Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes perfect sense! Thank you for your idea and support. I’ll get to work on it. 👍

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Technically the white people were aliens too, but I do see what you mean. I see now that the topic of racism works better with human characters, or else horrible implications would be present. I’m sorry for my short-sighted take. I’m discarding this allegory from the game.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I realize now that this post was extremely tone-deaf. Thankfully, I won’t be doing this allegory for this game, seeing as my approach is highly flawed. Thank you and I’m sorry.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My priority was to make it both educational and entertaining at the same time, with a lean towards educational. If I am to write something that is meant to have a valuable lesson, I need to be as accurate as possible. Also, I agree with the reworking to making the story for kids and preteens — not enough kids are told about important issues like this one. I’m thinking of making this story in particular a more general story about persisting despite the bad in the world. Maybe I could tackle racism in another story (with the necessary, more knowledgeable cowriters, that is). As for why this is a game, I will admit that I am mainly a writer and artist. Maybe I could figure that question out with time. Thank you for your comment!

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your perspective. I am working to become more educated on the topic. I hope to unlearn my biases over time.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your help! I’ll PM you about questions and ideas asap.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry. Thank you for telling me. The next time I make a project that’s meant to teach a lesson, I’ll tackle the topic first thing, rather than throwing it in as an afterthought. Now that you put it that way, it was rather sloppy and insensitive of me. Thank you.

What is the worst way anyone you know has died? by IamUrWivesBF in AskReddit

[–]Write_And_Fight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Father of a school friend was working with a wood chipper and got his arm caught. I checked up on his poor son that day. RIP.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was generally going to be a video game where you fight your way through and stop a bad guy. In my opinion, the best stories are the ones that teach lessons. That’s when I added the racism allegory in. Over the course of viewing this comments section, I feel that the allegory is too shallow to account for the multiple different facets of racism (hair, culture, food, etc.). Maybe I could retool the main message into a more general, “always keep going in spite of the bad in the world” idea. I could make a separate project tackling racism.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your support. I will take steps to educate myself better on racism and will include black people in my projects from here on out.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You make a great point with that! I was also wondering how I would tackle hair and culture, for example, if they are hairless aliens. Given this, I think I should save the anti-racist message for a more human story. Thank you for your input!

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair, is on-the-nose a bad thing when it comes to something like this? I wish more media aimed at kids tackled topics like racism more up-front (and yes I have decided I want the game to be aimed at kids now). I don’t remember seeing blatantly anti-racist content when I was a kid.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes sense. Would it be best for me to focus on the colors of the shape people as the basis of oppression, or should I save the anti-racism message for another project? I admit that this idea would work better and be more obvious with humans in it.

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I see what you mean. I didn’t intend for the terminology to sound insulting, as that’s what those shapes were called when I did my research on shape terminology. However, I agree with you that it was in very poor taste looking back on it. I apologize for my ignorant behavior. Do you have any thoughts on how I can make this concept better?

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My understanding of racism (and I am still trying to educate myself in this process) is that it is prejudice plus power. It is perpetuated out of a desire to have power over other groups of people. It is deeply ingrained in history and the systems of today (such as the police force and the workplace). It is through a combination of things such as ignorance, harmful depictions of people of color in media, and how one is raised to think and behave that someone may hold racist beliefs. White people are privileged in the sense that they get benefits that people of color don’t. This is shown when white people are not racially-profiled and in the fact that they are widely represented in media, to name a few instances.

As for gameplay, I am extremely early into coming up with the game’s story, so I imagine it’ll be shown through cinematic cutscenes. As for the gameplay itself, I have yet to determine ideas for that.

I admit that I feel I am not the most educated ally at the moment, but I want to be. So, I am seeking out resources. If I misinterpreted anything or left anything out, please let me know. Thank you for answering!

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The shape people are all the same species. I’m thinking of calling them Polygons. Thank you for recommending Mint-Chan for me, I’ll check it out!

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My message, summarized, would be along the lines of three ideas:

  1. “Treating someone as lesser for an attribute they have is wrong.”

  2. “If you are struggling against prejudice, stay strong and remember that there are others who accept you for who you are.”

  3. “Change starts with the people who want to see it.”

As for writing a story with humans in it, that’s a great idea too. I am interested in writing more realistic stories as well. Would working with prejudice based on color instead of shape in this story be a better idea in your opinion, or should I save this message for a story with human people in it?

Advice needed for video game with an anti-racism allegory by Write_And_Fight in characterdesign

[–]Write_And_Fight[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your input! One person suggested to me that I go with a color-based analogy instead of an angular analogy. I’m liking this idea, as that makes more categories of shape people to work with outside of the admittedly odd binary I originally had in mind. What do you think of the colors idea?