{"id":127,"date":"2020-03-11T03:35:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T03:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/?p=127"},"modified":"2020-03-11T03:38:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T03:38:12","slug":"techniques-of-thought-cognition-identity-and-ideology-in-disco-elysium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/techniques-of-thought-cognition-identity-and-ideology-in-disco-elysium\/","title":{"rendered":"Techniques of Thought: Cognition, Identity and Ideology in Disco Elysium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Disco Elysium<\/em> begins in blackness. Words fade in against the emptiness. It is your \u2018Ancient Reptilian Brain\u2019 speaking to you. Soon enough your \u2018Limbic System\u2019 pipes up. They inform you \u201cthere is nothing\u201d (ZA\/UM, 2019). As your character (who we later learn is called Harry) awakens from his drunken stupor, we come to realize that this blackness is a representation of the unconscious state he was in. Because of his heavy drinking, he has lost all memory of who he was, down to his name and his job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first text we ever see in Disco Elysium<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Beyond being a memorable way of\nbeginning a game, the blackness frames our perception of the game and our\ncharacter in it. We enter this game not as an already established character,\nbut as a blank slate, a tabula rasa. Harry awakens from nothing and remembers\nnothing. As the dialogue with Harry\u2019s own brain progresses, we are given\nchoices as to how to respond to them. These dialogue choices become the means\nby which Harry, the character, is defined. The game\u2019s dialogue system is its\nkeystone. All other systems revolve around it. In this essay I intend to\nexplore how Disco Elysium\u2019s<\/em> systems, with the dialogue system at its\ncore, provide players the opportunity to create an intricately detailed\ncharacter with a rich identity encompassing personal history, personality and\npolitical ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disco Elysium<\/em> is a roleplaying game set in the city\nof Revachol, years after a failed communist revolution led to its current state\nof neoliberal capitalism and soaring inequality. We play an alcoholic amnesiac\ndetective who\u2019s tasked with solving a grisly murder amidst an ongoing labour dispute at the local docks, all while trying to\nrecover his forgotten identity (or construct a new one). Upon release, the game\nwas immediately lauded for its nuanced exploration of politics and its\nintricate skill system and how said system tied into the game\u2019s dialogue and\ncharacter development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand Disco<\/em> Elysium<\/em> and its subsequent success we must first understand its systems. As a game inspired by traditional tabletop roleplaying games, Disco Elysium<\/em> \u2018begins\u2019 even before it begins. Traditional tabletop roleplaying games require that players create the character they will play in the game. Disco Elysium<\/em> is no different. In Disco Elysium<\/em>, players must allocate skill points to various skills, which come to define their character and his areas of competency. There are four main skills, but these branch out into an overwhelming list of 24 sub-skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The skill system in Disco Elysium<\/em>. Refer to here <\/a>for the full list of skills. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that unlike other role-playing videogames, Disco\nElysium<\/em> does not have any other mechanically heavy systems like combat,\nstealth or crafting. In Disco Elysium<\/em>, Harry\u2019s interactions with the\nworld are almost entirely played through the dialogue system. This\nfundamentally means that all 24 skills available in the skill system primarily\nrelate to and interact with the dialogue system, which suggests a textual richness\nand complexity in the dialogue system unmatched by other games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the more interesting forms this inter-system interaction takes is the internal stream of consciousness monologues that occur in response to things said by other characters. In this context, each skill functions as a \u2018voice\u2019 in this internal monologue. Should Harry\u2019s point allocation for a certain skill exceed certain invisible thresholds, that voice will contribute to the dialogue, adding in their own response to the topic of discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this snippet the Inland Empire skill allows Harry to \u2018converse\u2019 with a corpse while the Reaction Speed skill provides additional insight into the corpse\u2019s response. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The above screenshot provides one example of this stream of\nconsciousness. In this scene, Harry and his partner Kim Kitsuragi are\ninspecting the corpse of the murder victim, left to hang from a tree. After\nremoving the body from the tree, Harry is faced with the victim\u2019s visage. How\nhe responds depends on the skill point allocation of your character. In this\nexample, Harry has high points in Inland Empire and Reaction Speed1<\/sup>.\nFaced with the corpse, Harry asks who killed him and it responds, \u2018communism\u2019.\nReaction Speed then causes him to have an instinctual response to this answer \u2013\na sense that the answer speaks to a buried truth. A different skill point\nallocation would have led to a different conversation. For instance, this\nimaginary conversation would not have taken place without enough points invested\ninto Inland Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This stream of consciousness means that skill allocations – choices that\nare made by the player throughout the game – have concrete and continuous\nimpact on dialogue and how dialogue is framed. Information is introduced or\nconcealed depending on the player character\u2019s skill point allocation. Through\nthis, the player character\u2019s (and by extension the player\u2019s) perspective of the\nworld and of the unfolding plot is shaped by how the player built their\ncharacter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Trinh compares this stream of consciousness to the Kuleshov Effect in film, explaining that \u201cthe interjections act as the context shot, so that the dialogue choices [chosen by the player] can be the to-be-interpreted shot\u201d (Trinh, 2020). This allows dialogue choices that more meaningfully and accurately reflect the chosen personality and identity of the player character. The subtext is no longer defined solely by the player\u2019s perceptions, but the character\u2019s perceptions as well. Furthermore, some dialogue choices are locked away if their character does not meet a specific skill threshold, thus players are guided into roleplaying their character more \u2018truthfully\u2019, choosing dialogue options that respond to Harry\u2019s internal thoughts, further enriching and developing his identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brent Ellision categorized conversation into two models: Branching<\/em> and Hub and Spoke<\/em> (Ellision, 2008), where branching conversations can expand but do not loop back, while hub and spoke conversations have central hubs where conversations loop back to2<\/sup>. Disco Elysium<\/em> features both models of conversation but builds on top of these models. Each interjection from an internal voice functions like an invisible detour. At points in the conversation, detours are taken depending on the character\u2019s skills, without direct control from the player. Players are not informed of possible detours if their skill points do not meet the threshold. Consequently, the structure of conversations becomes significantly more sophisticated. However, as detours always return to the main path, conversations continue to have well-defined scopes without branching out of control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A diagram depicting the structure of the conversation from the previous screenshot. Dotted lines indicate invisible detours.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These invisible detours were developed with intention. In an interview\nwith GameSpot, lead writer Robert Kurvitz explained that the mechanics of the\ndialogue system was inspired by Twitter (Kurvitz, 2020). On Twitter, a user can\nelaborate on a tweet by making a reply tweet, which is displayed just below the\noriginal tweet. Other users can also reply to the original tweet, elaborating\non the point made or suggesting tangents, thus creating an increasingly\nelaborate cultural \u2018hive mind\u2019. In Disco Elysium<\/em>, each interjection from\na voice functions like a reply tweet. The voices create a tangled web of\ntangents, elaborations and contradictions – a \u2018hive mind\u2019 within a mind –\nallowing the game to reveal the richness of the player character\u2019s internal state\nof mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we have seen, past skills can affect current conversations, but Disco\nElysium<\/em> goes further than this. Current conversations can affect the future\nas well. Should Harry\u2019s conversational responses consistently reflect a\nspecific viewpoint, his Ancient Reptillian Brain speaks to him. For instance,\nshould Harry constantly speak in defense of the working class, your brain might\nask if you wish to be a communist. Answering yes unlocks a thought in Harry\u2019s\nThought Cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thought Cabinet is a feature unique to Disco Elysium<\/em>. The cabinet consists of various unlockable slots and a catalog of thoughts. These thoughts could be ideologies like communism, information like the location of Harry\u2019s home, or personality \u2018styles\u2019 like \u2018boring cop\u2019. Thoughts can be assigned to a slot. Once assigned, the thought is contemplated on by Harry. After some time has passed, the thought is complete, and additional information is revealed along with possible gameplay bonuses or penalties to Harry, which range from modifiers to his skills or new conversational options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Thought Cabinet in Disco Elysium<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In many roleplaying games, the player character is placed in a position\nof power, and their choices have profound consequences for the entire world.\nCass Marshall explains that this can frequently pose a problem. The character\nis defined largely by their actions rather than their internal perspectives (Marshall,\n2019). They become heroic characters without any internal identity or personality.\nIn Disco Elysium<\/em>, Harry is powerless to change the world. The player\u2019s actions\nare thus not directed to the external world, but to the internal. Your choices\nas a player are not about affecting the world but responding to it. In the\nexample mentioned above, responding to economic injustice with sympathy for the\nworking class provides the opportunity to identify as a communist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thought Cabinet allows Harry to be defined by his internal identity,\nbe it ideology or personality or memories. Traditional skill systems define\ncharacters by their competencies or lack thereof, and thus do not allow the\ncreation of vivid characters with rich identities and histories. Some role-playing\ngames, e.g. Wasteland 2, provide a blank text field where players are invited\nto write a backstory, but this backstory is merely \u2018flavour text\u2019 and ignored by\nthe game and its systems. Disco Elysium<\/em> avoids this trap. The Thought\nCabinet systemizes personality, memories and ideology. Your character in Disco\nElysium<\/em> can thus have a richly defined identity, which is acknowledged by\nthe game and which has consequences for Harry\u2019s journey through the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two systems, the Thought Cabinet and the stream of consciousness,\nform a cognitive loop within Disco Elysium<\/em>. As Harry encounters\nsituations in the world, his stream of consciousness responds. This response\nshapes the player\u2019s perspective of the world, and they make dialogue choices\nbased on their perspective. Based on these dialogue choices, thoughts are\nformed and added to the Thought Cabinet. Contemplating on these thoughts forms\nHarry\u2019s identity, which then again shapes his perspective of the world, and his\nstream of consciousness by extension. Through this loop, Harry becomes more\nwell-defined as a character over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it is important to note that this cognitive loop does not exist\nindependently of the player\u2019s interactions. Disco Elysium<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>gives us \u2018subjective access\u2019 to Harry by revealing his \u2018internal states\u2019\n(Smith, 2010) but like many other narrative works, players are expected to make\nmoral judgements of the world and its characters \u2013 a process referred to as\n\u2018allegiance\u2019 (Smith, 2010). Disco Elysium<\/em> does not force Harry to adopt\nany beliefs or identities that the player does not want him to. Thoughts are\nnever automatically formed from the stream of consciousness. Explicit player\nchoice is required. Even when a thought is formed, the player has a choice to\nreject the thought. In Disco Elysium<\/em>, you are not defined entirely by\nyour past actions. You always have a choice. Even if the state of the world and\nyour own instincts tempts you towards certain viewpoints, there is always the\nability to choose to believe differently. We see the ideas and perspectives\nthrough Harry\u2019s internal mind, but we as players, with our own identities, form\nour allegiances to specific perspectives. We are then given the freedom to\nrealign Harry to reflect our allegiances \u2013 to reflect us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, Disco Elysium<\/em> systemizes thinking, whether it is\nconscious cognition or instincts and intuition. This systemizing, embodied by\nthe stream of consciousness and the Thought Cabinet, allow our player character\nHarry to be defined in a concrete manner. He has a history, an ideology and a\npersonality, all of which have meaningful systemic and narrative consequences\nthroughout the game. But Disco Elysium<\/em> is a roleplaying game. We inhabit\nthe role of Harry. Through play we engage in a dialogue with his mind and\ndecide who Harry is and who he becomes based on our own perspectives and\nideology. Thus, Disco Elysium<\/em> is not just about understanding Harry. It\nis about understanding ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footnotes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 \u2013 Inland Empire indicates an aptitude for imagining the personality of inanimate\nobjects like corpses, allowing Harry to have imaginary conversations with said\nobjects<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 \u2013 The corpse investigation is an example of hub and spoke\nconversations. The player is presented with different parts of the corpse to\ninspect, with each part acting as a spoke. Attempting to detach the corpse from\nthe tree is itself a spoke within the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ZA\/UM (2019). Disco Elysium [Computer video game]. Estonia: ZA\/UM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellison, Brent. \u201cDefining Dialogue Systems\u201d Gamasutra, 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall, Cass. \u201cYou can\u2019t change the world in Disco Elysium\n\u2013 and that\u2019s why it\u2019s great\u201d. Polygon. 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trinh, Stephen. \u201cWhy I Love: The Interjections [Disco\nElysium]\u201d Gamasutra, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith, G. (2010). What media classes really want to discuss:\na student guide. Routledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 [GameSpot]. (2020, Jan 12). The Feature That\nAlmost Sank Disco Elysium | Audio Logs [Video File].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Retrieved\nfrom https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9X0-W5erEXw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disco Elysium Wiki. (2019, November 16). Skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retrieved from\nhttps:\/\/discoelysium.gamepedia.com\/Skills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disco Elysium begins in blackness. Words fade in against the emptiness. It is your \u2018Ancient Reptilian Brain\u2019 speaking to you. Soon enough your \u2018Limbic System\u2019 pipes up. They inform you \u201cthere is nothing\u201d (ZA\/UM, 2019). As your character (who we later learn is called Harry) awakens from his drunken stupor, we come to realize that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-videogames"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parallelsuns.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}