Buddytale
Buddytale is exploration of our attachments to virtual pets, our responsibilities as their caretakers, and the way digital mortality effects the value we place on our relationships to computational entities
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OVERVIEW
Buddytale was designed as an exploration of our attachments to virtual pets, our responsibilities as their caretakers, and the way digital mortality effects the value we place on our relationships to computational entities. Buddytale attempts to build an empathetic connection between the player and their virtual pet, and use that connection to drive feelings of care, nostalgia, and grief. It is a portrait in parts of the relationship between an owner and their pet, from the day they meet until they must say goodbye. Buddytale does not aim to be “fun” in the traditional game-y sense, although aspects of it are quite cute and entertaining to interact with. It aims instead to offer a compelling emotional experience to anyone who has ever loved a pet, virtual or otherwise.
BACKGROUND
ROLE
Buddytale was created as my thesis project, for my master's degree in Digital Arts and New Media at UC Santa Cruz. It was developed by me (Evie Chang) and Izzy Fox. Additional art was provided by Holly Cheng.
I was the lead designer, writer, and 3D artist on Buddytale.
As this was my thesis project, I also wrote the paper which accompanies the game.
DESIGN
The design process for Buddytale was based on the MDA framework developed by Robin Hunicke (who served on my thesis commitee), Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. MDA stands for mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics, the three components of the game experience.
With our aesthetic goal (self reflective) we moved backwards through the framework to develop our mechanics within the constraints of VR. Beyond our aesthetic goals, we also hoped to create an experience which was funny, cute, and emotionally intimate, which greatly influenced our visual direction.
Buddytale is a game about connections, caretaking, and our relationships to digital entities. Through it's mechanics, it aims to create a sense of connection between the player and a digital entity, and then emphasize the strength of that connection at the end through the frame of mortality. The interactions in Buddytale were designed to reflect a sense of nostalgia, to create a sense of a long relationship and history with this creature, who you ultimately only get to spend a few minutes with.
Excerpt from the accompanying paper:
"The aesthetic goals of Buddytale were attachment, care/responsibility,
and nostalgia. The aesthetics of attachment and responsibility are pretty
standard among virtual pet simulators, where the main actions in the game can easily be described as either caretaking or bonding activities. I think this is
particularly true during Buddytale’s fourth scene, where players can see the
direct effect of their actions towards comforting their buddy and coaxing them
out of their hiding place during a bad storm. Giving players the option to pick outand name their buddy encourages them to perceive them as a creature of theirown creation, inspiring deeper feelings of attachment (Kusahara, 2001). Theprogression of time throughout the game and the framing of each scene as amemory help build up a nostalgic tone, but this is mostly felt towards the end,when players realize their time with buddy is drawing to a close."
If you would like to read the accompanying paper, which goes into depth about the design process, themes, and analysis of the game, please click the button below to download a copy.
Abstract
"This thesis explores the development of a digital game, Buddytale, which is itself an exploration of our attachments to virtual pets, our responsibilities as their caretakers, and the way digital mortality effects the value we place on our relationships to computational entities. Buddytale attempts to build an empathetic connection between the player and their virtual pet, and use that connection to drive feelings of care, nostalgia, and grief. This paper engages in conversation about the moral implications of virtual pet ownership as we consider the different lenses through which we can view them. It attempts to answer questions surrounding the usefulness of mortality in a digital context and examines the implicit death uniquely available to virtual entities. This thesis leaves open questions about what we owe to our digital companions, the authenticity of digital connections, and whether or not that matters in the first place. I hope to see these explored by future pieces, building off of what we have made here."