Scents & Semiosis nominated for a Nebula

So, Scents & Semiosis has been nominated for a Nebula in game writing, and I have not thought about what I would write when the nominations went live, since it’s so much Sam Kabo Ashwell’s vision and execution—but I am proud of it, and of the role I played in its existence.

It’s a beautiful, meditative accomplishment; I can say that because it’s not my design, and because Sam is too modest to. My role in this feels like that of a careful gardener.

Scents & Semiosis is a complex engine of procedurally generated sentences that fit together to create unique, reflective memories. The underlying structure is Sam’s; he’s written about it here, and if you know Inform 7, you can dig through the source code via the game. He can talk more thoroughly about that than I can. I wrote target patterns--sentences the code should be able to produce variations on-- for Sam to take apart and create the component parts which would rebuild them. And I added to corpora--the lists of concepts the generator can spit out within those structured patterns--to flesh out the game world's possibilities.

But much like S&S's scent memories themselves, my creative component feels elusive when trying to describe.

My main role was as its producer: I'd seen Sam working on the game for a while, and every time I saw his progress, I wanted to play it already, and I wanted its recipient to get to play it too. So I asked him if he could use a producer, and I'm very grateful he said yes. A lot of production here consisted of me going “do you really need this feature” and “I think this corpus has enough content that it won't feel repetitive, let's add more to another”, keeping us on schedule to release on the date we’d deemed possible. But in a game about the precision of words and memory, those decisions are creative. 

The late stages of the game have my touch on it, but its heart notes are all Sam’s. My job was just to bring them out and let them shine.

I’m so grateful to Emily Short for letting us release it publicly: it is a game made for one person, very much a present, and it was her generosity that enabled us to share it. For anyone who knows her, this may be unsurprising. But it was a gift for her, and I wanted it to reach the standard she sets in our field in both its output and construction. She is an incredible friend, and we're lucky to know her. That's why we made this, after all. We love you, Em.

I’m thrilled I got to work alongside Yoon Ha Lee and Caleb Wilson, writing striking one-off memories and intricate target patterns for Sam to strive towards, and for populating corpora with richness and beauty. Thank you for being my co-writers on this.

Lisa Ohanian, Hannah Lee, and Yara Khoury have been incredible examples of what a producer should be; I learned whatever skills I employed on Scents & Semiosis from the best. Thank you for your talent and friendship.

I earnestly believe we wouldn't have been nominated if Amal El-Mohtar hadn't fallen in love with the game and showed as many people as she could, which if you know Amal's keen aesthetic eye, feels like a gift itself. Thank you for being its champion.

And of course, Sam, thank you. Thank you for making this game I love so much, and for trusting me to guide it to fruition. Yes, I worked on it, but I go back to it as meditation too. I'm glad it exists. 

I'm so sorry if I've forgotten any contributors--I really don't feel like I have the words, despite writing the longest thread imaginable. And thank you to everyone who saw something in Scents & Semiosis. That's all I ever wanted.

Congratulations to all of the nominees: I'm honored and humbled to be sharing ballot space with you. You’ve all done amazing work.