IndieCade East 2016

Solace State is a Visual Novel about a young woman who must reunite with her friends across ideological divisions, as a cyberpunk city-state threatens to upend in revolt and despotism. It is created out of the developer's passion and background in political science, cinema studies, creative writing and 3D game arts.

Tanya Kan, solo developer of Vivid Foundry, will discuss her design process in creating an experimental game that does not have many blueprints in existing conventions. Solace State is a game that arose out of examinations of political identities and the politics of affect. Over time, she has come to design around a game that can offer humanistic fictional storytelling of personal tragedies and hopes, as well as those shared within a community, involving citizens from all walks of life.

The game's production process has explored fictional representations of social identity-formation in non-egalitarian states, and the emotional passage of fear, hope, disorientation, belonging and shame in shared urban experiences and mythologies. It also explores the concept of the politics of affect, characterized by change and transformation as the norm for sociopolitical experiences. The talk will focus on game design and writing considerations that highlight community-building, negotiation and social identity-formation in an organic speculative science fiction. 

No prerequisite knowledge in political science and media studies is required. This will be a great introduction for those who are interested in a convergent product between art, academic theory, and game development.