Typically it takes less than a second to load a web page, but SO MUCH HAPPENS in that fraction of a second that is worth learning about: IP addresses, WiFi, Internet Service Providers (or ISPs), Net Neutrality, privacy, surveillance, the "cloud", data centers, servers, DDoS attacks, encryption and various other conceptual bits and physical pieces that make the Internet what it is today. A Web Packet's Journey aims to put all of those bits and pieces in context by creating an interactive web experience (mobile, desktop and even Virtual Reality) accompanied by supplementary reference materials on this site.
...as we used to say in the early days. A "proof of concept" is currently available on this site. This includes the first 2 (out of 10) parts that make up A Web Packet's Journey, which you can play right now! This also includes the supplementary materials for both scenes. To stay up to date on the project's progress, sign up for our email list below (No spam. Just occasional project updates. We promise).
We've already done a lot of work to create the bones for this project as well as the first two parts, but we've got 8 more parts left to make! If you're interested in helping us out, there are a few ways you can do that. A project like this takes considerable time and money. If you have either, please send us@brangerbriz.com an email. We plan on implementing a more conventional financial support system soon. For those who prefer to donate their time by either contributing code, 3D models, designs, research or other creative help. email is also currently the best way to sync up (until we get individual "to-do" tasks up on our github issues page).
We want to thank Mozilla for providing the grant that made this proof of concept possible, as well as SOGA Design Collective for their character designs.
This project is not only "free" in the sense that anyone with Internet can access the game and it's supplementary materials at no cost, but it's also "free" in the Free/Libre Open Source Software sense. Check out our GitHub Repo.
We could definitely use some help completing this project and open source is a great way to make that happen, but beyond the practical benefits, releasing and documenting the development process also allows us to add another layer of digital literacy to the project. We're obviously obsessed with the Web. Why else would we make an entire game about how it works? But in our age of mobile apps and proprietary platforms, the Web's true promise and potential seems forgotten. We hope that by sharing our process, this project could also serve as an example of the Web platform's potential.
Unlike other centralized and corporately controlled platforms, e.g., smart phone app stores or commercial game consoles, the World Wide Web is inherently decentralized. As long as your computer has access to the Internet, you can host a web page, and as long as other computers have web browsers on them, they can access your web page. Today, web pages can be much more than just linked documents. They can be multimedia, apps, games and everything else you've ever seen (or have yet to see) on a screen! The more time we spend on our screens, the more essential the Web's distributed nature becomes. As we move into the era of augmented and virtual realities, it's important to remember the Web can do those things too! Let's keep our virtual worlds in the public commons and outside of corporately controlled spaces by creating our virtual future on the Web. We hope that by sharing our commented and non-obfuscated code, as well as our process via blog posts, we can help steer other creative coders in the right direction. :)
made with love and optimism by
