Recently I rediscovered the charm of the radio. This was brought upon solely by the pandemic, as I sought to fulfill the void of social interaction through the strange intimacy of hearing live voices through a small box. I really began to appreciate not only the utility of it, but also its ability to transport the listener. Broadcasted anecdotes and recordings of other’s experiences during the pandemic were both haunting, yet comforting. It brought you to the backyards and streets of others, and brought much needed company from the solidarity of our isolation. This inspired me to create a character named Jor, a Star-Sailor who travels the universe riding the winds of radio waves with a yellow radio boombox as their vessel. After a close encounter with the Eternal Worm, Jor will find themselves in the outskirts of the wooly fabric of existence, crash landing on a Ranch resting in an isolated corner of space. They must work with the Ranch owner, Joey, with finding parts needed on the old Ranch in order to repair Jor’s vessel. The player will be able to walk around the Ranch, finding objects Joey says is needed to repair the yellow radio boombox. The more Jor helps Joey, the closer their boombox sailboat will be repaired.
This will be a third person surrealist adventure game that is highly stylized with simple shapes, relying on color, shaders, and other effects to up their visual fidelity. The Ranch is a property floating in the middle of space, composed of a house, workshop, and a dirt lawn pitifully lacking vegetation. It is held up by a grid composed of interlaced strings of yarn, as concepts such as time, space, and dimensions are represented as fabrics in this world. The atmosphere is intended to feel unnerving, as it is meant to be a container of liminal space. There is no sense of day, night, or seasons. The only thing breaking the monotony of the empty droning sound of the void is the occasional buzz picked up by your broken ship’s mast (a radio antenna). This game is meant to be a more meditative one, where the player can choose to complete their tasks whenever they please, allowing them to sit and gaze at the stars twinkling overhead or stare at the wooly grid undulating beneath the Ranch.
There will only be two characters on the Ranch. One is the player character, Jor, a spiffily dressed young adult adorning a dad cap and a slightly oversized windbreaker. The other character will be Joey, the Ranch owner. Joey does not bear a humanoid form and instead is a sentient skull-shaped plasma ball. The key objects in the game will be Jor’s yellow radio boombox (akin to a windsurfing board), which will be frequently visited as Jor fetches Joey needed items, and the items needed to repair the ship found all throughout the Ranch’s property (including places like the yard, inside the house, and the workshop).
Email: davalev@wpi.edu
Concept Sketch
A view of the Ranch from the outside, with the grid, yellow boombox, and joey nearby.
Mood Board
I’m surprised and pleased because another student is doing a game inspired by abstract art! yes! I’m happy, really like your concept, especially the radio surfboard. For the sentient skull fire ball character, any idea how you are going to approach the design with abstract shapes, is this more of a particle effect character?
I’m thinking of using triangles to get the angular shape of the skull. However, particle effects will definitely be used on them!
I am pleased by you using this negative time of Covid to create a level. My question, how did you come up with that super rich story for your game?
Throughout Summer and Autumn, I quarantined with a friend who would always have their radio boom box on while we were on their porch. With each night sitting there I would construct this world in my head bit by bit.
Your description of the character who “travels the universe riding the winds of radio waves with a yellow radio boombox as their vessel” really puts a cool image in my head! It definitely makes me want to see your game. My question is how do you plan to make the grid around the ranch look?
I plan on creating either a vertex shader or distortion shader that is colorful to make the wavy look.
Your game sounds so retro while also so new and bold! I love what you’re doing with your newly found love for radio and can’t wait to see what becomes of it. Do you plan on having the player be able to surf away at the end of repairing their board, like into the wibbly fabricy space?
If there is time, I might consider making a short animation/cinematic of the player doing so.
I hope when I play the game I am blown away from your audio. There is a special feeling whenever you have a chance to listen to an OST of a game and I hope to do that here. Radio can have broadcasts and stories, but do you plan to incorporate any kinds of music?
For the scope of the class, audio is currently on the backburner, but I might consider taking recordings I have of times on the porch and splicing little bits of them into the game.
I immediately thought of Courage the Cowardly Dog when I got to the last paragraph about Joey’s form! What kinds of radio stations do you plan on having? I can see it being similar to Rick and Morty’s Interdimensional Cable.
I currently haven’t considered adding radio stations, but if there was radio interactivity, I would have random clips of recordings I have of friends play briefly.