SHEEHAN AHMED
Technical Artist & Tools Engineer
LEFT ON READ
Role: Engineer, Artist
On Left on Read, I needed to provide my partner, the writer of the story, with an easy solution to write texting conversations that felt natural. The protagonist needed to pause, delete words, rewrite sentences, and have a certain cadence to the way they wrote. It was imperative that we established their personality using these little texting quirks.
HOW I DID IT
I wrote a text parsing solution that used <alligator> tags to define texting behaviors. With tags like <delete>, <pause>, or even opening up to custom events using a <custom> tag, I allowed my writing partner full control to make whatever kind of text-based narrative he desired.
Although I didn't specifically follow it, I was inspired by AndreMC's solution to a similar problem for his Animal Crossing Mix n' Jam.
(Gameplay credits for the last gif go to Crank Gameplay's Left on Read Playthrough)