It’s funny the films that come in and out of your life. A Boy and His Dog was not something that I had spent a lot of time watching when I was younger. Not like Star Wars or Conan or Willow, which were forever in the video player. This film first surfaced while at uni in a sociology class. Nothing will ruin a film as much as studying it in a sociology class.
We pulled this film apart. Tore shreds off of it, in fact. Every critical perspective could fault it. During my first viewing, I quite enjoyed it. Playing Fallout 1 & 2 on repeat for my teenage years (nay, all my years) had a potent influence and I could see elements of those games in it. But alas, through critical analysis I grew to hate it.
Several years later, it came to me again. This time as research for a podcast. I was on the Fallout Lorecast to talk about the film influences of the Fallout games. I watched it again and quite enjoyed it. Though, as many films do. It was not aging well. But it gave me the post-apocalyptic vibes that I enjoyed. Mad Max without the cars, mutated telepathic dogs, and exploration of unusual places and people.
The sexual stuff I never really got. That’s my thing. I don’t particularly care for sex and hornbags in my media consumption. But each to either own.
Last year it appeared again.
In research for BIBLIOTECS. This research involved watching dozens of low-budget films from the last 70 years. In all honestly, A Boy and His Dog scores highly compared many of those. BIBLIOTECS was the game I was going to release last year. A game I’ve now made (mostly) but don’t really know what it is. I thought I knew what it was, but it’s not that. Once it was finished and it play tested, I just sat it down and left it. Left it simmer and maybe be forgotten.
But that Boy and his Dog returned to me again. In a wave of social media posts, highlighting another old film whose far distant future prediction was not quite far enough. So, it got another watch. This time round, while I watched, BIBILIOTECS was on my mind. A game that wasn’t anchored properly. A game that had a lot of promise but also promised too much. A game that I will revisit this year hoping to bring it, and what games are derived from it, into the world.
Now I see BIBLIOTECS as two games. Two very different games set in the same world. Two games that both need to be etched out and encourage and explored. I see a skirmish game in what I have created. One that includes worldbuilding and base building and management. And I see a solo or co-op adventure game. And I see the two games connecting with each other and interacting in a way that I haven’t seen before.
I until I better name, these two projects will be under the banner of The WASTELAND Game. Even though the world they exist in is often lush and green.
If you’re curious, you can get access to BIBLIOTECS here.
Long days and pleasant nights.
Stuart.
