Video Game Storytelling: Take Us Into Your World
- S. E. Presley
- Mar 30
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In the Fall semester of 2020, I took a course called "Video Game Storytelling." The amazing Professor Amos Magliocco taught the class, which was about writing stories for video games. Having enjoyed Professor Magliocco for Intermediate Fiction, I was thrilled to attend another class. After half a semester of concept and practice, here was the first assignment, where we pitched a video game. Using Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, I pitched a video game story called Into the Darkness.
Into the Darkness is a game based on the war against child trafficking. The game player plays as Jordan Parker, a former Army Ranger who now works as a Team Leader for Markum Consultants, Inc., a private military contracting firm based in Houston, Texas. As the leader of the Dragonfly team, Jordan is part of a 6-person team specializing in covert operations in Africa and Asia. However, what is the world of anti-child trafficking like? Allow us to take you behind the scenes to learn more about the world of “Into the Darkness.”
Economy
Markum Consultants, INC. is a private military contracting firm based in Houston, Texas, United States. While a global player in the contracting world, Markum Consultants pays its contractors in US Dollars, often via wire transfer but occasionally in cash for certain contractors.
Since they are a private company, they operate like most in the United States under US capitalism. Most of their gross income is from US government contract payments, but they also will accept some other government payments and certain private corporations, groups, or citizen payments. They refuse to work for nations or entities on the OFAC-sanctioned list, the State Sponsor of Terrorism list, the Major Money Laundering list, and the Section 311 ML Concerns list.
Government
As a private corporation, Markum Consultants, Inc., is not a government department or entity in any capacity. They do not fall under the categorization of defense contractor as they do not manufacture or sell any weapons systems for the United States or any other nation-state. While they do have public contracts with the US Government, such as providing ancillary security for some US assets domestically and abroad, most of their work is “black”, meaning unofficial.
Location
Markum Consultants, Inc., is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its corporate offices are located in the JPMorgan Chase Tower at 600 Travis Street. The company does not disclose its suite numbers or floors in any known literature.
In addition to their corporate office, Markum Consultants has an extensive training facility near the Trinity Bay in Baytown, Texas. This training facility is state-of-the-art in that it contains everything the company needs, including indoor and outdoor ranges and training environments, secure vaults for weapons storage, detention facilities for captured targets, vehicles, and other items critical to their services. There is port and rail access to the facility.
The mission aspect of the game takes place in the Republic of South Sudan, a nation established in 2011. The country is landlocked in the eastern part of Central Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. The capital city is Juba, where the mission officially begins.
From there, the Dragonfly team is searching for the compound of Naeem Zarouq, a notorious child trafficker, and rescue as many children as possible in his compound hidden deep within the northern edge of the Ez Zeraf Game Reserve.
Weather
The South Sudan climate is hot with seasonal rainfall influenced by the annual shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone; rainfall is heaviest in the upland areas of the south and diminishes to the north. The terrain gradually rises from plains in the north and centre to southern highlands along the border with Uganda and Kenya; the White Nile, flowing north out of the uplands of Central Africa, is the prominent geographic feature of the country supporting agriculture and extensive wild animal populations.
History
Since achieving its independence from British and Egyptian rule in 1956, Sudan has experienced recurring civil wars, primarily between the North and South. The 2005 signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) officially ended the North-South conflict and set the date for a referendum on South Sudan’s self-determination in January 2011. Voters overwhelmingly chose independence, and the Republic of South Sudan declared independence on July 9, 2011. The United States recognized the Republic of South Sudan that same day.
After signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the U.S. government established a consulate in Juba on November 11, 2005, to reinforce its partnership with the South Sudanese people.
President Barack Obama declared that the United States formally recognized the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state on July 9, 2011. This followed the historic January referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan, demonstrating full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South
Following its declaration of independence, the United States established full diplomatic relations with the Republic of South Sudan, upgrading the U.S. Consulate General in Juba to a U.S. Embassy on July 9, 2011. The United States appointed Ambassador Barrie Walkley, the U.S. Consul General in Juba, to serve as Chargé d’Affaires pending the appointment of a U.S. Ambassador to Juba. Susan D. Page was confirmed as the Ambassador Designate to the Republic of South Sudan on October 18, 2011.
The U.S. Consulate at Juba was elevated to Embassy status on July 9, 2011, when U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice officially transformed the U.S. Consulate General into the United States Embassy in the new Republic of South Sudan.
In 2016, Naeem Zarouq established his reputation by trafficking an estimated 10,000 children from his hidden compound. It is estimated his trafficking totals are nearing 50,000 in the year 2020, representing approximately 4.1% of the estimated 1.2 million children trafficked each year globally.
Player Perception of This World
As a player of “Into the Darkness,” you will be presented with several child trafficking facts throughout the game to raise further awareness. Several will be included in character dialogue, but additional facts will be presented in information bulletins as the game advances through the chapters.
In addition to the anti-child trafficking messaging, the game will feel as gritty, dark, and dirty as child trafficking and the fight against it. The characters' moods will be reflective of their environment (heat to match their anger and intensity, filthiness of the wet season to mirror the filth of their immersion into the world, etc.). The characters will speak openly and honestly, brutally honest most of the time, without regard to sensibilities and feelings.
There will also be “silver linings” as the game progresses. As each objective and side mission, if selected, is completed, messages of human awareness, love, dignity, and support will be included.
The game is intended to be a punch to the gut, to make you feel sick, but also to tap into your sense of rage and honor to fight to make a better world for innocent children trying to survive their monsters. Players will have to choose between virtues such as revenge and justice. Each choice will directly impact the game experience.
Character Perception of the World
Jordan Parker, the protagonist and character controlled by the player, sees himself/herself as an ordinary person blessed with the skills and desire to try to make a difference in a world where innocent children have no heroes. However, Jordan does not see himself/herself (depending on player selection) as a hero. Jordan’s purpose is to save lives, those of innocent children and his/her teammates on the mission.
Jordan comes to Markum industries for reasons determined by character selection and skills, strengths, and weaknesses that are unique to the selection. These skills, strengths, and weaknesses are based on life in the military and the contractor world. There are no enhancements added to a character to “level the field”; instead, the character’s background and training will come to serve them to be the best at what they do: lead a team of contractors on dangerous missions, without ego and with humility.
Player Awareness of the World
The goal of the game is to take a deep dive into the filth of child trafficking. There are no graphic images of children in the game. Still, there will be uncomfortable conversations had by the characters in the game that will present the player with a deeper understanding of not only how child trafficking happens but also why it happens. There will be talk of slave labor, greed, money, exploitation, and other uncomfortable subtopics. If the game successfully builds the world, the game hopes that two goals are accomplished: First, immense satisfaction in completing the mission of Jordan Parker. Second, at a minimum, an awareness of child trafficking, but hopefully a call to action to contribute to the war against child trafficking in some way.
Stand Up and Fight Human/Child/Sex Trafficking!
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