Card game possibilities

I've been thinking about how to create a card game that's basically about creating. I would like to see a game in which each of two (or more?) players has a hidden hand in which they are creating something. To clarify, cards would represent components of something --clothing, physical attributes, etc.-- and players would collect in their hand the components necessary to build a successful character. The method of collection would involve swapping and drawing from a deck, with the most basic version being that of Go Fish. Players would know little or nothing about what the other character is making, though they might be able to guess from the components they appear to be seeking.

This could include several variations, such as building robots, villains, superheroes, dolls, etc. I would probably consider sticking to creatures in a class system like that brought into the game world by Dungeons & Dragons. Though those particular archetypes are not the only way, that type of classification system might prove useful.

I have become sort of enamored with the artistic possibilities here for the card designs, but as far as gameplay goes I wonder what would make it competitive. For some types of people --the Spore types-- the creativity would be its own reward. Maybe, though, components would carry values that would result in one final character being better than another. Unfortunately, this would add the problem that if the game were designed too simply, players would be aspiring to only one type of character and this would defeat the purpose of the creative element.

Maybe I can work on some sketches, at least.

©The ideas and objects presented in this blog are copyright Marcela Poffald 2008.

People seem to be able to detect the artificiality of sounds pretty easily. I wondered today how off-putting it would be to be in a room in which all the normal sounds you expect are replaced by artificial recordings. For example, it would be strange to walk into a restroom and hear not your own footsteps, but a recording of shoes on tile. Instead of running water, a recording of running water, etc. I'm not sure how this would be implemented, but it would make an interesting art installation (especially if you could do it outside the "art world" among people who won't be expecting it). Many of us are accustomed to running around with mp3 players and rarely think about the loss of the sound of crunching leaves or a door closing. It's not that I intend to get sentimental about real-life audio here (I am a huge fan of my mp3 player), but I just find people's relationships with environments to be interesting, even more so when you consider the concept of artificiality.

©The ideas and objects presented in this blog are copyright Marcela Poffald 2008.

Idea post

This is an image of a sketch I did yesterday for a villain-type creature. I was thinking at the time about an event in Transmetropolitan where there is an uprising of characters called transients. These are people who are so dissatisfied with their human selves that they have chosen to be genetically altered to match our notion of the "grey alien" (X-files style). The rebellion does not work, but I imagined a cross-world in which it did, and they were given power instead of being spit on. I combined this with a sense of fairy tale villainy to make this mutated creature. With more time, I would have made his chair into a throne and worked on his costume, but this is the idea.

(My apologies for the picture quality, but I am without a digital camera and am at the mercy of anyone who will let me borrow theirs.)

Introductions

I am a recovering fine arts major who has recently taken the leap to the Individualized Major Program at IU. I hope to cater my studies to my goal of working as an artist for games or film, which I have been inspired to do since I first saw Terminator 2 as a kid. I have drawn for as long as I can remember, and recently fell in love with 3D modelling as well. I am not always the person with the seed of an idea, but I work well at helping to cultivate and artistically represent ideas with other people.

Aesthetically, I favor the creepy and the futuristic, and would love to work on monsters and villains. My inspirations include Adam Jones (both his music and his artwork), H. P. Lovecraft, Phillip K. Dick, Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, and many others. I am not, of course, entirely limited to what my favored personal style is, and have spent plenty of time honing my more traditional art skills (that is, drawing from models and still life setups) as a fine arts person. Being that I intend to work with others, I aim for flexibility. I work mainly in charcoal for my drawings, though I sketch on a smaller scale in ink. Also, when I have access to a darkroom I am an avid photographer with a huge love for portraiture.

I have access only to a weak digital camera and I fear that my big charcoal drawings will ruin IU's lovely and expensive scanners, but I will do my best to post images of artwork as it comes along. If nothing else, I love writing as well and can be counted on to do plenty of that.