The Creative Rabbit Hole

Our team has been very, “nose to the grindstone” these past few weeks working on an incredible project. While we can’t share the specific details just yet, I wanted to start this blog by saying we at Dyscordian are extremely excited to share what we’ve accomplished as soon as we can. The project is pushing our limits in the best ways: stretching out into new territories, finding new passions, making some humorous mistakes, and making something that is delightfully magical. Thank you for following along so far, and be on the lookout for some brand new material.

On to the blog!

Previously we’ve looked into how our team creates our characters, environments, and core game structure, but this time I’d like to take a look at what some of the sources of our inspiration are. From fiction to reality, there’s plenty of places to get ideas, but one I’d like to focus on is photography. “A picture’s worth a thousand words” is cliche, but only because it’s true! Such as:

Magnificent right? The photo is breathtaking all by itself, but it makes one wonder–

What made those holes? Why are there so many? What’s that strange vapor in the air?

Pretty soon the brain starts to pick apart the picture until it just seems sort of… other-worldly.

The best part about answering those questions is that there are no right answers, not in the world creative science-fiction. Chemistry, geology, animal studies, physics, engineering, ecology, environmental studies, and even geographical theories could be applied here to explain this, but the fun part comes from combining recognizable science with the bizarre and unobserved.

Perhaps it was a tunneling abomination, taking cover from the blinding sun that glints off the looming snow mounds. Mayhaps it was the site of localized explosions, struggling in vain to demolish the ice and retrieve the valuable frozen vegetation beneath. Worse still, what if they are the only remaining evidence of those who have come before, sucked down to their deaths as the snow gave way beneath their feet?

But soft! Another example:

An enchanting photo of something that seems super fake but is completely real, and a place to visit right here on earth! Imagine if this were truly unreal though, straight out of fiction. Imagine coming across this on an expedition. You’ve never seen anything like this before and neither has any of your friends or family or even co-workers. What would you think?

Leftover lights from a long dead civilization, the power source damaged, sending the false sky a-flicker? Fairies dancing on the ceiling, their footsteps glowing in the dark? The drool of an unseen creature, breathing in the hollow spaces of the walls, or perhaps under the unnervingly calm and cloudy water?

The rule of threes really likes to end on a morbid note, doesn’t it?

I’d like to end with this picture:

What is it? A crystal, a data storage unit, a futuristic stained glass sculpture? A limited edition letter opener is my guess, but we want to hear your thoughts! This is the true, sometimes silly, nature of creativity and inspiration. It comes from nowhere, makes you think (or just raise your eyebrow a little), and pesters you with questions until you’ve got something no one else does. Or maybe, you got the same idea as someone else but now there are two of you and you can flesh out your idea out even more!

You always know where to find us on your favorite social media platforms so tell us what you think, and who knows, we might all end up on the same funky wavelength.

-Griffin