As much research as I do, and as many female friends and family as I have, I still am a straight Black guy, and I'm naturally just not - I can't be as super, super detailed and specific as I can just from the get-go.
It was more like, you know, if there's any way I can help out representation-wise, all the better. So, honestly, I didn't think too hard about it. So I'm curious: Why did you choose to center Thalia, and what challenges do you think you face writing for women as opposed to men?ĭG: Most of my friends and family are majority family, so I've always had that kind of feminine influence around me, and I noticed while growing up there weren't really a lot of female protagonists in gaming as a whole. Any male creator, it seems, most of the time, is more prone to write about men, especially as their main characters.
I'm curious why you decided to tell your story with a woman as the main character. Photo by Studio ZevereĭBLTAP: Thalia's the main character in this game. Main character Thalia is just trying to keep it all together. That's always been a fun time.ĭBLTAP: Definitely the number one word I would describe that as, is fun. A lot of this writing process has been a lot of fun self-reflection, a lot of fun staring at the wall for hours on end, listening to sad-boy hour music. She Dreams Elsewhere isn't supposed to be a reflection of everybody's type of - how they get through it, but it definitely is for me. Everybody experiences mental health very differently. I try to be as personal and detailed as I can. Did you incorporate your own experiences with anxiety and depression, like, really particular things, into this game?ĭG: Yeah. From there it's been a long road of just revising that initial concept, making it a lot more personal and intimate as it was coming along.ĭBLTAP: You also struggle with mental health stuff, right?ĭG: Yes, sir! I had a nice little burnout phase a few weeks ago so that was fun.ĭBLTAP: Nice, yeah. I think it was one night I was brainstorming, coming up with a bunch of back-and-forth ideas, and eventually it coalesced into me choosing the title right then and there. I don't remember how exactly it kind of came up. I had always just loved the concept of dreams, how they can reflect your own reality and emotions. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.ĭBLTAP: Where did you come up with the idea for She Dreams Elsewhere?ĭavionne Gooden: It started back in late 2015, early 2016ish. We talked about starting his studio in high school, the particularities of mental illness, and the games industry's remarkably short attention span when it comes to supporting its Black developers. The game's trippy visuals and hazy soundtrack make it unique, but Gooden's heart pumps the blood in its veins. Thalia, the game's anxiety-racked protagonist, is trapped in a coma, and she's forced to face her fears in order to wake up. The game itself is an adventure RPG twisted up in the surreality of dreams. Studio Zevere, also known as Davionne Gooden, is working hard and working solo on his first commercial game, She Dreams Elsewhere. We've previously talked to BareHand about Cede, Decoy Games about Swimsanity!, and Veritable Joy Studios about ValiDate.
#SHE DREAMS ELSEWHERE SERIES#
New entries in the series (usually) come out the second Tuesday of each month. With this series of features, DBLTAP hopes to highlight the creations of Black developers working to tell their own stories through games. Developers of color, and perhaps particularly Black developers, face an uphill battle for employment, let alone creative expression. The video game industry is as prone to systemic oppression as any other. She Dreams Elsewhere is a surreal adventure through the mind of an anxious and comatose woman named Thalia.
0 kommentar(er)
