International Film Festival Teaser - 2019
[2019] Imagine Film Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands [2018] Dutch Design Week - Manifestations, Eindhoven, Netherlands [2018] Royal Academy of Visual Arts, The Hague, Netherlands [2018] Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague, Netherlands Introducing "Peer to Peer," a virtual reality experience that delves deep into the intricacies of social influence and its profound effects on human behaviour. Through a dynamic and immersive gameplay, players will discover the power of social pressure and develop a deeper sense of self-awareness. Unlike conventional video games that dictate what is good or bad, "Peer to Peer" transcends this limited perspective by offering a realistic portrayal of how social influence shapes our decision-making processes. With a range of scenarios that simulate the pressures of conformity, the allure of harmful behaviours, and the complexities of social hierarchy, players will learn how to navigate these situations while staying true to their innermost values and beliefs. The purpose of "Peer to Peer" is not to demonise the power of peer pressure, but rather to illuminate its essential role in human society. Through the game, players will learn to resist negative social pressure while still cultivating a sense of belonging and connection with others. Ultimately, "Peer to Peer" is a celebration of self-awareness, critical thinking, and personal growth, empowering players to become more confident in their ability to navigate complex social situations and make informed decisions that align with their innermost values and beliefs.

Walkthrough

-summary-

[spoiler alert]

Short explanation: In "Peer to Peer", the player has a physical body which they can see via mirrors placed strategically in the game. Depending on the choices made this body will transform into a more detailed version, or a less detailed version of itself. This is described beneath here as +1 and -1. LEVEL 1 - the City You wake up in the middle of a deserted city. No one is around, you don't know how you got here. You start walking as you suddenly remember you were going to bring your clothes to the laundromat. Your washing machine has been broken for ages. As you turn around the corner, you see a man looking up at a large building. [choice moment] ignore [+1] or go and look [-1] -Ignore- on passing the person to the left, the player can wander around in the city where not much is happening apart from the buildings becoming more and more red, signing the player that this is not the way [after 2 minutes, +1]. On passing the person to the right and following the signs to the laundromat, the player ends up in the laundromat with +2 points. When walking towards the mirror inside, the next level loads. -Go and look- More and more people will gather around on the square, looking at the sky and exclaiming things like "what is that?!" "oh no!". After each minute -1, after 2 minutes the next level loads. LEVEL 2 - the desert You wake up again, and you wonder where you are this time. There is sand all around you, behind you is a small city. Is this a dream? You see characters slowly and monotonously walking towards something you cannot see. A soft female voice tells you to follow them. [choice moment] follow the characters [-3 total] or go the other way [+3 total] -Follow the characters- After each pillar where a mirror is situated and the player can see their body -1, until a cliff reveals itself where the characters are dropping themselves into. When the player jumps, the next level loads on impact with the ground. -Turn the other way- the further the player walks, the darker and denser the fog becomes, until it is totally black [+3 total]. After entering the water and the island, loading the next level. LEVEL 3 - the Lab[yrinth] You wake up yet again, wondering how you keep falling asleep. Around you is a lab fully equipped with Erlenmeyers and petri dishes. You remember there are some patients in the building which have previously escaped, which you don't want to encounter. You also don't know the way very well around here. The door of the room opens. [choice moment] call Paul, your colleague [-1] or figure things out yourself [+1] -Call Paul- A semi-sarcastic character answers the phone, telling a scary story about a recently escaped patient, and to find the first hallway to the right, looking out for a fire extinguisher. -Figure things out yourself- Walking immediately to the right will end you up in a room with a mirror [+1] and loads the start level [game over]. Walking to the left, up the stairs plays a scary sound and changes the hallways. On going back [+1], there is now another way through the labyrinth

Process

After writing the thesis "If One Sheep Leaps Over The Ditch" and doing extensive research on social behaviour and survival instinct in humans while keeping a more classical storytelling format in mind, it was time to take a next step and to put words into worlds. Initially "Peer to Peer" was written as a Nordic LARP [Live Action Roleplay - a way of 'living' a theatre piece / game instead of watching it], but after developing the story, it became clear the LARP would have to be too extensive to perform with the means available to me. The first VR version of "Peer to Peer" was made for Samsungs Gear VR in 2018. The game was developed for a single player sitting in a chair which can spin an infinite amount of degrees, with a wireless charger for the VR goggles on a pedestal. The player would be able to walk through the world with a simple controller. The chair had a backrest to ground the player and reduce a feeling of nausea as much as possible. The second, improved version of Peer to Peer was made after 2 years the original project was made, and worked on over the past years. Most of the improvement on this was due to more experience, but also on discoveries in the world of VR and Unity. It is now also enjoyable on Windows, but solely to be able to showcase the game better. In its original VR form it suits its purpose the best. For navigating in game, Non Playable Characters [NPCs] were equipped with Unity's Nav Mesh system, which is an AI driven system that can avoid obstacles and other characters in-game.
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