WHAT IS TRENDING NOW 时下热门
这款游戏作为对某些社交媒体平台操控热门新闻以影响公众舆论或获取个人利益的讽刺表现。然而，也得承认，在某些情况下，操控新闻可能是为了社会的更大利益所必须采取的手段。玩家将扮演一名社交媒体公司的实习编辑，负责策划第二天的热门新闻。挑战在于找到平衡点：选择既有利于社会又能积极影响公司的新闻内容。玩家必须在媒体影响力的伦理和实际考量之间做出决策，塑造公众的讨论热点和意识。「视频需要通过Youtube观看」
This game serves as a satirical commentary on the manipulation of trending news by some social media platforms to influence public opinion or generate personal profit. However, it also acknowledges that, in certain situations, manipulating news might be necessary for the greater good of society. Players assume the role of an intern editor at a social media company, tasked with curating the next day’s trending news. The challenge lies in striking a balance: selecting news items that not only benefit society but also positively impact the company. Players must navigate the ethical and practical considerations of media influence, making decisions that shape public discourse and awareness.
Design: Concept & Gameplay 概念和玩法设计
《时下热门》的设计受到《We Become What We Behold》和《Papers, Please》这类游戏的启发，它们以简洁的玩法和深刻的社会评论为特点，我开发了《What is Trending Now》。这款游戏传达了相似的理念：以简单的操作引发玩家对社会问题的思考。
在《What is Trending Now》中，玩家的主要动作是将新闻项目拖到热门榜上。然而，这一选择的后果是深远的。热门榜的先后排名表现会影响社会的幸福感、公司的观众量以及其财务状况。因此，玩家每天必须慎重考虑，平衡社会福利与公司利益，做出新闻的排行选择。此外，游戏中的新闻项还包含了隐藏的故事线，玩家的选择将影响这些故事的走向，导致积极或消极的结果。这为游戏增添了互动性，也突显了社会媒体的影响力。
超越游戏本身，我的目标是鼓励玩家独立思考他们在网上遇到的新闻和事件。这款游戏旨在引导玩家超越屏幕上的表象，去辩证地思考，并在自己的生活中做出明智、积极的决策。通过这种体验，玩家将意识到媒体的影响力以及在数字时代批判性思维的重要性。
Program: Separate the content 数据和玩法分离
在我们游戏的开发过程中，工作量分配给了两位团队成员：我负责编程部分，另一位成员Zhe负责游戏内容创作。为了简化开发过程并提高效率：我将项目工程的结构设计为，将内容（数据）与玩法代码明确分离。具体来说，我做了一个表格倒入脚本，使系统能够从外部的 Excel 文件导入游戏内容。这些内容包括新闻项、对话和评论，导入后会动态地整合到游戏模块中。这种结构为未来的内容更新提供了极大的灵活性，允许我们在不修改底层代码的情况下更新游戏。只需更新 Excel 文件即可。同时，这也简化了制作不同语言版本（如中文版和英文版）的过程，只需要创建新的 Excel 文件，并调整代码中的引用即可。
During the development of our game, the workload was divided between two team members: myself, handling the programming aspect, and my colleague Zhe, responsible for content creation. To streamline the development process and enhance efficiency, I designed the game’s structure to distinctly separate content (data) from the code. Specifically, I developed scripts enabling the system to import content from external Excel files. This content, including news items, dialogues, and comments, is dynamically integrated into the game components post-import. This structure offers significant flexibility for future content updates, allowing us to modify the game without the need to alter the underlying code. Simply updating the Excel files suffices. It also simplifies creating different language versions of the game, such as a Chinese version, by just making new Excel files and adjusting their references in the code.
