Primary Faculty Advisor
Sandra M. Leonard
Presentation Types
Individual Presentation
Description
For my Choose Your Own Adventure project, I created a cyberpunk, action-oriented story called 2099: Project Icarus. In this story you play as an unnamed, ungendered character who I imagined players giving any identity to them that they wished. The protagonist is a quick-thinking problem solver, able to adapt to any situation they are facing. The story, is that you were fired from your job at a company called Xerxes Technologies, after digging into an incident you believe they were trying to cover up. The main objective of the story is to bring down Xerxes, with hard evidence of their crimes. Players work closely throughout the other story with a character named Zoe. I envisioned Zoe as the players best friend and partner in bringing down this corporate overlord.
The story, as suggested in the title, takes place in the year 2099 in a cyberpunk-tyle future. The main setting takes place in the fictional mega-city of Concordia. Throughout the story, you can wind up at several different areas including apartments, a nightclub, and the Xerxes Tower. The story incorporates many classic themes like good vs evil and justice, but can change depending on player choice. I set out wanting to create a story with multiple endings, and I managed to incorporate three in total. There was, however, two other endings that I wanted to incorporate, but time did not permit me. I wanted to create one ending in which players end the game on the run from law enforcement. The other ending, I did not get around to creating could have been an emotional, final showdown with Zoe after betraying her. In the end I ended up with a good/true ending, a bad ending, and one more neutral.
Being a cyberpunk story, I was able to incorporate many aspects of the genre. The mega-city of Concordia itself, there is usage and emphasis on cybernetic implants, and also a lot of hacking and programming. I wanted to incorporate elements that would make the player think, and I think I accomplished that with the “hacking” sections. Players will have to read the available choices and choose the one that matches, or that continues a particular pattern. I incorporated choices so that the player could take a more action-oriented route, or a more stealthy-route.
I believe that overall, I was able to accomplish my main goals. I will admit, however, I do feel I got a bit carried away with this project. I created a lengthy, sprawling story and I even wanted to add more to it, but just couldn’t because of time. Like I mentioned, there were an additional two other endings I wanted to incorporate. Also, there were several sections where I had to cut out some choices to more streamline the story and get it moving towards its conclusion. For example, when players make it to Xerxes Tower, I wanted to have a more action-oriented route where you go in the main entrance. Instead, I settled on the stealthier route where players enter through the parking garage.
Recommended Citation
Devitz, Nick, "Twine 5: 2099: Project Icarus" (2022). KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference. 5.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/compconf/2022/presentations/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Twine 5: 2099: Project Icarus
For my Choose Your Own Adventure project, I created a cyberpunk, action-oriented story called 2099: Project Icarus. In this story you play as an unnamed, ungendered character who I imagined players giving any identity to them that they wished. The protagonist is a quick-thinking problem solver, able to adapt to any situation they are facing. The story, is that you were fired from your job at a company called Xerxes Technologies, after digging into an incident you believe they were trying to cover up. The main objective of the story is to bring down Xerxes, with hard evidence of their crimes. Players work closely throughout the other story with a character named Zoe. I envisioned Zoe as the players best friend and partner in bringing down this corporate overlord.
The story, as suggested in the title, takes place in the year 2099 in a cyberpunk-tyle future. The main setting takes place in the fictional mega-city of Concordia. Throughout the story, you can wind up at several different areas including apartments, a nightclub, and the Xerxes Tower. The story incorporates many classic themes like good vs evil and justice, but can change depending on player choice. I set out wanting to create a story with multiple endings, and I managed to incorporate three in total. There was, however, two other endings that I wanted to incorporate, but time did not permit me. I wanted to create one ending in which players end the game on the run from law enforcement. The other ending, I did not get around to creating could have been an emotional, final showdown with Zoe after betraying her. In the end I ended up with a good/true ending, a bad ending, and one more neutral.
Being a cyberpunk story, I was able to incorporate many aspects of the genre. The mega-city of Concordia itself, there is usage and emphasis on cybernetic implants, and also a lot of hacking and programming. I wanted to incorporate elements that would make the player think, and I think I accomplished that with the “hacking” sections. Players will have to read the available choices and choose the one that matches, or that continues a particular pattern. I incorporated choices so that the player could take a more action-oriented route, or a more stealthy-route.
I believe that overall, I was able to accomplish my main goals. I will admit, however, I do feel I got a bit carried away with this project. I created a lengthy, sprawling story and I even wanted to add more to it, but just couldn’t because of time. Like I mentioned, there were an additional two other endings I wanted to incorporate. Also, there were several sections where I had to cut out some choices to more streamline the story and get it moving towards its conclusion. For example, when players make it to Xerxes Tower, I wanted to have a more action-oriented route where you go in the main entrance. Instead, I settled on the stealthier route where players enter through the parking garage.
