|
|
by Anne-Marie Schleiner, we started dissecting the ideology behind the
|
|
|
games we have played as children. To do that, we utilised several
|
|
|
prompts to help us examine the ideology that two popular video games
|
|
|
enforce through their narrative and gameplay.</p>
|
|
|
<p>The list of questions we needed to answer while playing the game
|
|
|
includes:</p>
|
|
|
<p>What are the win conditions?</p>
|
|
|
<p>If the game is quest based, what types of quests are you asked to
|
|
|
complete?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What is the gameplay?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What is the narrative?</p>
|
|
|
<p>How much space is there for alternative ways of playing this
|
|
|
game?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What is missing?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What type of relationships are you allowed to form?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What is the role of non-player characters?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What are the requirements for surviving the game?</p>
|
|
|
<p>Which behaviours are rewarded?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What real-world values are reproduced in the game you are
|
|
|
playing?</p>
|
|
|
<p>How are you situated in the hierarchy of the game?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What change in status is promised?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What are you being trained for?</p>
|
|
|
<p>What fantasies are lived out or explored?</p>
|
|
|
<p>Our team — Irmak, Ada and Boyana — worked on the famous Papa Louie:
|
|
|
When Pizzas Attack. Soon after we started investigating the game, its
|
|
|
elements and modifications, we discovered that other players had already
|
|
|
written heaps of fan fiction about it. We were bewitched by the
|
|
|
multitude of stories fans have written and the really good memes they
|
|
|
have created about Papa and his businesses. Yes, plural. Papa’s
|
|
|
Freezeria. Sushiria. Donuteria. Burgeria. PanCakeria. CupCakeria. Taco
|
|
|
Mia. Taco Mia To Go. You name it.</p>
|
|
|
<p>After spending some time analysing the ideology behind the game, we
|
|
|
discovered a few elements that reinforce a capitalist narrative, such as
|
|
|
the need to fight to survive and collect coins to purchase weapons. In
|
|
|
response, we decided to create a new version of the game with a
|
|
|
storyline that focuses on healing and coping as a response to grief and
|
|
|
loss, rather than violence. To link the new storyline to SIXX’s topic we
|
|
|
added ritualistic elements as actions during the gameplay.</p>
|
|
|
<p>What was changed was the topic, purpose and outcome of the game. Papa
|
|
|
no longer fought to save his customers, but he dealt with his loss and
|
|
|
grief over what happened. Our version promoted rest and rituals for
|
|
|
healing instead of revenge-seeking, violence and toxic pizzeria
|
|
|
culture.</p>
|
|
|
<p>We started by putting some keywords and suggestions on a blackboard
|
|
|
about “How To Cope With Grief” and “How to Use Rituals and Ceremonies to
|
|
|
Overcome Grief” to define what Papa Louie lost and what rituals could
|
|
|
help him heal.</p>
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="papa-louie-story.jpg" alt="The Storyboard" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">The Storyboard</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<p>We then made a comic-like storyboard that visualised the new
|
|
|
narrative for Papa Louie’s Ghosteria. To create a few scenes depicting
|
|
|
some of the five levels we outlined, we used an app called Papa Louie
|
|
|
Pals. The images turned out pretty nice! Playing around with the app was
|
|
|
fun mainly because it allowed us to materialise our idea in just a
|
|
|
couple of hours.</p>
|
|
|
<p>The gameplay revolves around things Papa lost and the needs he needs
|
|
|
to fulfil. Different types of losses are organised into the five levels
|
|
|
of the game:</p>
|
|
|
<ol type="1">
|
|
|
<li>loss of safety (innocence, physical safety)</li>
|
|
|
<li>loss of community (clients, belonging)</li>
|
|
|
<li>loss of future (hope, dreams)</li>
|
|
|
<li>loss of identity (dignity, making things himself)</li>
|
|
|
<li>loss of labour (money, time, effort, pizza)</li>
|
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
<p>To cope with grief Papa Louie performed various rituals, each
|
|
|
unlocking a new stage in his grieving process and healing from that
|
|
|
loss. Rituals thus are the actions players needed to execute at each
|
|
|
level.</p>
|
|
|
<p>And so our story went like this: <em>The Onion Ring Mafia kidnapped
|
|
|
Papa Louie’s clients, and he lost his Pizzeria. However, along with this
|
|
|
external change, he lost his identity as a pizza owner/maker. He was
|
|
|
full of grief and sought ways to cope with grief and ease himself. He
|
|
|
tried different rituals throughout this process, built his new identity
|
|
|
and overcame his troubles.</em></p>
|
|
|
<div class="comic-image-main">
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="papa-louie-final.jpg" alt="The Comic" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">The Comic</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="small-images">
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="Papa-new-identity.jpg" alt="Papa’s new identity" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Papa’s new identity</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="Papa-on-therapy.jpg" alt="Papa in therapy" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Papa in therapy</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="Papa-tomato-pet.jpg" alt="Papa’s pet tomato" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Papa’s pet tomato</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="New-Papa-friends.jpg" alt="Papa’s new friends" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Papa’s new friends</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<h2 id="papa-louies-text-adventure-healing">Papa Louie’s Text-Adventure
|
|
|
Healing</h2>
|
|
|
<p>Following this comic production, a small text-adventure Pyhton game
|
|
|
was developed following the same storyline. The game was fundamentally
|
|
|
an explorative game in which the player could follow four levels of
|
|
|
healing. Playing as Papa Louie and helping him heal his shattered soul,
|
|
|
the player would go into each room and type “take” or “carry” to pick up
|
|
|
possibilities for healing. The possibilities for each room were:</p>
|
|
|
<pre><code>1. empty pizzeria: [closure, catharsis, anger]
|
|
|
2. living room: [connection, understanding, support]
|
|
|
3. study room: [expression, hope, new experiences]
|
|
|
4. bedroom: [self-discovery, self-care]
|
|
|
5. kitchen: [work, nourishment, purpose].</code></pre>
|
|
|
<p>Once one had picked up enough healing chances, the game would end and
|
|
|
thank you for healing Papa. The following picture shows the introductory
|
|
|
illustration.</p>
|
|
|
<div class="centered-image">
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
|
<img src="healinggame.png" alt="" />
|
|
|
<figcaption aria-hidden="true"></figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
</html> |