Seattle Worldcon Recap, Pt 2

Let’s finish up my recap of WorldCon, hosted by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Part I was on the poetry panels, readings, and other events I attended. Here I’ll be talking about the video game and horror panels I particularly enjoyed.

Outside of WorldCon, I visited the Museum of Pop Culture, which gathers together memorabilia from films, television, music, books, and video games — with exhibits for specific genres (horror, science fiction, and fantasy), retrospectives on individual artists (like Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain), and special exhibits (like their phenomenal exploration of Asian comics and how modern comics from Japan, China, India, Indonesia, and other countries in the region built on their culture and artistic history to explore their world and politics from their own unique perspectives). If you’re in Seattle and are a huge nerd like me, then I highly recommend visiting the museum.

Games & Game Design

In Getting into Game Writing: Writing for Interactive Media, Justin Bortnick, James Mendez Hodes, Alexis Kaegi, Sandra Rosner, and Brigitte Winter discussed games as an interactive medium, with each game requiring different amounts of authorship to create the narrative with the player. For example, in Pac-Man, there’s very little to no overt narrative outside of the characters and levels on the screen, so the player is essentially creating the story through the act of playing the game. Meanwhile, something like Telltale’s The Walking Dead is a much more scripted experience, with the storyline evolving through player choice. On the other hand, tabletop roll playing games (TTRPGs) present a world and gameplay structures that allow the players to shape their own massive stories.

According to the panelists, getting into game writing often involves a combination of networking and luck. Networking could look like playing and leading tabletop games, especially if you’re looking to get into TTRPGs. Other forms of networking include looking for local game dev groups, joining game jams, and playing, analyzing, and sharing your thoughts on games.

It’s also important to just make things — small, weird games using tools like Twine, Ink, Bitsy, and so on — showing that you understand game design and can finish and publish projects. This also provides proof that you can do the job when an opportunity comes your way.

In The Indie Video Game Scene panel, Vivian Abraham, Justin Bortnick, Martin Klima, Andrew Plotkin, and Sam Stark first attempted to define what indie games are as a way to set the scene. The definition was, by nature, rather nebulous, and it continues to evolve over time. Past eras of the indie scene involved computer games versus the mainstream arcade games — then flash games, then shareware, then other formats. But every era has creators making cool, weird stuff.

Whether its a team of less than 50 people or just a couple of devs making something outside of the main stream, the panelists notes that indie games generally have more creative freedom than larger, AAA games (which have more pressure from investors to be profitable). It’s a space that allows for experimentation and play in terms of genre, style, gameplay, and narrative. It also gives space for creators from marginalized communities to explore their own experiences — clearing a path for AAA companies to open up to new kinds of stories, characters, and gameplay elements.

It was also agreed among the panelists that a key aspect of the indie scene is driven by its communities. People gather around the things they love, whether it’s a game genre (platformer, roguelike, survival horror, etc.) or the tools used to make games (Unity, Godot, Bitsy, etc.). The indie dev community is open and supportive of new folks trying to make games and very tight-knit. And there are communities of players, streamers, and modders who further support these kinds of indie projects.

When asked how to get into the indie games scene, Klima dryly stated, “Don’t do it. It will ruin your life.” This led to a humorous back and forth between Klima and Plotkin — one arguing against joining the community of developers, and the other saying to just start making small games. “Make free games,” said Plotkin. “Make bad games.”

It was also recommended that those interested should attend indie game festivals, where one can discover new games, play demos, and connect with other indie game lovers and developers. Find and take part in the communities available — both in person and online.

In the Gamifying Your IP panel, Alexis Kaegi, Londa Lee, T. Alexander Stangroom, Monica Valentinelli, and Gregory A. Wilson presented ideas for how to approach turning your intellectual property (IP), such as a book series, into a tabletop or video game.

The first question when approaching such a challenge is, Who is this for? Is it for fans and readers who have been asking for a game? Is it a way to connect with gamers?

Then ask, Does the world or story even lend itself to being a game? Not every IP is well suited for games, since the writing required represents fundamentally different skillsets. Novelists and screenwriters develop a focused narrative, closing off doors to other possibilities to guide the characters through a singular, specific story. However, in games, the writer needs to make space for a more open-ended narrative by giving some of the control of the narrative to the player. In essence, the author of the game is in collaboration with the player in exploring the narrative.

Games are shaped around mechanics and systems, a series of rules and guidelines that inform the player how to interact and engage. When considering how to adapt your IP into a game, consider the world (economy, combat, politics, etc.) and how it could be translated into the kinds of systems and rules required for a game. Lee explained that in adapting her Green Bone Saga books into a TTRPG, they didn’t just focus on the urban fighting and combat, but on other elements of the world, such a deep familial connections and politics — and how those elements could also lead to interesting areas of conflict.

Another consideration is the goal or objective of the game. Is it player versus player? Or player versus world? Does it require collaboration between multiple players?

Also think about the theme, atmosphere, or vibe of the IP. How can that be translated through all of the game’s elements — world design, art, gameplay, and other aspects?

The panelists noted that one of the main ways to fail is to attempt to tell the exact same story from the book in the game. It’s better to draw from the world and explore other stories and new characters that may only peripherally interact with the main narrative, since this allows for player freedom (or at least the illusion of freedom), enabling them to engage how they want.

It was also noted that if the idea letting go of control and allowing the player to collaboratively shape the world gives you anxiety, then maybe don’t do it. It will make it hell for the game designers and other collaborators, if the author doesn’t want to be open to the process or doesn’t even want to be there.

Horror, the Weird, & Beyond

The Where Are All the Boogiewomen? panel, led by Daytona Danielson, Elizabeth Guizzetti, Sadie Hartmann, C.S. Humble, Michelle Ruiz Keil, and Tamara Kaye Sellman was inspired by M. Leigh's essay, "Where Are All the Boogeyladies?"

The panelists began by first examining what makes a boogieman, with Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise being the quintessential example. Michael Meyers is unstoppable, cruel, and actually evil (as opposed to just being an act of nature, like the shark in Jaws). He is an avatar of unreasonable violence, representing the unspoken desires of the patriarchy unloosed without a guardrail. The boogeyman is also the heart of an ongoing folklore, a terrifying figure at the heart of a scary story that can be used as a threat, as in “Be good, or the Boogeyman will get you.”

When considering examples of boogiewomen, the panelists turned to portrayals in folklore and fairytales — such as Bloody Mary, La Llorona, or Sheela-na-gig (the void). These figures generally appear as either the maiden, mother, or crone, who either coopts patriarchal desires for herself or goes against the archetypes of virgin or mother.

An example of the maiden can be found in figures like the vampire in Carmilla, who arrives from the unknown, alters the status quo, and brings about an awakening. The mother, on the other hand, can be represented by overbearing mothers or by women who are in power over another, more vulnerable person, such as a step mother (“Cinderella” or “Snow White”) or evil nurse (Annie Wilkes in Misery). Alternatively, the mother could be represented by women who murder their own children — one of the most transgressive acts — in response to being trapped by society, like Medea. The crone is often represented by the classic witch of fairytales, like the Baba Yaga.

In the case of boogiewomen, the backstory is almost always important — with stories of tragedy, abandonment, or abuse that leads the woman to become the monster. The panelists generally believed that the backstories were interesting, providing a means to reflect on the societal horrors being experienced now. Though, they also acknowledged that there is space for boogiewomen who don’t require a reason to be evil.

In the end, all of the panelists agreed that we do need a true boogiewoman, a character or figure who can be the head of a franchise that keeps going and going, like Halloween or Friday the 13th. We need a boogeywoman that people continue to see and who they want to tell ongoing and evolving stories about.

In What the Hell is “Weird Horror”? Jordan Kurella, Lark Morgan Lu, David Sandner, Wendy N. Wagner, and Gordon B. White acknowledged that “weird” is hard to define, but has always been around. Frankenstein is fairly normalized now, but was weird at the time it was published. Over the years, the weird has evolved and fallen under different labels, such as “bizarro” and “the new weird.” However, one panelist summed it by saying that the weird is anything that makes them ask, “What the fuck did I just read? And do I like it or hate it?”

The panelists noted that the weird is often associated with horror, because it’s uncomfortable and unsetting in the way that undermines reality — and doesn’t replace that reality with something understandable. But it really could be associated with any genre (science fiction, literary, etc.). Crafting the weird could be involve strange and unsetting concepts and ideas in the story, but could also involve the ways in which the story is told (structure, style, etc.).

It was mentioned that weird fiction tends to rise in times of fascism, such as what we’re facing now. We’re in a time of terrible growing pains, it was explained. When you don’t have the answers and the world is devouring itself, everything is misunderstood — so weird fiction is a balm because the work intentionally misunderstands the world. As Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist philosopher and politician, said, “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Though, the panelist explained that a more accurate translation is likely, “This is the time of morbid sympathy.”

One of the panelists asked, “By defining weird, are we defining normal?” Feelings were mixed on this subject. Some felt that the reader decides what is normal, so it’s not determined by the author. However, another panelist noted that, as writers, we have baseline assumptions of what is normal or not, and we need to be aware of those assumptions, so that we don’t create blind spots or do unintentional harm.

A number of books, anthologies, and stories were recommended to explore weird horror and the weird in general, including:

• Kelly Link’s short stories, which were mentioned multiple times

• Brave New Weird: The Best New Weird Horror, Volume 1 and Volume 2, edited by Alex Woodroe

• Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel

• The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

• “Mantis Wives” by Kij Johnson

• The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt

• Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

In the Why Anthologies? panel, Dr. Rachel Kuintzle, Sadie Hartmann, Dave Hook, Lesli Robyn, and William C. Tracy discussed the value of anthologies for readers, the editors and publishers who put them together, and the writers who participate in them. For readers, picking up an anthology is a great way to discover new authors or explore a particular theme or genre that you haven’t read before.

For editors and publishers, the reasons for gathering authors and creating an anthology are often beyond profit. Doing so requires considerable effort when it comes to financing, editing, and marketing the book. However, it’s an opportunity to curate a collection of stories based on an interesting theme or to provide a publication space for specific communities.

For writers, anthologies are a great way to get their work in the hands of readers. Also, compared to online journals or publications, anthologies have greater longevity, with readers turning to these collections years after they have been published.

As a final note, the panelists provided an awesome list of recommended anthologies to check out:

• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, edited by Jordan Peele

• Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

• Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology, edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Saywers

• The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand, edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene

• Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow

• Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction, edited by Sonia Sulaiman

• Inner Space and Outer Thoughts: Speculative Fiction From Caltech and JPL Authors, edited by TechLit

Finally, Dawn Vogel, an author who takes historical events and gives them a speculative bent, gave a presentation on Historical Research for Non-Historians. She notes that there are two types of research sources — primary and secondary.

Primary sources include documents and material from the time period in which the events were happening. This includes newspapers (many of which are available online), correspondence, diaries, historical maps, books written during the time period, etc. Photos, drawings, and illustrations are also great for getting the vibes of the era, but it’s important to be careful of mislabeling and fakes. Oral history (conversations with people alive at the time) are also an excellent primary source, but be respectful of anyone living and be sure to protect their privacy.

Secondary sources include any writing (essays, journals, academic papers, books, etc.) in which the author looks at the primary materials and comes to their own conclusions, their own interpretations. Information in secondary sources should be cross-checked. They can also be a good starting point to dive deeper, since checking the references and sources can potentially lead to the primary source material.

Deciding how to start with research depends on the type of writing. For short stories, the writer can begin with secondary sources and then narrow the research from there to obtain more specific details. For longer pieces (novellas, books), the writer will need to do start there and then drill down even deeper. However, one should beware of the rabbit hole, because at a certain point you just need to start writing.

On her blog, Vogel provided a list of resources for those who delving into their own historical research.

What I’ve Been Working On

Monochrome Heights has a new release date trailer! Developed by Patrick Knisely of One Frog Games, Monochrome Heights is a challenging 2D platformer (inspired by games like Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man). Using a unique color-swapping mechanic, help Happy the Robot run, jump, slide, and phase to reach the top of the tower and save the world.

I had so much fun supporting Patrick in designing the narrative structure, drafting cinematics, and editing barks for the phasebots!

The game is expected to be out October 7. In the meantime wishlist it on Steam.

Good Reads

Since it's now September, it's time to bring out my favorite piece of comedic writing — Colin Nissan's "It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers" —