Serenity Forge

Now Playing in 3D
Narrative Game Overview/Story line
(All images are used mainly for reference purposes. )

"In a 2D mindset, you write the story
and usually fall short of living up to it.
In a 3D mind in motion, you live the story,
and usually fall short in trying to express it in words."
- Craig Cloutier, Co-Founder, Splash City Studios

Longstanding greed, corruption and lack of vision have made the residents of
SPLASH CITY as flat, muted and two-dimensional (2D) as the world around them. They are living distracted lives, rather than life on their own terms.

In Splash City, these flat, 2D and oppressed characters (of all races, shapes and sizes) either work at "The Abusement Park" or climb on ladders to get to the top of "The Wall" on Fall Street, hoping they will find happiness someday.

Sign of the Times

Overview:

The goal and overall theme of the game is to encourage 'playing in 3D,' or 'mindfluence,' a growth (3D*) mind in motion, as opposed to a fixed (2D) mindset. The objective of the game is for players (who start out colorless and dimensionless) to maintain their chosen dream as they pass through 2D characters and places throughout Splash City, in order to find their way to where the 3D Cartoon Mentors gather and help them realize their dream. The only way for the player to do so is by becoming more 3D (colorful and dimensional) themselves.

*"What's a 3D person? An innovator. A person who navigates the unknown and surfs the waves of change. Someone who's operating system is set on joy, not fear. " - Cartoon Mentor Mzzz Pink

Players choose which tour to explore Splash City. Miss Guided Light’s tour encourages self-reliance and humility, while Justin Tide’s tour encourages adaptability and flow (surfing), yet both have aspects of each. The game opens at the Boardwalk (First level), and then leads to the Coffee Chop (near The Wall, with Miss Guided Light) or the Comfort Zone Bar & Grill (near the Abusement Park, with Justin Tide).

On Miss Guided Light’s tour near The Wall, players mostly face judgment of their dream by 2D characters, and on Justin Tide’s tour near the Abusement Park, players mostly face doubt of their dream by 2D characters. In both cases, the 2D characters that the players meet along the way represent limiting beliefs they must face and overcome. Failure abounds, but so does possibility.

On the Second level, players “Cross the Threshold” and still meet 2D characters, but they do so while they are navigating distraction in certain places within Splash City. They are required to get a job and stay in these places, where some of those limiting beliefs can become ingrained and entrenched and therefore harder to change.

This leads the player to face the Ordeal (Third Level), as they find themselves stuck or lost on the River of Denial near Lake Wannabe or Humpty Hospital (with Miss Guided Light’s tour), or the Worn Brick Road or Convolution Blvd (with Justin Tide’s). The only way out is to find one of the Cartoon Mentors who appears briefly, and represents an attribute of playing in 3D. This reflects the ability to ask for help, as well as applying focus, practice and perseverance.

Each task requires players to lose currency, work on their dream, and give back to the city (Fourth level). Only then can they find their way to the Mermaid Bar, which is through a tunnel, or mirror, of limiting beliefs they must face in order to learn to laugh at themselves and others, if only for a brief moment, with compassion. This represents self-acceptance.

Once players make it to the Mermaid Bar, they are greeted by many 3D friends and Cartoon Mentors who are also playing in 3D, and they may write and/or share their story of their journey of "playing in 3D" with others.

The game may be extended into narrative episodes that follow the Cartoon Mentors back stories.

Story line:

Starbright Towers

There are two sides to Splash City, represented by The Wall and the Abusement Park.

Located on Fall Street, The Wall is the place to be. 2D Characters (who are colorless and dimensionless) climb on a variety of status ladders (metal, wooden, silver, gold etc.) and acquire the best climbing shoes to get to the top. Near The Wall is UPop, the local university, Sizer Shoe Company (that owns most of Splash City) and Conformity Square, which includes Box Acres and the Temple of Food Superdome, where Splash City sporting events take place. The River of Denial runs though out the city.

The second side to the city is represented by the Abusement Park, where 2D characters work on “ride” jobs – jobs they can’t get off of and barely meet their needs. UPop sits between The Wall and the Abusement Park. Closer to the park is the Comfort Zone Bar and Grill, Dysfunction Junction, Canned Village, and the Worn Brick Road, where the homeless have become part of the muted landscape.

Media outlets include Box Network, WANT radio, and HalluSination Today, and social media outlets Spacebook and Kookle. They are located in Dysfunction Junction where the most popular reality show “Karaoke Carousel” takes place.

Here, 2D characters from all over Splash City sign up to tell their sob stories. The more dramatic the story, the more chances they will get a higher rung on their ladder on The Wall. However, Convolution Boulevard runs around Dysfunction Junction which is easy to get on, but very difficult to get off.

On a hill in the center of the city are Starbright Towers and Peacock Park. This is the revitalized part of town welcome to all to enjoy, where 3D Cartoon Mentors (who are colorful and dimensional) have been improving the city.

Mermaid Bar is where the 3D celebrities of Splash City gather to plan ways to transform their oppressive and divided city, and bring more color and dimension to the city and its residents.

The only way to join their team at the Mermaid Bar is by playing and becoming 3D yourself. This requires making it past the many 2D characters all around the city. They each represent a limited belief holding you back from playing in 3D and realizing your dream, and may keep you stuck in their location and fixed mindset discourse.

Opening:

Miss Guided Light

Boardwalk

You arrive at Splash City via a cruise ship, which drops you off at the Boardwalk. Miss Guided Light, the tour guide, greets you and tells you a little bit about the city you are about to explore. You then choose your dream. To see your dream come true, you need to get to Mermaid Bar (where you get “splashed not smashed”) and meet the 3D Cartoon Mentors, each representing a 3D attribute, who help you realize your dream.

You start with a muted avatar without color and dimension, but as you acquire more 3D attributes on your journey, your avatar becomes more vibrant, colorful and dimensional. For your tour, you are given several types of currencies to use as you explore the city:

Kernels (Splashian money)
3 Give of your Time Passes
3 Help Someone Passes
3 Fix Something Passes
2 Build Something Passes
1 Join a Team Pass
Image Points (status and popularity)
mePhone with Spacebook and Kookle apps, with charger

First Level: The Ordinary World

Miss Guided Light tells you that you have a choice to follow her on her tour, or to go with her friend, surfer Justin Tide, who stands by a beach shack looking out at the calm water, holding a surfboard. On Miss Guided Light’s tour, you get more currency, but Justin’s tour appears more fun and relaxing.

Both Miss Guided Light and Justin Tide are on a journey toward becoming 3D. They fluctuate between a fixed mindset and a 3D mind in motion, but are focused on becoming more 3D. Because of this, they appear more dimensional and colorful than the 2D characters, but not fully vibrant. There are also some 2D characters you will meet who will have some color and dimension, but it often wavers.

Along Miss Guided Light’s tour, Uno occasionally appears as a clue to help you out of a 2D situation, reminding you to use their imagination. On Justin Tide’s tour, Velocity hangs around, reminding you to follow the WHY. Mzzz Pink may suddenly and briefly appear anywhere during the game, reminding youthem that “It’s the Dance.”

On Miss Guided Light’s tour, you pass through a pristine courtyard with the Sign of the Times, near The Wall, and go to the top of the first tower at Starbright Towers. You take the elevator up to the top of the Tower to the Causality Coffee Chop where there are no walls, and you can see the entire broken and rusty city.

Miss Guided Light leaves you, telling you she will be back. Many of the elite 2D characters from Splash City stop here briefly to get their coffee, so you can get a glimpse of Judge MyView, Rob LaSuit, and Wendall Paidoff. You can choose to speak to them and see what they may or may not offer. Uno the guard dog occasionally visits you to offer a clue or two, alongside Mzzz Pink who often lands her neon pink chopper at the top of the Tower. Mzzz Pink made it "off The Wall," and stops in the Coffee Chop for peppermint tea, leaving her pink cards as a tip, which only say "It's the Dance."

Other less famous 2D residents of Splash City will also greet you here. Examples are Noah Tall, Ben T. Donethat and Vicki Pedia. They will each have a request of you. As you choose to speak to these characters, to be able to leave the Coffee Chop, you must handle each one, their cynicism, and their request of you. This may require using some of your currency, so you need to think about how best to use it in order to get to the next level.

Miss Guided Light appears once you have handled these 2D folks well and didn’t sell your dream. It’s not as easy as it appears. Whenever you make a 3D choice, you get splashed with renewed energy.

On Justin Tide’s tour, you head over to the other side of town, near the Abusement Park, and meet some of Justin Tide’s friends at the Comfort Zone Bar and Grill.

Here, like with the Coffee Chop, you choose who you will speak to. However, the 2D characters here don’t want anything from you. They feel like friends and make you feel at home, so you don’t want to leave. As you choose to speak to these characters, to be able to get to the next level, you must listen to their stories. Some may need your help, which may require using some of your currency, and could diminish your image points.

Justin Tide leaves you there, saying he will be back. Vibrant 11 year old Velocity sometimes appears with her observations and clues. The River of Denial runs right behind the Comfort Zone but its shallow here and doesn’t seem threatening.

Justin returns when you have succeeded in both helping others while maintaining your own boundaries, and deciding you really don’t belong here. Again, it’s not as easy as it appears, and often requires giving up your image points.

Causality Coffee Chop

Mzzz Pink & Uno

Justin Tide

Second Level: Crossing the Threshold

If you chose to follow Miss Guided Light’s tour, once you leave the Coffee Chop, you then take a walk over to Conformity Square. Here, you must navigate both the characters and the places you encounter. There are many distractions from the Splash City media and many things to consume along the way. 2D characters will offer to help you in pursuit of your dream, and you must discern whether they have an ulterior motive.

If you chose Justin Tide’s tour, your next stop is Dysfunction Junction and Karaoke Carousel. Like at Conformity Square, here you must maneuver navigating both the characters and the places you encounter, but on a skateboard! Like Conformity Square, 2D characters offer to help you in pursuit of your dream, and you must discern whether they have an ulterior motive. There are plenty of sob stories at the Carousel.

Along your walk, you discover the cruise ship has left you in Splash City! It won’t be back for some time, and so you will have to settle in Splash City for a while. This means you will need to take a job that does not directly pertain to your dream, while still pursuing your dream. You must choose between a job at Humpty Hospital or Lake Wannabe (in Miss Guided Light’s tour) or a job on Convolution Boulevard or the Worn Brick Road (on Justin Tide’s tour). In both places, it’s easy to forget about your dream and slip into nearby River of Denial, where characters are super friendly – as long as you don’t mention your dream. And on the banks of the river, you'll find yourself in the graveyard of broken dreams.

Once you realize you are stuck at Humpty Hospital, Lake Wannabe, Convolution Blvd or the Worn Brick Road, Cartoon Mentors will begin to appear to remind you of your ultimate goal. They are the only way out, but they only appear briefly. If you get caught on the River of Denial here, you are in the deep section where the currents are strong. To get off, you have to choose to speak to one of the many 2D characters nearby in the hopes of getting to a Cartoon Mentor who can help you out of the currents and off the river.

Third Level: The Ordeal

When you finally find a Cartoon Mentor, you can video chat with them in the cloud to help you get off the River of Denial or wherever you became stuck, but you must agree to give back to Splash City. They help you get back to the Boardwalk, and both Miss Guided Light's and Justin Tide's tours merge here. Each Mentor is involved in some aspect of transforming Splash City and represents an attribute of becoming 3D. The Cartoon Mentors work with you so you can learn and express yourself and your unique gifts, but working on your dream requires you to use a lot of your currency, in unexpected ways.

Miss Guided Light If you pick Miss Guided Light, you are given a green light for your healing practice, where you will be able to help patients at Humpty Hospital. However you will work with Rita Rigid about changing hospital policies to make them more compassionate.

Justin Tide If you pick Justin Tide, you will learn to surf from a master, but you will be put in charge of finding effective ways to clean up of the waters around Splash City,

NRG: If you pick NRG, he gives you a boost to begin your new business, but this requires you to become involved in NRG's favorite project to reform oppressive policies at the Abusement Park. You must try and turn the heads of the CEO’s who set the policies in the first place.

Lisa Hearditall: If you pick Lisa Hearditall, she will help you uncover your blocks to rewrite your story of playing in 3D but you must share your story at the Karaoke Carousel to characters who don’t want to hear it, and don’t want to be inspired. They only want their sob stories in order to win more Image Points.

Ms. Bee Haven: If you pick Ms. Bee Haven, she offers to give you a studio where you can create your masterpiece, but once its finished, you must display it at the Comfort Zone Bar and Grill where it will be judged and critiqued by characters who don’t care to understand you.

Vortex: If you pick Vortex you will get to freely explore the city with him, but you will have to plant seeds of hope in some very tough places, like Worn Brick Road, to characters who reject your offerings of hope.

Al Chemi: If you pick Al Chemi, you will spend your days meditating in deep contemplation at the Boardwalk, but afterward you will have to go to Humpty Hospital to teach meditation to characters who think meditation is a joke.

Ms. Starbright: If you pick Ms. Starbright, she will offer to help you achieve fame and fortune, but you will have to work with Wendall Paidoff and Rob LaSuit to try and get them to release the necessary funds to revitalize Peacock Park, a project they could care less about.

Mzzz Pink: If you pick Mzzz Pink, you join her in her studio where she teaches you the true meaning of the dance of life, but once you learn, you must teach this dance to characters on The Wall who only know how to march to someone else's orders. You have to do so on Fall Street, where it’s almost impossible to get people’s attention.

Velocity If you pick Velocity, you co-produce a film on Sizer Shoe's environmental impact upon Splash City. Here you can bring awareness and make a difference for the planet, but you must convince Stella Stilletto to give you access to Sizer Shoe.

Uno If you pick Uno, you have a free pass around Splash City to do whatever you like. But you must also guard the city from invaders of all kinds. The only way to spot them is by keeping your boundaries up, sniffing and growling when needed.

Fourth Level: The Road Back

Once you finish working on your dream, it’s time to put together the clues you’ve gathered to find the Mermaid Bar, where your chosen Cartoon Mentor awaits you in person. To get there, you have a choice to go through a tunnel or to wait in a very long line at the How-to Book store. If you choose the How-to Book store route, once you get to the Mermaid Bar you are cordoned off, unable to mingle or participate in activities. You can only watch on the sidelines. You made it to the Mermaid Bar, but you didn’t fully obtain your dream. You have to try again.

If you choose the tunnel, some of the 2D characters you may have met along the way will show up again. Now in the tunnel, they are distorted like a fun house mirror, helping you laugh at them and yourself, in compassion. But whether you do or not, you are rewarded just by going through the tunnel. You’ve arrived at the Mermaid Bar! You will then be greeted by your chosen Cartoon Mentor, who surprises you with news that you are now connected with the places and people who can help you realize your dream.

Here, you may write the new story about yourself playing in 3D in a journal (or playbook) and, if you want to, share your story to those who truly want to hear it. When your story is authentic, you get splashed by the mermaid, a high honor in Splash City!

How-to Bookstore

The Psychology Behind Now Playing in 3D
“The more we realize that most of our views of ourselves, of others, and of presumed limits regarding our talents, our health, and our happiness were mindlessly accepted by us at an earlier time in our lives, the more we open up to the realization that these too can change. And all we need do to begin the process is to be mindful.” – Ellen Langer, PhD. Mindfulness

Objective: Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

“We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.” – Carol S. Dweck, Mindset, The New Psychology of Success

Playing Splash City promotes a 3D mind in motion (Mindfluence*), over a 2D fixed mindset. The city is divided into two factions of thinking: linear, hierarchical (The Wall) and addictive and circular (The Abusement Park), reflected in the 2D characters encountered throughout the game.

The objective is to get to the Mermaid Bar, a place where you are “Now Playing in 3D.” The game integrates Daniel Goleman’s five aspects of emotional intelligence:

Self-awareness.
Self-regulation.
Motivation.
Empathy.
Social skills.

*From the Now Playing in 3D prologue: "A mindset is a fixed state of mind. In contrast, mindfluence is a mind in motion. One with mindfluence operates multi-dimensionally; is aware of, accesses and assesses three simultaneous states: analytical, emotional and subconscious. These states are optimally expressed in a fusion of emotional intelligence and critical thinking and applied in action over time until they develop into a fully integrated, coherent and functional operating system. Individuals utilizing this operating system are playful, self-reliant, acutely perceptive, adaptive, radiant, and live in a state of wonder. They are attuned to others and the environment in an open, synchronous yet influential relationship." - Deborah Whitaker & Craig Cloutier

Our Culture as reflected in Splash City: The Wall and The Abusement Park
"Job engagement, according to Gallup, is low. Distrust in management, according to the Edelman trust index, is high. Job satisfaction, according to the Conference Board, is low and has been in continual decline. The gig economy is growing, economic insecurity is growing, and wage growth overall has stagnated. Fewer people are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance than in the past, according to Kaiser Foundation surveys. And a strikingly high percentage of people, even those covered by insurance, say they forgo treatment and medications because of cost issues.

I look out at the workplace and I see stress, layoffs, longer hours, work-family conflict, enormous amounts of economic insecurity. I see a workplace that has become shockingly inhumane...

No one would ever stand up — or at least not many people — and say, “We clear-cut this forest” or “We took the top of this mountain off for coal, and aren’t we proud.” But 3G Capital will proudly stand up and say, “We’ve laid off one-fifth of the workforce. Let’s pat ourselves on the back!”

And we tolerate it. The point I make several times is that there are behaviors with respect to the physical environment that we have decided are impermissible. You are no longer permitted to burn whatever you want and throw it into the air, or dump whatever chemical you want into the water. Companies have accepted this and now parade their environmental bona fides.

Meanwhile, these companies are engaging in all kinds of things that are harming the human beings who work for them. These are things they should report on, and these are things that we should stop tolerating...

I didn’t think the workplace would be the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. And, by the way, when I talk to HR people, they say the numbers we have are certainly wrong: They are too low.

I want to wake people up. This is a serious issue that has serious consequences for corporate performance and for people’s well-being. We should care about people’s psychological and physical health, not just about profits." - Jeffrrey Pfeffer, Author, Dying for a Paycheck

Format: Story & Cartoon: The Hero’s Journey, and the Projective Nature of Cartoon

The format of Splash City is based on Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. There are four levels, with increasing difficulty, reflecting the four quadrants of this cycle:

"We have not even to risk the adventure alone,
for the heroes of all time have gone before us.
The labyrinth is thoroughly known.
We have only to follow the thread of the hero path,
and where we had thought to find an abomination,
we shall find a god.
And where we had thought to slay another,
we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outward,
we will come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone,
we will be with all the world."
- Mythologist Joseph Campbell

When arriving in Splash City, players choose a dream from the ones presented to them that’s most similar to a dream they may have in real life. If they don’t have a dream in mind, they pick from the ones provided which align with attributes of the Cartoon Mentors.

"The cartoon is a VACUUM into which our identity and awareness are pulled... an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel in another realm. We don't just observe the cartoon, we BECOME it!"
- Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art

CARTOON MENTORS: 3D Attribute; Concept/Title

Uno: Imagination, Focus; Imagine That!

Miss Guided Light: Humility, Purpose; I Will Find My Way

Velocity: Curiosity, Momentum: Follow the Why

Justin Tide: Surfing, Flow; Rise Up to the Wave

Ms. Bee Haven: Design, Creativity; See the Music

Al Chemi: Stillness, Reflection; AHA! I'm Possibility

NRG: Resourcefulness, Responsibility; Own the Outcome

Vortex: Change, Individuality, Serendipity; Make Friends with Chaos

Lisa Hearditall: Story, Listening, Understanding: Listen to Yourself

Ms. Starbright: Spirit, Intuition, Sacred, Believe; We Are Stardust

Mzzz Pink: Love, Courage, Empathy; It's the Dance!

List of 2D Characters:

Noah Tall
Vicki Pedia
Nate Sayer
Ben T. Donethat
Howie How-to
Wendall Paidoff
Lee Rentless
Rob Lasuit
Reverend Al Dente
Tony Glutt
Gerry Spinner
Victor Vaccum
Stella Stilletto
Chelsea Chattterly
Martin Doneright
Mr. Wasgonnado
Lance E. Lost
Bob Stuckintime
Chloe Clueless
Debi Dewit
The Default Family
Patsy Gressive
And more!

Mermaid Bar