Philosophy | Empathy

Philosophy | Empathy

We always see things from our own perspective obviously. Whether we're playing a game, reading a book, or watching a movie, we all have an inherent bias in the way we see things. Part of the beauty of who we are is the subjectivity of our thoughts and feelings. We're all different people for different reasons. 

Sometimes I think it's easy to forget that the way we view the world is completely different from somebody else. After all, we're constantly viewing things how we see them and it takes a conscious effort to walk a mile in another person's shoes.

In 'A Man For All,' you're the MC. You view things from your perspective. And from your perspective, you're trying to achieve whatever goal you set for yourself. The MC has several goals throughout the story but you can choose which ones you personally care about. Some of you just want to bang every girl in sight. Some of you just want to pick one. Maybe there's a few of you who want to save the coffee shop while you're at it. Maybe some of you are most intrigued by winning at the Proving Grounds. Others might really want Vanessa to win her modeling contract. Or maybe you just want to graduate. Regardless of which goals you place a priority on, the MC has all of these tasks in front of him and I've attempted to write a story where he does anything and everything to complete these tasks.

Even though you're the MC, I've done my best to put myself in the shoes of the other characters. I've done this because I didn't want to write a story about just a MC who does it all. I want to create fully-fleshed out characters beyond you. There are dozens of elements that go into creating a good story and having good characters is something that's obvious. Without the characters around you, you're just an MC who's going down a path with just added scenery.

I'm talking about this now because I know some people might ask the purpose of different characters in the story. I'm not just talking about the girls. I'm not just talking about Billy. I'm talking about every friend and foe. Everybody has their purpose. I think empathy is important in trying to figure out why the characters are the way they are.

One of the things I always have to remind myself is that everybody besides me is completely in the dark about where the story is going and where it will end up. I know things about every character that others don't. You might guess at things and you could be right. But you don't know for sure. I can't spoil things in the future for you, so I thought it was important I help you give some information without telling you outright what's going to happen.

I've written all of these characters from their perspective. I've given them reasons why they do the things they do. From their personalities to the way they talk to the actions they take. Maybe my characterizations won't fit exactly but I have the crux of who they are and the core of their personalities. I wanted to make everybody a person and not just another character in your story.

I don't expect anybody to like every character. I'm not just talking about the girls you have an opportunity to sleep with. I'm not just talking about Billy or any other friendly characters along the way. But I think it's important to have some measure of empathy for everybody, at a cost of your personal feelings in exchange for personal understanding. I think that will help you come to understand them better and maybe enjoy the story so far and where it's headed. If you get to the end of the story and you see no reason to empathize with one or more characters, I hope that when you do at least get to a point where you understand the characters in some measure. I want to put in place for you enough rationale to consider how the story has gone and think it reasonable. And before we get to the end, I want it to be something for you to help you figure them out if you have any curiosity.

I want to write a great story. It's going to take a long time. With longer time comes higher expectations. I hope that for at least one character beyond you, the MC, you're able to empathize and understand them. You're the main character. But others have their stories, too.

There's no right or wrong way to enjoy a story. I might leave you disappointed. You might even disagree with me. But with all of my philosophy posts, I write them not to justify myself but rather to give you some of the logic behind what I'm attempting. I hope that this gave you some insight. It's not necessary for you to read any of this, so I appreciate it if you took the time to do so.

On a personal note, empathy is something I've had to learn as I've gotten older. In my opinion, it's fundamental. I'd like to think I've put some measure of it into the MC. I hope it's something you consider as you proceed through the story. Not just this story but every other story you read.

On Episode 8

I'm in the middle of the last scene I need to render and animate. I've gone through a few animations this week. I'm not sure how many more animations I have to set up. There are a few renders I need to do. My hope is to get the last animations set and start rendering them while I start coding the files for the next update.

Thanks for sticking around. If you have any thoughts or opinions on the philosophy post or on anything in general, leave me a message. I appreciate everything you've all done for me. I'll be back next week with a full progress update and previews.