I had a lot of old drafts that I for various reasons never actually published. Some of them probably because they were shit. Some of them just cause I never got round to editing them. I’ve picked a few that I thought had some merit. They are hopelessly out-of-date but they still made chuckle/think. Enjoy.
Should have been published: 2021
Things are kicking off off screen. I see flashes of light and hear gunfire and punches being thrown. I do the universal sign for ‘nothing to do with me’ – whistling softly, drumming fingers against each other, staring intently at the bookshelf in front of me – and grin to myself as the Mission Accomplished sign flashes on the screen.
Streets of Rogue is an immersive sim and it allows for a role which too often gets too little love, that of the catalyst. Chemical reactions mostly involve reagents, substances that are consumed in the reaction to form new substances. Like oxygen and carbon forming carbon dioxide in a combustion reaction. Catalysts are different in that they are needed for a reaction to start but not consumed themselves. Wikipedia says “Catalysts are not consumed in the catalyzed reaction hence they are unchanged after the reaction”.
Most games are about changing things and put you at the center as a or the agent of change. Most stealth-centric games allow you use subterfuge of various kinds – costumes, misdirection, etc – to put the blame (because there’s always blame) on others. But they still require you to push the button yourself. Hitman is the classic example: Pretend to be someone else, misuse that position, then go back to being ‘yourself’. Someone else gets the blame for the mess, but you had to enact it yourself.
Being a catalyst is all about not being the one with the finger on the button. It Is another way of saying manipulation but with an emphasis on never actually pointing the actors in the direction you want them to take. All you’re doing is removing impediments from other people tearing each other to shreds. Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello? Big catalyst energy. Until he goes off and kills people himself. *Tuts disapprovingly*
Iago incarnates the ideal version of the catalyst as all he uses for tools is his words. “Manipulation” (from French manipule, a handful) suggest hands-on-iness. Manipulate a dough and some of it will stick to your hands. Catalysis suggests something airier, less soiled by it’s presence in the room. More like mind control than manual control.
How can I use information in Streets of Rogue to start reactions? To quote another Shakespeare character “Is this a hand grenade I see before me?” No, mylady, it’s a way of transmitting information. Specifically, informing gang member A of rival gang member B’s close presence and vice versa. And so to encourage two houses alike in dignity from ancient grudge to new mutiny.
Catalysis caters to the player’s sense of superiority, a superiority of status and of intellect: Others have to act (how base!), all the player has to do is suggest and facilitate. Then others act and the player can watch. There are parallels to the status of nobility in feudal times here: Manual labour was “frowned upon” for the nobility. The less manual labour, the more ennobled. Going back to chemistry, noble gasses are so named because they don’t react very much. Interacting with others – and being changed yourself in the process – is for the lower elements. As a catalyst, you are above that. Unchangeable. Eternal.
Catalystness feeds a fantasy of aloofness. Human interactions are messy. People want things of you, expect things of you, want you to change who you are to accomodate them. Anyone leaning towards introversion for whatever reason (yes, that’s a not too subtle autism nod) can see the attraction of making things happen with less interaction.
In resume: I think aloofness should be a new scoring metric for games. One the reviewer will never actually assign a number to, because really, they’re above that. Leave it empty and watch the fight erupt in the comment section.