Trainspotter! Tears are the greatest honor, I'm so glad you felt immersed enough to be affected. Thank you so much for playing, and pointing out the finer details of the semiotic square in use. We tried our best as a team (from our very early mind-mapping stages, to our very late hive-dialogue additions) to adhere to our interpretation of the jam's theme:
I believe that the climate crisis is the collective refinement of displacement; that we’ve been coping, not maturing, and the current generation must recognize consequences and practice global reciprocity towards the past human condition, in order to see the present one, and imagine a better future.
... and it's axes:
Buried vs. surfaced. What has been put underground (waste, futures, feelings, consequences) is buried. What is present and visible describes today. Displacement tends to bury; reciprocal recognition surfaces.
Reciprocity vs. displacement. Reciprocity gives back and acknowledges what was done. It’s deontological. Displacement pushes away, making it a later problem, someone else’s feeling, the planet’s warming instead of our choice, right now.
... at every level of the game's design. This allowed us to organize story (and it's players) into groups with needs, wants, and goals. So that's pretty much all over the game. At the flora, fauna, message board, Mira's note, and player verb levels -- it's there!
Thank you so much for your feedback. As a student, and this being my second project, I was a little nervous (ask anyone on Groundhog Day) to get the story iceberg out there for fear of info overload and player overwhelm -- why should they care about it if all they want is rhythm action? So we decided to seed it rather than force it, having the player physically interact with objects to get the meat of the story, only if they want it. I feel this also leaves open "speedrunning" routes/feasibility (HA)! But trust me -- I wanted MANY more full on cutscenes than we got. Story is king! Thanks Trainspotter!