Getting music to play in the background of specific pages in a Twine game is relatively simple as long as the music comes from a YouTube video.

Open the YouTube video where the music you want to autoplay is sourced. Under the actual video, second from the left you will see a tab labeled “share”, click it.

After you click on it, the first tab that will appear will be a general share URL. Instead of using that link, click the link next to “share” labeled “embed”.

A new link will appear that’s formatted with html coding. Highlight and copy the embed link.

Open twine and click on the page box where you want the music the play.

Copy and paste the embed link into the dialogue box for the page where you want the music to autoplay.

Within the embed link is the URL for the YouTube video. Locate the URL and at the end, right before the quotation mark. Type in the following: ?autoplay=1

This will cause the video to automatically play.

Locate where it says “width=” and “height=” within the embed link. Change the following number in quotation marks to zero. This will cause the video player to not appear which will make the music seem as if it’s playing in the background.

Close the dialogue box and save your game. The music should now play in the background.

For our project we have chosen the issue of public transportation. Currently, Pittsburgh has two forms of public transportation, the Port Authority bus system. While clean, and arguably relatively easy to use since there are a variety of apps that will tell you what buses to take without having to be familiar with the bus routes, it is time-consuming and limiting in terms of ease of travel. Waiting for the bus and sitting in traffic takes a significant amount of time, and traveling from outer boroughs to downtown make taking the bus an even less preferable option when you consider regular and rush-hour traffic. Pittsburgh also has the Light Rail System, which connects the Northside/Downton to the South Hills. Unfortunately, other populated boroughs like Lawerenceville, Oakland, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are left without this option. As Pittsburgh tops most-livable city lists time and time again, neighborhoods are gentrified and populations increase, it’s critical that an accessible, wide-reaching and affordable public transportation option is introduced to make travel easier and make all areas of the city easy to access.

Currently our group is considering designing a subway route, using a map, app and possibly a website to advertise and explain the system to the public. In particular, the app would be used to help navigate the subway system. It would have a basic map, so that users could see all possible destinations. Like Google Maps, they would be able to put in their current location and destination to figure out what trains to take and what stations to use. Arrival times of trains could also be viewed, as well as projected future arrival times and the current location of a desired train. The app could also be used in place of a subway card, though those could also be available, to get into the station and it would be linked to your bank account so that it can be easily reloaded to pay for travel.

The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo utilizes a text narrative overlaid on a photo. Considering that these games are primarily text only, using an image, in this case, helps set the eerie mood of the game/story while also giving it extra depth. There are certain pros and cons to using visuals with text. On one hand, as aforementioned, they can better set the tone of a game or story. Alternatively, using images may hinder the world building that goes on in the head of a reader. The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo seems to find a solution to this by using both photorealistic and more abstract images. The former sets the mood while the latter still allows a reader to imagine a visual during critical moments in the story, like when they encounter “The Uncle” for the first time.

The Girl in the Haunted House uses different colored text at certain points in the story. While some games may italicize or bold clickable links, a different color obviously makes hyperlinks more visible. Different colors could, however, be used to indicate different types of game interaction. For example, green could indicate action options (go into the room, talk to a character), yellow could be a hyperlink to background information to a plot point (how you met a character) and purple could lead to more precise visual descriptions of something in the story. Color could also be used to drive home an emotional point (angry dialogue could utilize red text).

Something that became clear when playing both The Girl in the Haunted House and The Uncle Who Works and then comparing them both is how functional fixedness can be detrimental to creating an innovative and engaging game. Color, different type face, color, size, italicization, highlighting, sound and images can be used typically, or creatively to make a text based game more immersive.

My primary goals for my soundscape are to make a somber experience seem more humorous and create a narrative that provides the listener an opportunity to reflect after listening. This clip in particular is the introduction to my story. Ideally the introduction will ease the transition into the narrative and intrigue the listener to some degree. Due to the nature of the story (the fact that it involves death), I wanted to make it clear that with storytelling comes a certain level of artistry that embellishes the reality of the actual experience. By no means was the experience in and of itself funny or a happy occurrence, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be transformed into a more lighthearted, positive tale.

I think the introduction is useful for setting the tone for the rest of the soundscape and introducing a musical motif that will be utilized throughout the soundscape. I think the music (aptly titled “Sad French Accordion”) will provide a melancholy element appropriate for the content of the story and will help balance out any humor incorporated into the narrative. I think the music also provides a nostalgic, wistful feel which is useful when recounting a memory. Since part of the story is indirectly set in Paris, the French style of the music helps create a sense of abstract space.

Once I finish the narrative as a whole I’ll have to go back and review how well this introduction fits into the story. My main concerns at this juncture are that the introduction will either make the story too long, or it won’t contribute strongly enough to the narrative as a whole and will feel out of place. Depending on the potential issue upon review, this introduction may have to be shortened or cut altogether. Hopefully, however, I’ll be able to retain the introduction.

The sound I selected was the noise of a coin spinning. It’s such an easily recognizable sound and I think it has a number of contexts it could be used in. The mood I would interested in evoking would be similar to a film noir. I would want the soundscape to evoke a dark, mysterious, vintage feeling. The soundscape would be set in roughly, the 1950’s.

The soundscape would begin outside. There would be a jazz number playing faintly in the background. The listener would hear the sound of a car driving by, the tires splashing the residual water from the rain earlier in the day. In the distance you would hear the sound of a police siren, fading in and then out. The most prominent noise would be that of footsteps walking down a sidewalk.

The footsteps would stop and the sound of a door opening would be heard and the faint murmur of voices. The jazz number would stop, being replaced by the music of a band and their singer in our new setting, a jazz club. The sound of someone pulling out a chair would be heard, then the dull noise of them sitting down. A muted exchange would be heard between the “main character” and a waiter, perhaps a main character ordering a drink. The primary focus would be on the noises of the environment, a woman laughing, the clinking of glasses, the instruments in the jazz band, or the throaty voice of the singer.

The interplaying sounds of the environment would be heard until the end of the soundscape. There the noise of a chair being pushed away from a table would play, and the voice of the “main character” would be heard clearly for the first and only time saying, “Keep the change”. Lastly, the sound of a coin spinning would be heard. All other noises would fade out so the audience is left only with the noise of the coin before it settles.

Creating an engaging podcast creates a unique challenge: finding a way to engage an audience purely through audio without the beats and melodies that typically make music interesting.

Limetown relies on the same concept that originally made Orson Welles’ radio broadcast The War of the Worlds so sensational, making fiction seem authentic. Dropping a narrative that relies on a traditional narrator (“X saw Y and said hello. X and Y walked down the street”) and instead utilizing audio from “real” people makes a listener doubt if what they rationally know to be fiction, really is. The audio recording of the 911 call between operator and caller makes listeners question its authenticity. The lack of clarity of the audio lends itself to making the podcast seem authentic. The orchestrators of Limetown recognizes that just as there are certain benefits to utilizing clear, easily understandable audio, clouded, “chaotic” audio can also help create a certain mood and atmosphere. The difficulty understanding the 911 caller causes a listener straining to hear what’s wrong, just as an operator would. We’re desperate to understand, both as an intrigued audience member and as the 911 operator as we put ourselves in their place. It’s a moment that has us looking over our shoulder as we listen to make sure everything is as it should be.

In contrast, Radio Lab utilizes not a contrast between clarity and chaos, but an insertion of additional sound into dialogue to maintain the listeners attention. What could be a dry retelling of a political tale is instead the adult version of a children’s picture book with sound effect buttons. Radio Lab uses sound to contribute to the narrative, in Limetown the sound is the narrative. Radio Lab makes the use of outside sounds obvious, while Limetown tries to integrate the sound. Ultimately, Limetown’s method proves most advantageous. It creates a stark realism that sets it apart from other podcasts.