March 1, 2025

Cabin in the Woods

👋🏻

I am back in another forced scenario. We are up in the mountains of north Georgia for a wedding this weekend and a quiet cabin is a perfect vibe for writing and researching. It also helps that I am the only morning person in our group. I only have to not drink the entire pot of coffee and save some for my friends; even though it could be considered a favor, sparing them from the bitter, burnt elixir that the drip machine produced.

Since I am still in the research phase of this new, fourth-wall Astro Bot inspired essay, I hooked up the cabin Wi-Fi and dove back in to finding tabs and articles.¹ I was looking up games that break the fourth wall and reddit hooked me up with a solid list. I read about how NeiR: Automata has a rather engaging credits sequence and I had a thought...

"What if I played NeiR: Automata for this essay so I could capture that scene?"

I looked it up. NeiR takes, on average, 36~ hours to complete. Do I have 36~ hours to dedicate to one game that I have never played? Is it vital to capture my own footage of this or would someone else's suffice? Can I do that if I haven't played the game at all? How much does NeiR even cost these days? $25? That's not bad. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I stopped myself just shy of checking out on Amazon. This is good ol' scope creep. I have to always be aware of this beast. Keep it in check and the project can shape up to exactly what it needs to be. Let the beast run rampant and your project will squirm beneath its weight until it withers away.

I think a key to getting a grip on creep is knowing what the essay is supposed to be; "what is its essence?" We have to keep asking ourselves that the entire time, like Adam Savage said;

"We should be asking ourselves repeatedly, 'What is the essence of this project?’ as we move down the path toward completion. And as the delivery deadline nears, we should ask that question more frequently, because it helps us remember why we’re there, and what the point of the whole project is." — Adam Savage, Every Tool's a Hammer: Life is What You Make It

Now, I am in the very early stages of this essay. I am researching to find the shape of The Thing™. I have lots of ideas written down, so I decided to try and feel out what the project could be by trying to answer that question. Here's what I started with this morning:

"So what is this essay shaping up to be? It was sparked by the credits sequence in Astro Bot. I felt joy and savored the interactivity; the acknowledgement of the player and the creator and the medium binding the two. I categorized this as a break of the fourth wall. I have a list of games that do this to varying degrees. Some are just winks and nods (Paper Mario), some are just interactive credits (Smash, Splatoon), some are because of in-game actions (Outer Wilds, MGS3, Tetris GM), some take advantage of expectations (GoW:R, MGS2), some involve the real world (MGS1, Doki Doki). What ties all of this together? The shape of this feels like it does not fit in the box of "interactive credits/fourth wall breaks.""

I had some more answers after that, but I felt those required the context of my actual research to fully grasp. Sorry. 😅 This morning was a great session. I think I have some solid direction. I want to read a little more research, but I think I can start roughing out a script.

The cabin is stirring. The sun has been up for over an hour. I've been up for over two. Let's go chill out with some Super Mario Party Jamboree and celebrate a wedding tonight.

Until next time...

This letter is one block from the newsletter Memory Card by Max Roberts. Thoughts? Send me an email at max@maxfrequency.net.

Max is the writer and producer behind Max Frequency. cultivate and curate curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings.

He's written a rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, celebrated the 15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype, and examined how Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic.

Memory Card is a real-ish time, raw, drip feed newsletter of his creative process for telling these stories. It’s how The Thing™ gets made.

It's all powered by Max Frequency and patrons.

Wanna see The Thing™? Check it out on YouTube. Read it on The Blog.