In the Broken Curse Studios office is a cultural activist under the pseudonym Schizophrenia.

   Schizophrenia asked aesthetic and technical questions about the development progress of the psychedelic novel /death/lor/ation/ - and we share her input on the game’s release day.

Q: Hello, Senior Gamedesigner.Your game is being released today. I am happy to ask a few questions - to familiarise players with you and your project.

A:    Let’s go.

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Q:    Tell us about the gameplay and your task as a game designer in /death/lor/ation/.

A:     We focus on the hidden narrative.    The game leads the player through the schizophrenic mise-en-scene of the bardo of nightmares - and - if we go in for the long haul - you’ll be left in the dark.    The aim of the gamedesign in this novel is to recreate the experience of death - there rules are different from the canons of linear fps: your enemy is you - and he is already dead - now what?

~ ​​​​​​​ Q:    A rebirth simulator? A:    Yes.

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Q:    Tell us about the game’s narrative

A:     Our structure is like a DNA spiral: We follow a stream of interconnected visions - and the lore blocks are fed in parallel - a pattern of hidden narrative.    That is - each micro-branch contains only a part of the bigger picture.     The solution to travelling through the twists and turns of creation: go through them all - and find the secrets.

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Q:    There are many systems in the science of storytelling. What do you use for - as told earlier - immersive storytelling?

A:    The Bardo system is a pure mechanism of the psyche: you are floating in the bliss of the Source of the River of Ecstasy and you crash face-first into the granite of the shore: you don’t remember anything, but your body does.    Much of human nature is grinding: we are far from the original processes - and we do little to support ourselves. A life of exhaustion is good - because there is no strength to resist one’s essence.    Our game tells about the process of uniting with your psychic power - with emphasis on impressions of life and ideas about it.

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Q: How do you compensate for the minimalism of tools in development?

A: In this game I tell the near-death experience, the sacred and sacred - what I gather from the fragments of my own life. No compensation - but the tool of logic and the canvas of a non-Euclidean sequencer.

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Q:  You are very meditative. Doesn’t the cold view of things prevent you from living? 

A:  You know - it turns life into an archive of meanings.

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Q:  You’ve written novels, plays and screenplays before. Do you feel a distance from your former self?

A:  Distancing?    More like enjoying a new arrangement.     Forging the katana of thought is a fascinating craft.    Sometimes it takes your whole life - and more - the interestingness starts about immediately.

   The game /death/lor/ation/ complements the lore of my literary universe.    I have a book in new-age simulacra - about a girl named Nekta - enthusiastic about learning about worldwalkers.    The path to self-knowledge has a surprise in store for her - and her personal achievement will be to extract bits of consciousness from the forging of nightmares - that are dissolved by the will of the Mysterious Protector.

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Q: Is she the hero of your story?

A:  She is.    The player will get to know Nekta - through the cognitives of her nightmares.    And will be able to help.     Or destroy.

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Q:    What advantages of the interactive format do you take advantage of in storytelling?

A:    Our game tells - Nekta’s personal bardo cycle - to Awakening.

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Q:    How much of Nekta is you?

A:    She’s lucky in what = what I’m not lucky in. I am fortunate in what = in what she is not fortunate.    Literary yin-yang - with the adjustment that Nekta’s adventure took place years apart.    She prepared me - for something sacred - which was the artistic content of the game.

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Q:    I’m intrigued. How long will it take me - to get ‘platinum’ in learning your story?

A:    There is more content in the game - than can be found on the first and fifth playthrough - in this we have tried.

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Q: Thank you for the initiat into the philosophy of your game, Savelius.

A:    Thank you for an audience in our sanctuary, Schizophrenia.

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Now Schizophrenia turns to the technical department.

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Q: Hello, Senorita Programmer.

A: Hello, hello, hello, hello.

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Q: How did your work on the mysterious visual novel begin?

A: The creation of the visual novel began with a meeting with Senor the Game Designer - it was he who inspired me to start the project under his guidance. I had been thinking about starting to programme games for a long time: I was hesitant; I was looking for inspiration, ideas. And finally I found it!

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Q: Tell us about the technical side of your game. It’s interesting to learn about the logical component of an immersive project.

A: The technical side of the logical component of an immersive project requires an integrated approach and attention to a lot of details - what exactly do you want to know?).

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Q: What engine are you working in? How much sdk volume grows during the work?

A: Ren’Py. 35.1 gb of assets already!

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Q: You have chosen a non-linear project in a closed information system. Tell me - what does it feel like - from being in an environment of logic, where the player is surrounded by a thousand versions of one thought - does the decomposition of a schizophrenic’s mind affect your attitude to life?

A: I’m fascinated by the very process of turning a concept into a build. I get into the content, and you can ask our game designer about the philosophy of the story.

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Q: Your staff is minimal. How do you catch bugs?

A: Limitless playtest hard.

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Q: How many lines of code are in your game for nowtime?

A: 2887 lines

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Q: What function formats do you invent to integrate multidimensional election branches?

A: Here I bring a context menu function - it allows you to allows for a fork in trip:

menu: e “{i}..to cut own ropes - {/i}” “forced in her bleeding”: scene [desertalbatross.png] with dissolve e “{i}..forced him believing.{/i}” # “forced him believing”: scene [meditation.png] with dissolve e “{i}.forced in her bleeding.{/i}”

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A: And we can add any objects - like music or video:

menu: e “{i}49276d20646978000000{/i}” “In Wheels of Destiny”: stop music play sound “agony.mp3”

menu: e “{i}act I by line{/i}” “You burned.”: $ renpy.movie_cutscene(“depersonification.ogv”)

~

A:

You can also use the springboard function for transition:

menu: e “{i}I take the I of{/i}” “Animus”: scene [edgeoftime.png] with dissolve e “{i}01110100 01101111 00100000 01100010 01101111 01110010 01101110{/i}” jump (massacre) “Anima”: scene [fireofming.png] with dissolve e “{i}01110100 01101111 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110010 01101110{/i}” jump (massacreofkat) label (massacre): label (massacreofkat):

You can use any name for the transitions and use them anywhere in the code.

Schizophrenia:

Luxurious! Thanks for the technical and philosophical constructs. I see your build is already available - installing it!

GD:
Indeed.

SP:
Enjoy.