Fantastic Arcade x CATS+ 2024
About
This residency session is part of the CATS+ program in collaboration with Fantastic Arcade to support 3 solo developers, small teams, or game-adjacent media artists for a one-month virtual residency in October 2024. We provide a stipend, community, and mentor support. Residents show their projects and give a talk about their creative process at Fantastic Arcade: Fun Size Edition! on Oct 26, 2024.
The Fantastic Arcade x CATS+ 2024 residents are Wenxiao Ding and Sihan Zhang, Leo Flint, and Lauren Schroeder.
Residents
TrashCan Dream
We are a team based in New York, consisting of Wenxiao Ding (Game Designer) and Sihan Zhang (Game Developer). Our project, TrashCan Dream, tells the story of a trash can that has quietly worked on the streets of Manhattan for 30 years. One day, it decides to chase its dream. But is the reality of achieving that dream as fulfilling as it imagined?
Wenxiao Ding
Wenxiao Ding is a multidisciplinary visual designer and game designer whose work merges interactive storytelling with cutting-edge technology to explore themes of resilience, identity, and urban life. With a background in interaction design and art, Ding specializes in creating immersive experiences that span VR, motion-sensing installations, and mixed media. www.dingwenxiao.com
Sihan Zhang
Sihan Zhang is a creative technologist and game developer based in New York. She experiments with emerging technologies to create engaging and inspiring interactive experiences. She is interested in exploring the connections between memories, everyday objects, and urban environments. Her diverse work includes VR/AR storytelling experiences, alt ctrl games, interactive installations, and more. www.sihanzhang.me
Project
Talk
TrashCan Dream: Creating a game with air pump controllers
TrashCan Dream is a game about a humble street trash can that sets out on a journey to achieve its dream of reaching the beach. Along the way, it faces obstacles and reflects on the challenges of life and environmental issues. In this talk, we’ll discuss how we developed the game, from the initial concept to the finished product, and how we used air pump controllers in innovative ways to enhance player interaction.
Wiki
Forget Me Not Games
Forget Me Not Games is a tiny independent game development studio based in Austin, TX. We make eccentric, narrative games with gripping gameplay. We're currently working on our second title, a 2D platformer called Red and White.
Leo Flint
Leo Flint is a game developer and writer based out of Austin, TX. She made her first game, Apothecary, as a solo developer, and now directs a small team for Forget Me Not's newest unannounced project. forgetmenotgames.com
Project
Red and White
Red and White is a narrative 2D platformer about two creatures who must work together to uncover the mysteries of their strange world. White, a soldier, can enter enemies and control them from within, while Red, a toddler, must be thrown and caught to dodge any danger.
Talk
From Flash to Finished - What does it take?
A brief look into console remakes of Adobe Flash games, and how they've taught me to be a better developer.
Lauren Schroeder
Lauren Schroeder
Lauren Schroeder is a new media artist and XR developer residing in Austin, Texas. Her work merges various mediums and technologies, weaving together inspiration from magical realism, science, musical instruments, philosophy, psychology, and future technologies. By blending these influences, she crafts immersive experiences that ignite novel sensations, provoke thought, and foster meaningful connections. www.laurenschroeder.com.
Project
Cardboard Paradise
Talk
Bringing the Real into Virtual Reality
What would it mean to spend more time in a VR headset, living more of our life with others in virtual reality? Lauren Schroeder will be discussing social virtual worlds, in the context of her new VR experience 'Cardboard Paradise', which explores ideas of artificial scarcity in an alternate virtual reality, made entirely out of cardboard. Learn more about how we brought real-world sculpture into a virtual world, and how people are using virtual reality experiences to connect.
Wiki
Events
Workshops
