- Last Chance: LudoNarraCon Supporter Pack! - 31 May 2021
It's your last chance to grab the LudoNarraCon Supporter Pack! The Supporter Pack will be going offline on June 4, but it's 20% off until then! Don't miss out on the chance to pick up Cyrano, an exclusive game commissioned by Popcannibal, developers of Kind Words, the adaption of the classic stage play. The Supporter Pack also includes wallpapers and a soundtrack from LudoNarraCon 2021 Exhibitors! Pick up the LudoNarraCon Supporter Pack only on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1548650/LudoNarraCon_Supporter_Pack_featuring_Cyrano/
- Cyrano Saves the Day! - 24 April 2021
Cyrano is a tragicomedy, but there was just a touch of extra, unintended tragedy that we have removed with this update. And as a bonus we've added in a Save/Load game system! Now if you quit the game, your place in the story will automatically be saved and you will be able to continue from where you left off. Revolutionary! Let's see other games do THAT! Full release notes: Your progress is saved when you quit. Explicit save wipe option in settings menu. Fixed throwing a card never killing more than one enemy. Fixed throwing a card damaging dead enemies. Fixed issues quitting during a battle. Fixed game crash after collecting every card.
- LudoNarraCon is live showing narrative games with a unique event pack developed on Linux - 23 April 2021
LudoNarraCon has returned with their continued focus on highlighting some fantastic narrative games. This time they teamed up with developer Popcannibal (Kind Words) to create a special game. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/04/ludonarracon-is-live-showing-narrative-games-with-a-unique-event-pack-developed-on-linux
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Dan McPhee & Kelsey Beachum - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Dan and Kelsey have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Kelsey Beachum Kelsey is a game writer and narrative designer. She's best known for her narrative work on the BAFTA- and other-award-winning space adventure game Outer Wilds (2019), for which she was named a 2019 Nebula Award finalist. You might also know her as one of the narrative designers from The Outer Worlds DLC. If the similarity of those titles confuses you, don’t worry — she's confused about how this happened, too. Dan McPhee Programmer and designer and doer of all the things, currently for Obsidian Entertainment.
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Kim Belair & Mohammad Fahmi - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Kim and Fahmi have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Kim Belair Kim Belair is a writer, narrative designer and co-founder of Sweet Baby Inc, a narrative development company based in Montreal. Part of the games industry since 2013, she's worked with companies including Ubisoft, Rocksteady, Insomniac, KO_OP, Valve, and JuVee Productions to bring games and stories to life. Beyond narrative work, Kim is an advocate for representation and inclusion, and is currently leading an initiative aimed at supporting, training and empowering marginalized developers. Find her everywhere @Bagelofdeath. Mohammad Fahmi Fahmi is an indie game developer, consultant, and freelance writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was the chief editor of a local Indonesian game media, Tech in Asia Games, and was the writer and game designe…
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Colin Campbell & Ziba Scott - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Colin and Ziba have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Colin Campbell Colin Campbell has been writing professionally about games for more than three decades, including stints at IGN, The Guardian, Polygon, Edge, and Next Generation. He is currently the author of daily newsletter How Games are Changing the World. www. howgameschangetheworld.com Ziba Scott Ziba Scott calls himself Popcannibal and lounges around Boston making games that explore the lines between fantasy and meaningful actions. And sillier stuff too. His decade as an indie has been full of original games, contract work and friends. Also awards: BAFTA for Games Beyond Entertainment, IndieCade Europe Grand Prix and nominations for The Game Awards, Independent Games Festival and the Unity Awards.
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Davionne Gooden & Laura Michet - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Davionne and Laura have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Davionne Gooden Davionne Gooden is a Cleveland-based game developer, filmmaker, photographer, and creative director at Studio Zevere. He is currently hard at work on his studio’s debut title "She Dreams Elsewhere", set to release for PC and consoles in 2021. He aims to tell stylish, culturally-relevant, and emotionally-rich stories from new perspectives, while empowering others to express their own creative voice. So come on in, relax, and enjoy your stay! Laura Michet Laura Michet is a writer and editor who has works for Riot Games during the day and on indie games at night. She is currently working on Skin Deep by Blendo Games.
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Brooke Maggs & Greg Kavasin - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Brooke and Greg have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Brooke Maggs Brooke Maggs an award-winning narrative designer who has worked on Control, The Gardens Between, Paperbark and Florence. She works as a Senior Narrative Designer at Remedy Entertainment. Outside of games, she is a published author, writes about the digital and traditional literature, and tends to her succulents in cute pots. www.brookemaggs.com Greg Kavasin Greg Kasavin is writer and creative director at Supergiant Games, the small independent studio behind Hades, Pyre, Transistor, and Bastion. Prior to Supergiant, he worked at 2K Games, Electronic Arts, and GameSpot.
- LudoNarraCon Fireside Chat: Natalie Watson & Sam Barlow - 23 April 2021
About the Talk Sam and Natalie have an informal chat about their time in the games industry and the projects they've worked on. Speakers Sam Barlow Sam Barlow is the founder of Half Mermaid Productions and best known as a director and writer of games that push the boundaries of interactive narrative. With Silent Hill: Shattered Memories he created a classic that psychologically profiled its players and in Her Story he reinvented the detective genre for the YouTube generation. In 2019 he released his most ambitious title yet, the investigative thriller Telling Lies. He is currently working on a mystery project about cinema and death. Natalie Watson Associate Producer at Half Mermaid. Formerly of Waypoint VICE.
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: Solving Impossible Design Problems with Story - 22 April 2021
About the Talk Designer Greg Lobanov (Chicory, Wandersong) takes a look at how characters and story can be leveraged to solve age-old game design problems. Speaker Greg Lobanov Greg Lobanov is a game designer from Philadelphia living in Vancouver, Canada. He likes making colorful, whimsical adventure games in Game Maker and has been doing so for over 10 years now. Projects include Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Wandersong and many others.
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: Revolution: 40 Years Of Captivating Stories - 22 April 2021
About the Talk Charles Cecil, renown developer for Revolution Software, 40 years has developed titles across all formats and has dedicated his time towards the ever growing field of narrative in video games. From turn of the century Paris to the far fetched future where A.I must be subverted, there are no subjects that he's not thought about, or written about. Speaker Charles Cecil Charles Cecil MBE ‘Industry Legend’ has 40 years experience in games. In 1990 he founded Revolution, today one of the world’s leading adventure game companies. Charles, is a BAFTA Cymru award winner for BBC’s Doctor Who games, and was nominated for a Writers’ Guild award for Broken Sword - The Angel of Death. He Executive Produced Sony’s The Da Vinci Code game, and Robert Zemeckis’ Christmas Carol. Charles sits on the Screen Yorkshire Boards and has been a visiting lecturer at York University and NFTS.
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: A New Era For Interactive Live Action Stories - 22 April 2021
About the Talk Tune in for an overview of the work we've been doing at Flavourworks to innovate new storytelling technologies and design philosophies, starting with our debut experiment "ERICA" and leading to increasing ambitions over 2021. Speaker Jack Attridge Jack Attridge is Creative Director and co-founder of Flavourworks, a digital entertainment studio based in London. Jack’s career spans across studios such as EA, Rebellion, Mind Candy, and 22cans. In 2015 he setup Flavourworks to realise his vision for a new form of interactive storytelling. The studio’s breakthrough design and technology has gained support from some of the industry’s biggest names. Their first title ERICA, an interactive live action drama, launched in 2019 for PS4, and 2021 for iOS.
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: How to go from "Aspiring" to "Narrative Designer" - 22 April 2021
About the Talk So you want to break into narrative design & writing for games. Awesome! Where do you start? Tune into this 15-minute blitz where we'll lay out the roadmap to get you making games, building a portfolio, and setting yourself up as a Narrative Designer to watch. We'll laser focus on actionable tips that you can get started on right away. Speaker Karrie Shirou Karrie Shirou has launched over 50 titles as a narrative designer, producer, and marketing and communications director. Her narrative credits include League of Legends, Per Aspera, Totemic, and several upcoming titles. She's also produced on League of Legends, Hello Neighbor, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and many more.
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: Writing Their Story - 22 April 2021
About the Talk In a time where equity and inclusion is at the forefront of people's minds, we find that our writing reflects efforts of diversity and intersectionality in previously untold ways, which leads us to ask: What does the work look like as we seek to tell these previously untold stories? What does good representation look like, and how can we achieve intentional, authentic representation for otherwise underrepresented voices? Rowan Williams talks about their experience leading the effort for Tyari the Traveler, Riot's first openly transgender character, and working on the cast of A Long Journey to an Uncertain End. Speaker Rowan Williams Rowan is a writer and narrative designer who has worked in the gaming industry off and on for just over a decade. Some of the titles they've worked on include Telltale's Batman: The Enemy Within, Minecraft: Story Mode for Netflix, Pathfinder A…
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: When in Doubt, get Weirder - 22 April 2021
About the Talk Writer Charlene Putney shares some tips and techniques for letting your inner weirdo shine. From her work writing Divinity: Original Sin 2, to writing the indie game NUTS, to designing and writing the upcoming word puzzler VITRIOL, to her current role as Story Lead on an upcoming title at Die Gute Fabrik, Charlene’s work has always been infused with a “genuine cosmic weirdness” (VICE review of NUTS). In this talk, she will demonstrate how she brings approachable weirdness and warmth to her stories and characters. Speaker Charlene Putney Charlene Putney is an award-winning writer and teacher from Ireland. After working at Google and Facebook in management positions, she turned to the more creative side of tech and began writing for videogames in 2013. Before moving to Denmark, she worked on Divinity: Original Sin 2 and story for the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3. She now works…
- LudoNarraCon Bite Sized Talk: Creative Reactive Art - 22 April 2021
About the Talk With the constant discussion of whether games should be political there is often not much discussion on how. Often times games which attempt to tackle political themes can seem exploitive or shallow at discussing this topic. However political discourse has a long history with Games and some of the greatest games of all time reflected their societal evils so expertly the removal of those political elements would reduce the work. In this discussion Tali Faulkner will be explaining the concepts of Respectful Design and how this was used as a framework to find earnest critique of 2020 in the critically acclaimed Umurangi Generation. Speaker Naphtali Faulkner Naphtali Faulkner is a Ngai Te Rangi designer currently observing the connections between Indigenous Knowledge and Game Design.
- LudoNarraCon Panel: Pacing and Storytelling with Constant Death - 20 April 2021
About the Panel Game designers often have a unique challenge: storytelling with death as a beat, rather than an end of a character. The average roguelike has more deaths in it than three Hamlets. How do you make your games and narratives "make sense" in this low-key morbid situation? Listen to designers of various kinds of games think through these problems, and mistakes they've made regarding it in the past! Panelists Tanya X. Short, Tyler Sigman, Tarn Adams, Adam Saltsman Tanya X. Short The Captain of Kitfox Games and lead designer of Boyfriend Dungeon, Moon Hunters, and more. She also co-edited Procedural Generation in Game Design and Procedural Storytelling in Game Design. Tyler Sigman Tyler is the lead designer and co-founder at Red Hook Games, famous for the Darkest Dungeon series. Tarn Adams Tarn Adams is also known as the Toady One, co-creator of Dwarf Fortress. He also co-edite…
- LudoNarraCon Panel: The Stories We Share - 20 April 2021
About the Panel Can games make the world better? They can certainly try. Each of the games in this panel -- Garden Story, To Be With You, and Solace State -- has a message and goal that goes beyond the hope of "having fun". In addition to providing an engaging experience, they are trying to convey specific areas of reflection and action they hope their players take by the time they've reached the credits. We'll discuss the power of narrative, and how each of these developers fuse real-world experiences, storytelling, and game design to create an unique experience that helps players consider the world we live in today, reflect on how they can make it better, and perhaps, begin to take action. Panelists Jenny Windom, Cara Hillstock, Picogram, Tanya Kan Cara Hillstock Cara is a queer, chronically ill, black writer, narrative designer, and variety streamer on Twitch. She's passionate about…
- LudoNarraCon Panel: Creating and Breaking the Immersion in Localization - 20 April 2021
About the Panel Game developers and localizers will discuss what helps immersion and what breaks it when the game is localized. What must be lost in translation, and what should be created anew. We will see how different workflows between developers and localization team can influence the players’ experience. Panelists Vladimir Konoplitsky, Ramón Méndez, Eric Holweck, Ash Tregay Ash Tregay Producer at Rebellion for Evil Genius 2: World Domination. Previously a Development Manager at IBM on all manner of far less narratively interesting software. Eric Holweck Translator of more than 25 years experience working on games and novels. Working almost exclusively on computer games since 2000, as a translator or project manager. Experienced in games from every genre, with a focus on RPG's and MMORPG's. French team leader for Riotloc. Selected titles include Divinity: Original Sin 2, TES: Morrow…
- LudoNarraCon Panel: Good Stories Must Die - 20 April 2021
About the Panel In this casual panel we explore games and developers who faced the difficult challenge of ending their games. The panel will go over the topics such as branching narratives and how multiple endings function, the impression that a game leaves at the end of the experience, and the challenges which were faced in bringing everything together in a conclusive and satisfying manner. Panelists George Ziets, Annie VanderMeer, Märten Rattasepp, Ata Sergey Nowak Ata Sergey Nowak Ata Sergey Nowak is a game developer from Germany with an intercultural background. Eight years ago, his passion for games began to transform into a professional career, since then he worked on several games like Hearts of Iron 3: Their Finest Hour, East vs West, Squad, Terminal Conflict and acclaimed mods like Black ICE and Project Reality. While studying in Turkey, his experiences of political tension and…
