The Interactive Pasts Conference: Oskar Moleman
2Presentation at the Interactive Pasts Conference, April 5th 2016, Leiden University.
Oskar Moleman (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht; Tribal & Error)
Tribal & Error: Designing a prehistoric language
"Tribal & Error is a game under development by HKU student company Grotman. In the game, the player journeys to prehistoric times and learns to communicate with cavemen. To build this game we set about creating a Paleolithic world filled with the flora and fauna from that era, however the most interesting part from a historical perspective was the envisioning of a prehistoric language.
With the language in the game we mainly wanted to explore the fundamentals of how languages work and how they evolve. By creating a very basic and primitive language it allowed us to present these linguistic fundamentals in a manner far more accessible than any modern language could. We want to give players a lens to view the evolution of language across the world throughout the ages.
Linguistic fundamentals in Tribal & Error: The basics of how we learn languages. An onomatopoeia for design. The merging of words to create new meaning. The simplification of words for easier pronunciation. Symbols depicting a visual representation of its meaning. Other topics we will cover: The design of the symbols inspired by ancient British rock art. Creating the prehistoric world of Tribal & Error."
http://tribalanderror.com/