EVENT: VERENA KYRATZES (APRIL 15 2021)

SERIOUS TALK FOR SERIOUS SAM

APRIL 15 2021/15 APRILE 2021

17:00 - 18:00, Online event

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

In this talk, Verena Kyratzes will explore the process of creating the narrative for Serious Sam 4, with particular attention paid to the challenges of engaging with a pre-existing franchise and the advantages and disadvantages a game writer faces when working with heightened language and unusual tones. It will also offer a glimpse into the more mundane aspects of adjusting an interactive narrative to the complexities of a heavily gameplay-driven experience.

Verena Kyratzes is a writer and indie game developer from Germany. She co-created The Sea Will Claim Everything, and has worked for Croteam on games like Serious Sam 4 and The Hand of Merlin. She is currently working on The Talos Principle 2, as well as a few other unannounced titles.

NEWS: JAKE ELLIOTT JOINS THE M.A. PROGRAM IN GAME DESIGN AT IULM UNIVERSITY

The rumors are true: We are delighted to announce that Jake Elliott has joined the M.A. program in Game Design at IULM University. In the 2018-2019 academic year, Jake will teach GAME WRITING.

Jake Elliott is co-founder of Cardboard Computer, where he is a writer, programmer, and designer on the game Kentucky Route Zero. His work is characterized by playful text, reflective pacing, and human-scale drama. He has been designing nonviolent, slow-paced, narrative games since early 2010. In 2011, his game A House in California was a finalist in the IGF's Nuovo category. Around that time, Jake co-founded game studio Cardboard Computer with Tamas Kemenczy, and started working on our first game, Kentucky Route Zero. Jake has taught videogame design, programming, and experimental animation at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University and Northwestern University. He lives in central Kentucky. Read more about Jake’s projects here.

GAME WRITING is a hands-on study of the many ways text and writing can figure into videogame design -- branching dialog, narrative design, hypertext fiction, and text as digital material. The course combines technical tutorial with writer's workshop. Students will learn the writing-centric scripting language Ink, and how to integrate it in to their own larger projects. Games and other playful texts, electronic and otherwise will be also analyzed and discussed in class.