SUBOTRON arcademy: Narrative Design ? How Games Will Destroy Humanity & How Indies Can Save Us

Tom Jubert (Narrative Designer, London)

Games frequently draw inspiration from other games, and are all the worse for it. As video games move from misunderstood hobby to the very cornerstone of the future digital economy, what can indie developers do to stem the tide of Extruded Fantasy Product, and ensure they set a good example for generations to come?
The talk begins with some advice from traditional fantasy authors, and how it can be applied to video games. Tom will argue that creative principles hold across all mediums and genres. He?ll then move on to some more concrete case studies of how he?s tried to incorporate philosophy and other cultural influences into his work on games like ?Penumbra?, ?The Swapper? and ?The Talos Principle?, how those influences have changed over time, and the challenges of developing and adapting gameplay mechanics to handle more complex interactions than fighting and jumping.
He?ll end by looking further ahead to what the market will look like in the decades to come. Indie developers are at the frontier of the creative, technical and economic future, and privileged though they are he will argue this does not come without philosophical, political and creative obligations.

Kurzbiographie
Tom Jubert is a London-based freelance narrative designer with 10+ years? experience. He started his career in web journalism, before moving into games testing for Lionhead Studios. His break-out writing role was on Frictional Games? ?Penumbra? series in 2007, and he has since carved out a niche in philosophical science fiction, designing the narrative for games like ?The Swapper? and ?The Talos Principle?. He also worked as a writer on ?FTL?, ?Driver: San Francisco?, ?Binary Domain? and many more. Tom has a masters degree in political philosophy, and until recently taught the story design module at London Southbank University.