Candle

My mum, Linda, had a large candle by her fireplace for years. She would light it on December 26th each year to mark the day that my dad died. After Linda died, I gave the candle to her longtime friend, Sally (it would have been too difficult to transport the candle back to California where I live) and now she lights it each year on the day that Linda died. Sally always sends me a photo of the lit candle. It’s a nice way to feel connected to each other and to my mum.

Of course, the game version of Linda’s living room includes the candle. In this world, it still sits on the hearth. To mark the third anniversary of Linda’s death, I decided to spend the day making it possible to actually light the virtual candle. Now it can burn in both places.

SallyCandle.jpg

Sally’s photo of the lit candle on December 7th, 2020

Lighting and shadows (again)

For what is maybe the third time, I‘m rebuilding the lighting (technically, the “shader”) from the ground up to give it a more painterly style. The result is a richer experience with more subtle variations. I added dynamic hatching for shadows, so darker areas have a hand-drawn feeling rather than just a color variation. Everything responds to lighting changes in realtime, meaning I’ll be able to set scenes at noon, during an evening sunset, or even with room lights at night.

Four months later…

It’s been four months since “Four Months Earlier” was released and it’s reached almost 18,000 people in that time! To celebrate, I’ve collected some player reviews here.

It’s always extremely moving to hear about people’s experiences while playing the prologue and leaving reviews really does help other people find it. So, if you haven’t already, please consider rating and reviewing — thank you!

[App Store] [Steam] [itch.io]

Live event

I’m doing an event for the Los Angeles Public Library system on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 1pm PST.

Because of the pandemic, it will be via Zoom and open to all, regardless of location. I will play through “Four Months Earlier” then show some behind-the-scenes details of how it was made in Unity and Blender. Questions are welcome throughout!

More details at their page here.

Russell Quinn, a Los Angeles-based technology producer, is working on Linda & Joan, a narrative video game based on the worst year of his life, when his mother and grandmother, the two remaining members of his immediate family, died within a month of each other. In this Zoom-based session, he will do a live playthrough of “Four Months Earlier,” part one of the story, a recreation of a walk he did with his mother in Griffith Park. He will then share his screen to show behind-the-scenes details of how a short game like this is developed. Participants are encouraged to ask questions. No prior knowledge is needed.

TED Pindrop*

I am featured in the Virtual Worlds episode of Pindrop* — a TED original podcast — talking about Linda & Joan and what it means to recreate real places and people in a virtual space.

You can listen on [Apple Podcasts], [Spotify], [Google Podcasts], [Stitcher], [Overcast] or any podcast app by searching for “Far Flung.”

* Note: “Pindrop” was renamed to “Far Flung” after this episode was released.

My segment starts at the 28-minute mark. You should, of course(!), listen to the whole thing, but if you do just want to jump in and stream in the browser, you can do so here.

Thanks to Kim Nederveen Pieterse, Saleem Reshamwala, Michelle Quint, and Namwali Serpell.

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