CONCEPT:
Reading, as typical as it sounds, really and truly does fuel my creativity. I have always been keen on Shakespeare, particularly his tragedies. For this project, I want to explore how to toy with the human eye. In Shakespearean tragedies, the protagonists experience some sort of downfall that is indicated through the beginning of experiencing hallucinations. It is typically catalyzed due to paranoia and guilt – or a general feeling of loss of control over a situation. Macbeth is one of those characters. The Tragedy of Macbeth stands out because it is a lesson on arrogance and ambition – and how quickly the human spirit can be broken from guilt and ambition. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, experience a series of hallucinations as they attempt to wrap their minds around the notion of regicide. Therefore, this project will have the user attempt to help them through these hallucinations.
EXPLAIN:
There are three hallucinations in Macbeth: A Dagger that Macbeth sees floating in the air that he cannot seem to catch; Banquo’s ghost (Macbeth’s friend he murdered), and blood on Lady Macbeth’s hands. These hallucinations are a manifestation of their guilt. For this project, I have chosen to leave out the hallucination of Banquo, as I would like to do a more stable approach of focusing and detailing and balancing the hallucinations between the husband and wife, the Macbeths. The Dagger Scene, and the Bloody Spot Scene are going to be divided into two levels or scenes.
SCENES:
The dagger level will have a floating hand (Macbeth) attempt to catch a floating dagger, but it will always seem to evade his hand, essentially driving him mad. This is inspired by the monologue he has, “Is this a dagger which I see before me?/The handle toward my hand?/ Come, let me clutch the/ I have thee not, and yet/ I see thee still.”. Here, he is basically saying that he sees this dagger, but as he tries to capture it in his hand, he cannot. I would add a speed variable – so that at moments the dagger will slow down, giving the user the opportunity to catch it. The purpose of this game overall is not to win, but to simply understand Macbeth and the play a little better.
For Lady Macbeth’s hallucination — the Bloody Spot level — the user will engage in a different type of interaction that reflects her overwhelming guilt. In this scene, the user will control Lady Macbeth’s hands as they attempt to wash away the bloodstains that symbolize her remorse. The gameplay will involve blood spots appearing randomly on the screen, and the user will need to “wash” these spots by moving Lady Macbeth’s hands over them. As the user succeeds in removing one spot, new ones will emerge, creating an endless cycle that mirrors her inability to escape her guilt. This mechanic emphasizes the futility of her actions and the psychological torment she experiences.
The purpose of the user interaction is to highlight the internal struggles and frailty of the characters.
IMPLEMENTATION:
To effectively implement these ideas in code, I plan to create several classes: Dagger, Hand, and BloodSpot. Each class will encapsulate properties such as position, speed, and visibility. The functions will include moveDagger(), which updates the dagger’s position and speed; checkCollision(), which detects proximity between the hand and dagger; generateBloodSpots(), which creates new blood spots on the screen; and washBloodSpot(), which reduces the opacity of blood spots when interacted with.
However, I anticipate several challenges throughout this process. The dagger’s movement algorithm must be realistic yet unpredictable enough to convey Macbeth’s frustration.
Creating a sense of futility in gameplay will also be essential. Balancing difficulty is key; while users should feel challenged, they must also understand that catching the dagger is ultimately impossible. Gradually increasing difficulty or ensuring that new blood spots continuously appear will reinforce this theme. Lastly, integrating atmospheric sounds or character voices using the p5.sound library could enhance immersion and emotional impact.
To minimize risks associated with these challenges, I plan to implement the dagger movement algorithm first and test various approaches to ensure it feels engaging yet frustrating. Creating a prototype for the blood spot washing mechanic will help determine its intuitiveness early on.
CODE:
In terms of my current code, I also decided to add two menus – one at the start and one at the end. The one at the start introduces the user to Macbeth. I wanted to make this extremely engaging. Although the final interface and design for the menu is not done yet, I wanted to implement sound almost immediately. The first speakers – the female voices — are actually from Macbeth. It is a prominent dialogue in which they, the witches, converse with Macbeth and let him know of a prophecy – that he will be king. However, there is already a king. So for Macbeth to be king, that means he would have to kill him. I wanted to create an eerie and uncomfortable experience — the whole time, I want users to be on their toes.
However, I am most proud of figuring out how to navigate through different levels. It seemed like a no-brainer, but it took me time to figure it out.
function mouseClicked() {
if (currentScene == 'menu'){
currentScene = 'dagger';
}
else if (currentScene === 'dagger') {
currentScene = 'bloodySpot';
}
else if (currentScene == 'bloodySpot') {
currentScene = 'closing'
}
}
I have a lot left to accomplish, but overall I am looking forward to doing something unique.