Life On A String: an ink painting narrative game

Life on a String is a PC-based first-person perspective narrative game that tells a tragedy on two blind musicians in ancient China. The player acts as a young musician, solving musical puzzles interspersed throughout a narrative world. While there are many music games on the market, Life on a String is unique in that its music-playing mechanics are a direct representation of the main character’s emotional arc. Further, the game uses a particular Chinese ink-painted aesthetic—an impressionistic rendering—that extends the emotional design goals. This project implements and revises the ink painting rendering technique to make it more artist-friendly and have higher diversity.

《弦中人生（Life on a String）》是一款基于个人电脑（PC）平台的第一人称视角叙事游戏，讲述了中国古代两位盲眼乐师的悲剧故事。玩家将扮演年轻乐师，破解穿插于叙事世界中的音乐谜题。尽管当前市场上音乐类游戏品类繁多，但《弦中人生（Life on a String）》的独特之处在于其音乐游玩机制直接映射了主角的情感成长轨迹。此外，该游戏采用了独具特色的中国水墨美学——一种印象派渲染手法——进一步强化了其情感设计目标。本项目对水墨渲染技术进行了实现与改良，使其更适配创作者的创作需求，并具备更高的风格多样性。