Position Paper 

Darpan Shukla, D.M.A. Year 2 

Postgraduate Program - M.Cr.A 
Capstone 2018   
Introduction: 
 
The goal of this paper is to articulate my ideas on my Capstone project thus far, 
while also highlighting its connections to my portfolio.  
There are certain ideas and themes that I keep returning to and would like to 
explore further, the paper also seeks to illuminate these recurring thoughts. 
 
Overview: 
 
My project involves the creation of an interactive, playable experience that is 
character-driven - I’d like to tell a fictional story in a fictional setting, with a 
satirical, humorous approach. 
 
The setting would be a University campus, where a student enters the fast paced 
world of dating apps. The satirical focus here would be on the commonly 
perceived idea of the ‘chosen one’ and how modern dating apps tend to muddle 
things up. 
 
I would like to focus on the life of an ordinary college-going student who has to 
navigate the various pitfalls of social media and apps designed to bring people 
closer, in order to construct their own meanings and ideas. 
 
Personal Statement: 
 
A quick disclaimer, I’d like to say that I’m very inactive, socially. WhatsApp is a 
necessary evil, but I have never personally used Tinder, Instagram, Snapchat or 
anything else. This serves as a personal motivation of sorts for me to explore 
these unique spaces. 
 
As a student at Srishti for the last three years, I’ve been at the so-called 
‘frontlines’ of the dating app revolution (Tinder was only introduced to the 
country a couple of years ago), and over the years, I’ve heard a variety of 
interesting, amusing, occasionally terrifying tales.  
 
 

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As such, I’ve always been fixated on the rationale of the person using the dating 
app - why do they do it? What are they hoping to gain? How do they approach 
people on their app of choice?  
More importantly, how do they reduce a person to their constituent parts - a 
profile photo, a biography and some public posts - and then take a call on 
whether or not they’d like to spend time with this person? 
 
It is my belief that apps like Hinge and Tinder mean something completely 
different to a younger generation of people who are able to use them and do so 
with a sense of reckless abandon: these aren’t platforms for consenting adults to 
investigate the possibilities of developing a relationship. Instead, several of their 
liaisons become humorous anecdotes that are shared at parties or in confidence, 
and one can’t help but wonder at what prompts these decisions. 
 
Talking to one’s friends or social circle reveals a preoccupation with finding a 
particular kind of personality on the app, which is why they scour their feeds, 
swiping left and right in a blur - or, another equally popular attitude is, “It’s just 
for a joke, I don’t really expect anything to come of it.”  
These are surface level impressions gained after brief conversations, but I’d like 
to focus on the notion that everyone’s searching for someone else, without any 
real idea of what they’d like to find. 
 
My project intends to create a playable experience that gives users a glimpse of 
this strange, awkward, extremely human space of young adults finding their own 
way through their lives and deciding for themselves what matters to them.  
I do not intend for it to be educational or prolific in its insights, instead focusing 
on humour and satire to defuse what would otherwise be touchy topics for a lot 
of people. 
 
I would just like to say I’m not attacking these apps or the people who use them 
in any way, I’d merely like them to be the focus of my experience, which will 
involve interacting with them. This is an area of personal interest and I’d like to 
focus on it as an avenue for storytelling.   

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Project Development: 
 
The project is being conceived and developed as a video game. This is primarily 
because I want to use the medium as a platform for expression. I do not wish to 
make a film or a similar output because I want players to engage with the game, 
consciously driving the action forward. I want them to play a story, as opposed to 
being told a story. 
 
 

 
While several aspects of the game are yet to be finalized - such as art style, 
gameplay mechanics, etc. - there are certain features that I am certain I would 
like to implement, namely: 
 
● Character Creation - allowing a user to create their own in-game avatar. 
This way, every player gets to create their own student to experience the 
game world. 
 
● Emergent Storytelling - There will be a focus on creating a vibrant in-game 
space for the university. This will allow the world to speak for itself, as 
players interact with everything from notice boards to NPC’s (Non-Player 
Characters) that populate the world. 
 
● Sound Design - I have a very specific idea of what a collegiate/university 
space sounds like and I’d like to incorporate this to the best of my abilities. 
 

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 ● Dialog Driven - I do not intend for the game to be a violent, 
combat-oriented experience, instead focusing on lighthearted moments 
that students can relate to, communicated primarily through text (and the 
occasional audio cue). 
 
 

 
 
I would also like to keep myself open to the idea of collaboration - not with an 
external entity, per se, but possibly with people closer to the game design space 
itself and those who have an idea of the technical nuances required to execute my 
the concepts and ideas in my head. 
 
My last two attempts at game creation have been entirely personal and proved to 
be incredibly daunting. I simply do not possess all the skill sets necessary to 
efficiently make a game within a given timeframe.  
As stated in my portfolio, I enjoy working with people immensely, and would 
love to work with someone on this. 
 

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Audience, Goals and Artefacts: 
 
I have a broad, general audience in mind - anyone over the age of 13, really. I feel 
like the subject matter is relevant to people from all walks of life and of (almost) 
all ages. Also, the nature of the interactive experience as a game allows people to 
engage with it far more simplistically than one would expect. There’s no real 
learning curve - first timers and non-gamers will find that using a keyboard and 
mouse to navigate and control their character is easy, fun and intuitive.  
 
The artefact or output would be a video game, of short-to-medium length 
duration, something that can be completed in an hour and a half or two, 
maximum.  
Again, the nature of the medium requires and encourages players to take their 
time exploring a world and interacting with their environment, which in turn 
increases their overall playtime.  
 
I am also considering the creation of a teaser, compiled from in-game footage, 
which will serve as an introduction to the game. This way, people who do not 
wish to play it can still get an idea of what it’s about and what it’s trying to say. 
My overall goal is to tell an engaging story and have people who play it walk away 
feeling s​ omething -​ positive or negative.  
 
Conclusion: 
 
As mentioned at the start, this project and the stances and opinions I’ve 
heretofore stated all stem from ideas and concepts that have always intrigued me. 
Regardless of what I’ve worked on, the need to tell stories and engage audiences 
has always been at its core.  
 
I consider this project to be an extension of those same themes and ideas. I am 
also extremely comfortable working with a topic of my own choosing that I can 
gather research for and develop on my own terms.  
I would like to make games for a living in the future, and I consider this to be an 
important milestone on that journey.