A downloadable project

Overview

News4 Tipping Point is a dialog driven game with a comic book layout about a small television news show in Tipping Point, KS. The player is the assignment editor for “Bubble Up Morning News” for YASSQN, a regional television network. When the region is impacted by climate related events, player choices explore the impacts of focus on discussion of climate disasters.

Developer: Solo effort by Khaprani Call to Action: Consider the ripples of your words

Goal

The player’s goal is to maximize climate understanding in as many viewers as possible, while taking into account the boss’s need for ratings, personalities, and information landscapes of coworkers.

Gameplay

The player navigates the world of the news studio with the aim of guiding the production of a regional news show together with the help of an eclectic group of coworkers towards creating a show that informs the most viewers as a series of climate related events affect the area.

Story Arc: A 6 panel page builds to 1 newscast. Min Viability: 3 pg. 1:Intro 2:Body 3:End.

Multi Arc Expandability: Body pages will expand to include newscasts as production permits.

Experience Goal: Every Page Leaves an Emotion. Razor: No panel w/o conflict. No easy choice. Pillars: No Saints or Villains, All sources are people, All disasters have been real.

Obstacles: The player is challenged by dialog choices to balance viewer ratings with increasing climate understanding. Effects of interpersonal choices will limit/reveal choices & impacts.

Mechanics: The player has third person walking /camera control within a comic panel for a particular story beat, then dialog choices displayed on the right of the UI. Dialog outcomes are displayed within the panel after the panel freezes before the next panel is revealed. Climate understanding and Viewership are displayed as progress bars that can be positive or negative.