Research Methodology The best way to research my Dad There are many ways I could go to research Dad - Video, audio, photos, quotations, documentation of possessions and more. With this information and content, I can create a structured and interesting profile on Dad that will help generate some ideas as to what to include in this environment. So far, I’m thinking of using the following methods:
Interview
Quotes
Photos
To start the profile, I think just simply talking to Dad and asking relevant and in-depth questions about himself is the best way to get started. I could subtly record the conversations, with his permission, and then write them out in a transcript. In my opinion, this is a much better method than video as cameras can make people feel self conscious and so the results could be different than if that pressure wasn’t there.
Observing and listening to Dad every day when he speaks in conversation, I can find out more about the way he thinks and how he feels in a way that’s unprovoked, therefor making the research quite raw and honest. As I can’t have a microphone recording the whole time, I’ll jot down notes or remember these quotes for later.
Not photos of Dad, but photos of things he does, his possessions, photos that interest him and that he chooses to share - all of these can be helpful in gathering information.
Interviews with Dad
Audio Transcripts Ethnographic research through Dad
Quick Questions These introductory questions were essentially to get Dad thinking about himself in a way that he ordinarily wouldn’t. I also didn’t want this “interview” to feel like a barage of questions or some sort of therapy, I wanted him to get into a feeling of open-mindedness so he’d perhaps speak his mind hen it came to the questions afterward. If you could be any animal, what would it be? Two things: A bird because you have total and utter freedom, nothing restraining you you can just go up and up, no roads, tracks, can go anywhere. I’d be a hoopoo or cuckoo because you’re in a warm country when it’s cold here, and here when it’s warm in the summer. Second is a Dolphin. They’ve just got the best lifestyle - Warm water, sociable, intelligent, live long, not many predators because they’re almost at the top of the food chain.
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If you could choose any age to be, what would it be? Probably the age I am now - late 40’s, little wiser, more chiled out, still able to do things and still have a future. If I was a teenager he couldn’t ride a bior or anything like that. What would you love to learn to do? Play piano If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Dean Martin - I just think he’s super cool and from that 40’s/50’s era that I love
Do you prefer to save money or What would be the first thing spend it? you did if you won the lottery? Save it Work out how much needed for a sustainable lifestyle, divide rest What’s your favourite song, with kids and various charities, musical artist? and only take what I needed. More than Words by Extreme Why have more than you need? Star people by George Michael You share the wealth. How would you pass an hour of Who do you look up to? free time? Opa* Tony and the traditional Tinker in the garage. values he held and I try to carry them through.
What do you miss most about being a kid? Having no responsibilities and the freedom. Don’t have to worry about bills, mortgages, food - it just turn up for you on a plate. Would you ever want to be famous for anything? A talented motorcycle builder with a distinctive style so someone would say ‘that’s cool, that’s an Arrowsmith bike.’ If our house was burning down, besides your family, what object would you take with you? The painting of Mum’s mum that Grandpa painted, Opa Tony’s Triumph memorabilia, couldn’t leave that.
*Opa & Oma: The dutch way of saying Grandpa or Grandma
Motorcycles and More Motorcycles are a really big part of who Dad is. He’s owned all sorts of bikes since his father introduced him to them at the age of 16. I wanted to go more into depth about what makes bikes so compelling to him during this interview. We also go into other subjects such as freedom, his philosophy on products, and his passion for the era surrounding the mid 20th Century.
Why ride a bike? It makes you feel alive, it’s total freedom. The feeling of the wind, it’s like an awakening that’s you can’t replicate in a car, even in a convertible. There’s nothing around, in front, behind to hamper your vision or feeling just a set of bars and a dial. You feel everything, your senses are being used all the time, you see the scenery, hear the sound of the engine and the wind, the feeling of the wind tugging your jacket, you smell the cow shit you just del everything. Freedom of what? Constraints of regular life and you can express yourself on a bike and it gives me time to reflect and think. I like going with other people who are likeminded people - you don’t get that with cars. it’s freedom from the complication of life itself, for example people’s attitudes now. Shouting adverts that bombards you 24/7, fighting for a smaller piece of the cake. Everyone’s worth it now and deserve better because we’re all apparently living shitty lives. A good instance of complication I was in Boots the other day looking for hand seam, and I found one for for every need: Use this one when it’s warm, this one when it’s cold, this for sensitive skin, this for different colour skin... I just want hand cream. I don’t need all this bollocks just give me hand cream. Upstairs we have caring shampoo - what’s that? What’s the other shampoo? Uncaring shampoo?”
Do you feel free? I feel more free now in myself compared to when I was in an office where I was restrained, had to talk to people I didn’t want to, had to ask anyone to do anything, had targets to reach, had to be in and leave at certain times. I’m much more free in myself now. Riding now is an extension of my freedom that doesn’t have to be done all the time because I feel more free in doing what I’m doing now - I choose who I work for, have no one to ask for anything, only have my own goals to reach, can come and go as I please, although within reason - I still have responsibilities to banks, the tax man occasionally, mortgages, bills, but the money is for me, not for a boss or company, I’m not lining anyone else’s pockets except my own now. What would you have if not a bike? Hotrod, American 30’s, 40’s, 50’s cars. Motors from that era are just so elegant, works of Art and were made to be admired, but not like today where they cater for your ego, they were modest and simple. They don’t drive themselves, it’s what I would call raw motoring.
Why make your own bike and not get someone else to/ get an old looking bike? I would have got a 30’s bike but they’re usually really expensive, and not as reliable. Therefor I was forced to buy a later bike, but hated the look of 80’s bikes. So by buying an 80’s bike, stripping it back and making it look like a 50’s bike, it has a degree of authenticity to it, looks the way I want and is reliable. It’s almost to try and honour the bikes of the past and express my passion for that era and style. More the style than the mechanics? No it’s both. Everything nowadays is over-complicated, it doesn’t need to be. I believe more fun can be had with the simple things in life than modern complicated stuff. For example, if something goes wrong with what I have to I want something doing to it, generally I can do it myself - saving on cost whilst gaining a feeling of satisfaction. Modern cars and bikes have to be given to the dealer along with your check book and you say “help yourself”. There’s no soul to modern things, it’s all very “clinical” and “sterile”. Old cars and bikes have a soul to them and are understandable. They each have a character and were designed by passionate people, not computers and wind tunnels. That’s a term I heard at Mercedes when they changed the way the cars were built in the 90’s. And they were designed by engineers, not accountants. 50’s, 40’s cars were generally the same but were designed for the eye and beauty, to be admired. Now, it’s a case of putting it in a wind tunnel, seeing how smooth it can be, get the fuel consumption right and it’s still shit.
Only a few products now that have a lovely elegance and tactile feel that makes you want to touch and use them - Apple products are a good example. The feeling of an iPhone is just better, I don’t know what it is, it just is. Perhaps expensive cameras to a degree. Dyson what a cool hoover, things like that. You can feel the passion from the people who designed them. Most other products now don’t have any passion or personality to them, they’ve all been moulded and come off the same factory line. I find new high-end vehicles to be just bollocks and cater for people with attitudes and egos. In the 40’s/ 50’s, you’d ave perhaps three types of car. Now, you can get a car for any need you can imagine, and companies are trying too hard to fill every facet of the market. No fun in driving modern cars, no one says “I love driving this little car,” when do you hear that anymore? People’s attitudes in the 40’s and 50’s were simpler too, they were happier with a lot less and they helped eachother out more. People now have so much more but are less happy and are always searching for that thing that’s going to make them happy. People think that buying materialistic things makes them happy - it doesn’t. You have to be happy within yourself.
What sort of places do you like to ride in? Long winding roads where you can stop, have a tea and a chat. Country lanes where there’s no traffic, beautiful scenery, nothing blocking your view, and it’s all natural. Where would you love to ride anywhere in the world? Land’s End to Jonna Groats UK tour West coast of America Europe - Spain, Switzerland, Alpes Same kind of country roads If you could keep everything you wanted to, would you? I would keep things if I had the space, but I would have it on display not hidden away. It would be in order and I would know where everything is. I can’t stand not knowing where something is. If you can’t be bothered to put something back then don’t get it out in the first place.
When he was 5, Dad moved from Curaçao to Puerto Rico, then from Puerto Rico back to England in 1975. His childhood in Curaçao was a very laid back existence, beaches and swimming most weekends and larking about in boats. When he went to Puerto Rico, he went to an American school with his brother, Martin. He told me he felt a bit of a “nit wit” each morning, having to take part in the morning routine of standing up with the rest of his class to place their hand on their heart and swear allegiance to America. “It was all bollocks”. He knew he wasn’t an American. Dad lived for his weekend, mostly spent at the beach with friends, making BBQ’s, snorkelling and chilling out. Dad played American football at times, but really
Dad and Martin fishing for crab in Puerto-Rico
found the American lifestyle too overwhelming. As things begun to get more and more out of hand in Puerto Rico, with the Spanish not wanting Americans and British there, they started letting off bombs and kidnapping people, all a bit much for a young family. Shortly after, his Father decided that enough was enough and returned to England - his company also had an office here so it was an easier transition than most other families would find. They lived in a lovely bungalow by the river Thames in Staines and this is where dad really enjoyed himself. He arrived in England with an American accent, but that soon went. Dad got into Pike fishing, canooing, shooting, poaching, and motorbikes - a busy childhood. Dad almost had this cut short when he was around 13, as he was cycling along the towpath about 7.30 in the morning, on his way back from poaching with his air rifle that he could take apart under his jacket. Cycling towards him was a local Police man. Dad managed to kept his poker face and happily they just nodded and said “morning!” to each other!
Martin and Opa Tony on the family dingy in Puerto-Rico
Dad, Opa Tony and Oma As a kid, Dad had always imagined imagined a life as a cartoonist and so sat in the class and drew cartoons instead of working. Later on, he decided he wanted to become a gamekeeper - although that was a very difficult career to get into, but the idea of doing what he did as a kid on a more professional level as a living was very attractive. But then, around the age of 14, his Dad started to suffer from cancer and life started to change around the house. He died at the age of 50, shortly after my Dad turned 16, and all of their lives were turned upside down. He was 50 leaving a wife of 39 and 2 teenage boys. College was the last thing on anyone’s mind at this point, so after Dad left school he got a job on a trout farm, something he really enjoyed, being outdoors every day of the week.
Dad and Opa Tony force feeding Martin a strawberry. Martin hasn’t eaten another since.
Work life and Career: Simon Arrowsmith Paper boy 7 days a week Trout farm - 2 years Building with Johan - 2 years Volkswagen 2-3 years Nissan - Hatton Cross Renault London - Acton - 3-4 years London Life insurance - 1 year Mercedes - 4 years Curchods - 9 years Gardening
Trout Farm
Building Trade
Dad began his working life at the age of 16 on a trout farm raising trout. He worked in all seasons of the year, but if he could have made money from it he would ever have left - it was like being a gamekeeper, feeling like part of life and being amongst nature made him feel alive. He learned the value of money early on, having to pay his mum rent on the £25 a week he earned.
Dad has always been a handy man and able to work extremely well with his hands, and this is a trait he picked up whilst working as a labourer for two years, as well as what he’d learn from his Dad years before. He’d dig foundations for extensions, make loft conversions and more. He left this when he met my Mum to join Volkswagen as they both had Beetles.
Life Insurance Dad moved to the parts department at Volkswagen for a couple of years, then sold commercial vehicles. From there he worked at Nissan at Hatton Cross for three years, then Renault London in Acton for 3-4 years.
day that I joined Andrew looked at the job and thought - I’m not gonna like night and having a full week
It was at Renault that he met Dominic Ingram who convinced him, with a lovely idea of the perfect lifestyle in London, to sell life insurance. It didn’t turn out to be so romantic, as his daily routine started in the newsagents buying a copy of “Loot Magazine,” and phoning people out of it to try and convince them to come to his office and sell them life insurance. Bearing in mind he was on commission and had hated the job, he lost a lot of money doing it.
The job at Curchods was just a repetition of the things he hated from before - having targets, worrying where the next bit of business was going to come from, phoning people up, doing their paperwork and deal-making, which sometimes ended in no sale at all. In this industry he found “you’re only as good as your last month, and trying to put a deal together just feels scabby, there’s no honesty in it.” After 9 years all interest was gone and he wasn’t justifyin ghimself within the business anymore. The industry took a turn for the worst in 2008, so when the offer of redundancy came in 2009,...
In 1995, the only way Dad envisioned freeing himself from his hellish job in London was to go back into car sales, and so landed himself a job at Mercedes-Benz. At this point though, it was clear to Dad that he was so bored with selling. He hated having targets and trying to convince someone to buy something, “My thought is that if someone wants to buy something, they’ll buy it. If they don’t, it’s not a problem.” Finding it hard to leave the car industry having been branded a car salesman, he took the opportunity to work with a friend in the mortgage industry.
Gardening offered him more than just a new job - For years he had wanted to be his own boss and he loves being outdoors, reminding him in a way of his time at the trout farm. He also loves working with his hands to make things. With this opportunity, he started Arrowsmith Gardening Services Limited in 2009 with a Volkswagen Golf and average consumer-grade tools, but has worked his way up to bigger, better, professional machinery and expertise, making this job his full-time occupation. The feelings and thoughts he gets now when waking up in the morning are what gardens he needs to see, knows what he’s going to earn and gets on with it - Nothing like the sickness and nausea of going into the office to sell things.
It was a case of having to be successful early on in the business that motivated him most - he knew that if he didn’t give it his all, he would have to take a step backwards and work for someone else again. Gardening was an opportunity to do something that was without a doubt really hard work, but something he had an interest in and that could be nurtured. It was also way to prove to himself that he could make it without having to rely on someone to give him a salary. None of the early stress in making the business could mask the freedom he felt by leaving Curchods. Having since upgraded to professional equipment, gaining more knowledge and experience over the years, he’s now cemented in this business and “this is now me.”
Do you miss anything from the past? And were the jobs you didn’t like necessary to help you appreciate what you do now?
Do you feel free now?
“I miss the trout farm and building industry to a degree. But it was necessary to help me appreciate what I’m doing now. After the shit I’ve gone through for 20 years, I now appreciate what I do even if the weather’s not good. I can now reflect back and either be doing what I’m doing now, or back in London with ‘Loot’ making cold calls. “I go back to the office sometime to help out with things and I look around and think you poor bastards.” By going through the crap it helps you appreciate hat you do have. I think if you don’t go through the crap, you don’t appreciate what you have.”
Does it feel like an art in the skill required to do what you do? “In a way it does, looking at a crappy garden and making it into something nice. There’s a lot of back breaking work involved in it, but I wouldn’t call it a skill but you do have to have an eye for it.”
He feels more free now compared to when he was in an office - restrained, had to talk to people I didn’t want to, had to ask anyone to do anything, had targets to reach, had to be in and leave at certain times. I’m much more free in myself now.
Does the job feed this need to have everything in its own place and tidy in some way? “In a way it does, looking at a crappy garden and making it into something nice. There’s a lot of back breaking work involved in it, but I wouldn’t call it a skill but you do have to have an eye for it.”
What would you have done, realistically, if you hadn’t gone down this path? “I would probably look to become an apprentice and then become a carpenter because it’s good money and I love working with timber. I couldn’t do this before because my employer already had an apprentice, and things just played out the way they did so I never really thought about it after. I’d love to make big roofs or big barns, working with big timbers or pieces of oak, love things like that.”
It’s really the most simple and sometimes even free things that make Dad happy. He loves being outdoors, which is something his job provides and is especially more enjoyable during the summer. Even on days off from his physically demanding job, he rarely lazies out on sofa but rather busies himself outside in our own garden or walking, tinkering in the garage with the garage door open, or riding his bike. His bike is really something that defines who Dad is. Since his Dad bought him his first at the age of 15, he has never not owned a motorbike - he loves them. He loves their remarkable simplicity, the “total freedom” they bring, their inexpensiveness and the way it brings one’s senses to life. He’s owned everything from sports bikes to off-road, but has found true happiness in making his own. Using an old clunky 1980 Yamaha SR500 as a starting point, he’s created something that allows him to express his personality.
Much of his personality is defined by his passion for the era ranging from around the 1920’s to ‘60’s - we’ve often joked that he is from the past. His get-up-and-go attitude, happiness to help others and ability to lead a simple life is reminiscent of someone of that time period. He finds the simple 50’s lifestyle and the old retro style of design irresistible, and has managed to incorporate certain items from the past into our house, but even more so into his garage and solely into his bike. Making the bike himself was the only option he was comfortable with as it gave him the ability to make his own choices and have complete control over
it. He wanted it to have a unique personality, and not be something that feels manufactured - “built by passionate people, not computers and wind tunnels.” So really, Dad’s bike is an inseparable part of him. The act of riding is an experience he hasn’t let go of from when introduced to it by his own Dad. It is simple, “raw motoring”, that makes him feel alive and breaks him free from “the constraints of everyday life,” giving him time to reflect and think. It’s also something that he’s poured his passion and personality into, and has done so with his own hands.
The thought that having the biggest, newest and most expensive things makes you important is a mentality that Dad loathes. “People nowadays think that buying materialistic things makes you happy - it doesn’t. You have to be happy within yourself.” The only real reason why he thinks people can get into this state of thinking is to compensate for something else.
selfishness
Dishonesty
Coming from a caring family, there are certain things that Dad can’t understand or abide in some people’s attitude and the way they approach others. “People are just so selfish nowadays, they don’t want to do anything for anyone unless there’s something in it for them. They don’t do it just because they’d like to.”
Especially by the people who have the most power and responsibility, like politicians and bankers.
health and safety
Aggression
As a kid, Dad remembers all the things he used to do that kids now don’t and blames the Health and Safety system for this. Because of these regulations, “people can’t do anything anymore because they’re wrapped in cotton wool, and if, God forbid, someone does get hurt, there’s always someone else to blame and they end up getting sued. So it’s no wonder things are the way they are.”
Particularly in driving, aggression in people is another thing that really angers him. The way that those with large “aggressive looking cars sit up your arse to intimidate you and make you go faster or move out of the way,” is just unnecessary and pointless.
The only time Dad has spent all day on a sofa in front of the TV is when he’s too ill to do anything else. Keeping busy doing something is a necessity for him, and he can’t understand how people can sit around doing nothing. He’s also very organised as he can’t stand not knowing where something is when he needs it “If you can be bothered to get something out, you should be bothered enough to put it back.” Dad also notices what he calls a “lack of standards,” and one are he pointed out was in dress code - “you go to the Co-Op now and see mothers with their kids walking around in their pyjamas! They look like they’ve just fallen out of bed.”
Valued Possessions Opa Tony’s Triumph Tiger 80 from the 1940s was one of the classics that he owned. Unfortunately he sold the bike in the ‘60’s, though left the manual. And just a couple of years ago, we found a newspaper article about a crash he had on that bike, the replacement parts list, insurance settlement and invoice for when the bike was repaired. Assembled with a small picture of Opa Tony with his Tiger 80, Dad made a memorabilia frame of all these things. This has such a great narrative and is something that Dad told me in the interview he couldn’t ever let go of.
tieing in with Dads’ love for the early to mid 20th century, he collects retro objects when he can. He loves products that have a soul authenticity and character to them, and don’t feel like they’ve just come out of a plastic mould. They have a tactile feel that makes you want to hold them. The only modern products Dad enjoys are Apple, Dyson products or expensive cameras because they were designed by passionate people, and you could feel that when you hold one of those objects.
Harpoon Gun Evinrude outboard engine Old pictures These are some of the things that remain from Dads’ time growing up in Puerto Rico and are on display around our house. Opa Tony, Dad and Martin would set out onto the sea water on a rubber dingy, powered by the Evinrude engine. Once out a fair distance, they would anchor up, drop into the water and swim down within shallow corals and use the harpoon gun to shoot things like starfish. It sounds
ridiculous and unethical now, but back then that was a normal thing to do in Puerto Rico. There are two pictures on our mantle pice that Dad loves as it shows a similarity between the males in the Arrowsmith family: they all ride bikes.
Snap-On Toolkit The Snap-On toolkit, which also belonged to Opa Tony, is probably the most sentential piece of equipment in the garage. It lives up to Dads’ criteria of having a character, authenticity, and is built with really high quality. It’s also extremely rare to find one of this age, in such good condition with all the original tools. This sits atop Dads’ work bench, which was built by Opa Tony as well, and despite all of the things in the garage, this is the first thing you see.
Analysis There are four main things that I’ve noticed whilst conducting this
ethnographic research on Dad
Love of bikes
Narrative
Freedom
Simplicity
This has always been something Dad wanted, especially whilst working in jobs he hated. He finds freedom in his bike and in being his own boss.
This ties in with the 50’s and also influences his life in the choices he makes - he keeps things simple and avoids the complicated.
Love for his bike in particular - he mentioned it even when we weren’t on the topic during interviews.
I think having a grid like this with four major influences will help me make a focused and accurate representation of my Dad in this 3D environment. With what I’ve collected from my Dad, I’ve
The story o Dad’s life is an interesting one - he had to do what he didn’t want to for so long, and has now finally managed to break free and do what he does want to do.
got a tremendous narrative to work with and lots of material. The way that Dad speaks literally is really helpful too as that will help me interpret what he says in a literal way. This will make
my environment all the more interesting because I can add and abstract these things, rather than solely replicate real life objects.
End of
Booklet One.
Early 2D/ 3D Concepts 50’s Elevator In this concept, the environment revolves around a 50’s style elevator that takes the player to afferent experiences. Start - Ground floor: On the ground floor is a garden in the shape of the Goodwood revival* grounds, encased by the racing track that Dad could ride his bike on. It also contains an open garage where all the bikes he has owned belong.
Concept 2
Level 1: In the living room, players can watch clips from Dad’s favourite films. Opa Tony’s Triumph Tiger 80 is the centrepiece of the room, living up to Dads’ dream of having a bike in the living room.
I think it would be interesting to represent the way his previous jobs held him back and made him do things he didn’t want to do. This sketch on the right shows what could be a starting point in the game, a hill that would contain objects from these jobs like furniture and products, and these could be arranged in a maze type shape. The objects would pop up and down creating small opportunities for the player to progress.
This concept takes Narrative and simplicity into account, and has essences of the 50’s and Dad’s current motorbike.
Level 2: Models of Dads’ favourite musicians would play live music here - the player could choose between listening to an orchestra playing classical music, The Rat Pack or Glen Miller. Level 3: In the triple garage, Dad has all of his tools and toys.
At the top the player walks into Dad’s garage, an escape room from these jobs that are now in the past. This garage is on the edge of what I call the “normality world,” symbolising how Dad happily isn’t involved in that now that he’s self employed. This part of his life is now behind him.
Level 4: Possibly a bedroom, but would likely be replaced by a 40’s Jitterbug Dancing - Something else that Dad would love to take up.
In the garage his tools, possessions and bike belong, but the bike is interactive and can be ridden. When the player mounts the bike, the garage door would open onto a large natural land reminiscent of the kinds of places Dad enjoys riding in. This serves as a reward, as does his bike in real life, for persevering through the tough times and now he has time to do what he wants to do on the bike.
Concept flaws The only thing wrong with this at this stage is that it doesn’t really live up to Dad’s preference of simplicity. It also doesn’t really contain any narrative, apart from having the things he likes. A narrative would be essential to make something meaningful and contain substance beyond 3D models.
*The Goodwood revival is an annual event that Dad attends that steps back in time. Attendees dress up in old clothes, and get a chance to see old cars, planes and bikes in a 50’s themed town.
Development
John O’Groats Side view of terrain
Draft floor plan This draft floor plan is the shape of the UK and signifies Dad’s dream tour of England, from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland, with the dark solid road guiding him along that. The dashed lines are a guid for more relaxed winding roads that can be explored for fun. The land raises and dips throughout the environment to add interest and vary the speed of the bike.
Short synopsis (working title of 32 Years) In Thirty Two years, the player navigates Dad through the lifeless, hostile and irritating uphill maze of Dad’s past jobs in order to reach the top, with the prospect of gaining a reward. Having completed the maze, the player finds themselves in Dad’s dream garage with all of his most precious and sentimental possessions as well as some he wishes he had. In the centre sits Dad’s motorbike, which when approached becomes interactive, opening the garage doors onto a beautiful natural environment saturated with colour, ready to be explored on the bike. The feeling of freedom and stimulating environment serves as the reward for persevering through the maze and can be enjoyed forever. With simple graphics and gameplay, powerful sound and a real narrative, Thirty Two Years tells the story of a man’s adult life.
After conducting the interviews and making a profile, I’m really liking this idea of telling the story of Dad’s early work life and how the bike played a big part in helping escape from it, and how early on it was a bit of an uphill struggle. But I also want to give credit to what he’s been able to accomplish since then in creating his own business from scratch, and demonstrating the freedom that he feels now as a result of that.
Uphill section
Scenarios & Office assets Scenario o1:
Scenario o2:
Scenario o3:
At the start of the game, the player is trapped within the confines of a big room that gets narrower the further up they go. The whole scene dimly colourled and surreal. There are four stages that are separated by high walls:
Again, impatience won’t get the player anywere here either, they must work to find a way out. Through the tight squeeze at the end of the office, the player finds themselves in a large garage. It’s built and designed completely around Dads’ tastes with a 50’s look and feel - white brick walls, wooden beams holding up a steel sheeted roof, and two big oak doors that seem to be locked. Two old motorbikes sit in the middle of the room, and the walls are lined with old tools and objects, retro graphic signs, designs, boating and biking equipment.
Throughout the environment and down many different paths, the player finds a range of features. In the centre of the map is a large rocky waterfall - its noise quietening even the sound of the near by bike engine.
The first is a car showroom. The first thing the player sees is a sign - “When everything seems like an upill, just imagine the view from the top.” with three rows of cars, with Volkswagen, Renault and Nissan logos on the walls above them. The cars are smooth, low and reflective - showing their lack of soul and character. The second is a narrow room dominated by the sound of loud office phones ringing. This represents Dad’s time cold calling to sell life insurance. The player navigates through a set of narrow walkways to progress. The third area is a puzzle, with floating Mercedes-Benz cars that form a complicated path across a deep ditch. Two cars float across the scene acting as a bridge to get from one section of this path to the other, but only every few seconds, forcing the player to wait. If they are impatient, they will fall and have to start all over again. Impatience will lead to frustration early on in the game. The fourth and final area starts with office furniture elevating and falling through the floor, creating and blocking a route. Only two furniture items stay down long enough for the player to cross, though it is left up to the player to figure out which.
Dads’ Yamaha in the middle of the garage is illuminated by a single lamp hanging from the ceiling, and the purring of the engine entices the player towards it. In walking into the bike, the player is sat on the bike and the two oak doors open up out onto a beautiful landscape, saturated with natural colours, trees, grass, blue sky and a wide winding road that disappears down and inbetween the hills. The player can see all the way to the horizon as they pull out of the garage and up to a sign pointing to John O’Groats. Land’s End to John O’Groats is a motorcycle tour from the bottom end of the UK to the highlands of Scotland, and is a tour that Dad has always wanted to do. In this environment, he can. The player can follow the big main road all the way to John O’Groats, and take detours around this large, natural, mountainous environment along the way - he is free to go wherever the road takes him.
There’s also a decking area, which overlooks the ocean and has Dad’s dingy attached to the Evinrude engine. At John O’groats is the classic old house, a sign pointing back to Land’s End, and the same sign that the player sees as soon as they start the game - “When everything seems like an upill, just imagine the view from the top.” This sign is overlooking the landscape, looking back to where the player started, and signifies that this is the view that many don’t peresevere enough to ever see.
Dad put a lot of effort into making the memorabilia of Opa Tony’s Triumph. He even looked tried searching for the actual bike, but being 76 years old, it probably no longer exists. To complete this memorabilia and add another classic to the garage, Opa’s bike will sit below the framed documents in the garage, close to Dad’s Yamaha
The garage has to be the main representation of what’s important to Dad. It’s a place that belongs to him, it’s where he keeps all his favourite things and it’s where he goes to unwind. So with this is in mind, I think it needs to include the most important things he has already, as well as things he’d love to have in a garage that’s bigger his.
The Garage itself Dad has always dreamed of having a double garage big enough to house all his toys and things he needs, whilst giving a bit of room to move about inside it. I think the design on the left is a good starting point because it has an old and authentic look that provides enough room for the assets inside to have their own space. I’m planning on having many of the objects he has already in his garage, but also some others that he wishes he had.
Features Keeping true to a traditional garage’s simple structure, features such as big roof beams, chipped-white painted bricks and a concrete floor will work nicely
Centrepieces in the garage
Two Generations
Everything labelled below in the panorama of Dad’s current garage are the things that will find their way into the environment. These objects are necessary because they either help him persue a
Rubber dingy Evinrude & Mercury outboard engines Although it’s not in the garage, we have a dingy that we use in the summer with the Mercury engine - Dad and I have used it mostly for fishing. Hung above that is the Evinrude engine from Puerto Rico.
1999 Kona Stinky Deluxe 2006 Kona Kula Deluxe Biking helmets Mountain Biking is another hobby of Dads, so having his 2006 Kona is a must. I think it would also make him happy to see his 1999 Kona Stinky that was stolen a few years ago, but it was something that he had meticulously looked after and adored.
Snap-on Toolkit
hobby, let him make things, have some sort of sentimental value, or are authentic in the way they make the garage feel like it’s from the era Dad is passionate about.
Opa Tony’s Snap-on toolkit is a must have in the garage. As I mentioned in the research, this has pride of place here. I’d also like to add a larger kit to go with this one.
Shelving and Storage Everything has its own place, making shelving and storage a necessity, although made from more desirable woods.
Wall-mounted tools
Workbench and Vice
Pin-ups and Signs
A garage isn’t a garage without tools. The tool area that Dad made is wall mounted and everything has it’s own place - some tools are even drawn around to make it obvious. It has every kind of hammer, screw driver, clasp, plier and more, so it has to have an appearance. Above the board on the shelf are tool boxes with electric equipment that are essential too. I’ll also add in a cool lamp to replace the make-do one he has at the moment.
The workbench and the vice are passed down from Opa Tony as well. Together with the Snap-On toolkit, this would look to many as a kind of combination of things passed down to him, but they do work together in this setup and mean a lot to Dad.
Objects and designs from the 40’s-60’s give the garage an authenticity that makes it retro, and is a visual representation of Dad’s passion for that era. You can see at least 15 pf these objects within this image alone, which in itself shows their importance. Behind the camera are many more, as well as number plates from cars in dad’s past: His first Beetle, named Lilbidypridywun after the song Little Bitty Pretty One by Thurston Harris, their car in Curacao, and others.