paracosm (phæɻəkazm). n. A detailed, long-lasting imaginary world, usually created by a child.
We need only to be reminded that, for children, everything in the world is alive or can easily become so, and that magic is normal.
—Barbara: the Unconscious Autobiography of a Child Genius, Harold Grier McCurdy (ed.) and Helen Follett
INTRODUCTION
There is a curtain, thin as gossamer, clear as glass, strong as iron, that hangs forever between the world of magic and the world that seems to us to be real.
–The Enchanted Castle, E. Nesbit
Many children create imaginary worlds. For some of them, these worlds are a way of expressing their creativity; for some, they are a comfort in a harsh world; for others, they are a refuge and a sanctuary. Some of these children carry their worlds with them into their adult life, even adding new territory, new creatures to their paracosms.
But what of those children who enter their worlds? What happens to the children who find a way into the fictional lands they've invented, to walk through the forests, and cities, and places incomprehensible? What happens when they see the splendors, which they had previously only imagined, with their own eyes?
What happens if they do not wish to come back?
Barbara has disappeared into her fantasy land of Solafria. Her parents, Helen and Wilson, realize that the only way to bring her back is to go in after her. But Solafria is a dangerous place, with strange creatures and beasts inhabiting it, unfamiliar terrain and unknown threats. Barbara knows the terrain far better than they do—she created it, after all—and she can change it as they travel, to keep them from coming further in. And even if they do find Barbara, will they be able to convince her to come home?
GAMEPLAY
Merridew turned to Ralph.
"Aren't there any grownups?"
"No."
Merridew sat down on a trunk and looked round the circle.
"Then we'll have to look after ourselves."
—Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Paracosm will not be an action-driven mod, nor a story-driven mod; it will be a character-driven mod. The combat will not be anything truly innovative, and much of it will be avoidable; the story is relatively simple. Instead, the player will be given a remarkable degree of control over the characters of the game: their interactions, their histories, their personalities and their flaws.
The player will directly control Helen and Wilson, Barbara's parents, as they travel through the land of Solafria to try and find Barbara and bring her back. As in the normal game, the player will have control over these characters in combat and exploration, but in this mod, the player will also control both characters while in conversation.
THE CONVERSATION SYSTEM
Every action is an answer or a question. Perhaps both.
–Black Skin, White Masks, Franz Fanon
The conversations that Helen and Wilson have with each other and with the people of Solafria will decide everything about them: their histories, their personalities, their beliefs and philosophies. Nothing about Helen, Wilson, or Barbara is predetermined by the game; the player will decide it all by the conversation choices s/he makes. Moreover, there are no skill checks, no use of Bluff or Diplomacy; the player will be able to choose any line regardless of skill points.
For example, Helen (controlled by the player) may accuse Wilson of neglecting Barbara because of a drinking problem. In response, Wilson (also controlled by the player) may acknowledge that he is an alcoholic, or state that Helen is making this up out of jealousy or spite, or may even note that Helen herself is an alcoholic and is just as guilty of neglect as he is. Whatever the player chooses will be true, and will have consequences on the entire rest of the game. It will decide what kind of people Helen and Wilson were—neglectful parents? overprotective? tyrannical? monstrous?—and thus, in turn, what kind of girl Barbara is.
BARBARA
Facing a mirror you see merely your own countenance; facing your child you finally understand how everyone else has seen you.
—‘Vessels’, Daniel Raeburn, The New Yorker, 05-01-2006
Barbara is, obviously, the most important character in Paracosm. Her retreat into Solafria is the driving force of the plot. In the player's 'creation' of Helen and Wilson, they will determine why Barbara created Solafria, what kind of place it is, and why she chose to live there instead of the real world. There will be many minor variations and small changes depending on certain of the player's choices—did Barbara go to her grandmother's funeral? did her parents take her to the fireworks on her fifth birthday? did she love one parent more than the other?—but four major possible 'Barbaras'.
OUTLINE
This will be a fairly short mod, with three acts, each in a distinct environment.
ACT ONE
They saw before them now a dark and gloomy forest, stretching on and on, and on and farther.
—The Wonderful O, James Thurber
Act one will take place in a forest, the proverbial Wild Wood of folktales and legends. Helen and Wilson will face Barbara's most 'external' feelings, the passions that are closest to the surface for her: anger, lust, fear, and so forth. They will meet representations of these passions, many of which will not be friendly towards them. At the end, they will meet Teddy, who in the real world was Barbara's treasured teddy bear, but in Solafria is a massively powerful real bear, who will almost certainly try to kill Helen and Wilson—unless they can convince him of the righteousness of their cause.
ACT TWO
The town was built of card and paint,
The gardens were made of tin;
And dolls looked out at the windows, dear,
And all of them asked me in.
—‘The Paper Ship’, from Anyhow Stories, by Lucy Clifford
Once they leave the Wild Wood, Helen and Wilson will find themselves in the Big City: a place more familiar, but no less dangerous, than the Wood. This place represents Barbara's deeper feelings, ones that she herself is unaware of: her guilt, her beliefs, the things she knows but does not wish to acknowledge. Here they will meet more residents of Solafria, learning things about their daughter that perhaps even she does not know. As they travel through the jumbled buildings and tangled streets, they will be tormented by Dolly: a ragdoll of Barbara's, here a manifestation of her darker feelings towards her parents. Helen and Wilson will be separated from one another, forced to confront the decisions they've made and how they've affected their daughter.
ACT THREE
In the place where long grass opens, the girl who waited to be loved and cry shame erupts into her separate parts, to make it easy for the chewing laughter to swallow her all away.
—Beloved, Toni Morrison
Eventually, Helen and Wilson will make their way to the Castle, which stands on a mountain peak overlooking all of Solafria. However, this castle will look vastly different depending on the choices the player has made. For example, if Barbara created Solafria as a way to express her creativity, it will be a grand, spun-sugar beauty of a castle, with flags and stained-glass windows and a golden throne. But if she created Solafria as an escape from her monstrous parents, the Castle will reflect that fear: it will be a dungeon, a dark and inhospitable ruin that represents what she cannot escape, even in her own mind. Here Helen and Wilson will finally confront their daughter.
ENDINGS
“It is not given to men to know the ends of their journeys,” Medwyn answered. “It may be that you will never return to the places dearest to you. But how can that matter, if what you must do is here and now?”
–The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander
Paracosm will have multiple endings, determined by what Barbara's parents try to do and how successful they are. Will they convince her to return to the real world? Will they only drive her away further? Will she become so enraged that she attacks her own parents, and they're forced to defend themselves? All of these endings and more will be possible, depending on how the player has 'created' Helen, Wilson, and Barbara, and how they confront Barbara in the final act.
CONCLUSION
When I want to know what is true, I ask my children. They do not ask me; I turn to them.
—“How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later” (speech), Philip K. Dick
The intention of Paracosm is to give the player an enormous degree of control over not only their characters, but their characters' relationships and interactions. Helen, Wilson, and Barbara will have more variables than simply 'good' or 'evil' and 'lawful' or 'chaotic'; they will be complex entities with histories and personalities determined by the player. Different playthroughs can be vastly different, depending on the choices the player makes; the story can change enormously and take on an entirely different meaning. The player will be encouraged to consider carefully their every choice, their every line, to explore the possibilities and create new situations every time they play.
Modifié par Ted Anderson, 21 septembre 2010 - 01:25 .
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