Ella Larson
For my computer art studio class Fall 2024, I made a gaaammmmee!!!
"Welcome to Moonlit Grove" is a text-based interactive narrative where you look for your missing friend in a mysterious town populated with fairy tale characters who aren't...quite...right. Talk politics, make friends, make enemies, and solve the mystery of what the heck is happening here?
Free to play, linked here for your convenience and pleasure! Not really intended for children, but you do you.
I coded using a program called Twine, which is great for text-based interactive narratives. The art was all created with Photoshop, and I made the music in Musescore (since I can't play the piano and I'm only mediocre at the instruments I do know).
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This was a really rewarding and educational experience. It's a super silly, imperfect, and quite dark, and I had so much fun making it.
The guidance from Professor Rebecca Xu and my classmates was incredibly helpful! I owe so much to them and their encouragement and advice, including the coding program and the idea to have the player be searching for their missing friend, which raised the stakes and influenced the overall plot.
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I'm avoiding showing any art with spoilers here, since I don't want to ruin the game for anyone who might want to play it!
Locations
Characters
Each of the characters in the game was based on at least one fairy tale archetype, often from multiple cultures and sources. I tried to make them interesting and diverse, and somewhat cohesive -- though my professors pointed out that Wendy looks a little too different from everyone else. If I have time to go back and make changes, I'll fix her, add some music, and maybe add a few more quests and characters -- but that's a project for another day!
