Title: Fort McMoney
Author-Director: David Dufresne
Publication Date: November 25, 2013
Official Website: http://www.fortmcmoney.com/#/fortmcmoney
Fort McMoney is an interactive documentary game about Fort McMurray in the oilsands area of Canada. The Game Manual describes Fort McMoney as “a documentary game that engages in a virtual reimagining of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. There will be three rounds of the game, each played in real time over a four-week period.” At the beginning of 2014, Fort McMoney was in its second round of play.
The manual addresses the user as being in control: “Allow your vision of the world to shape the destiny of the Fort McMoney. Each action you make earns you influence points, giving you extra leverage. You will be participating in a collective experience, playing alongside users from across the globe.” Users are advised to explore, ask around, accomplish missions, debate, share, and to vote in surveys and referendums. Users can view subtitles in French, English, or German.
On The Huffington Post, Dufresne describes the documentary in terms of the user: “Your goal: Take control of the world’s largest energy project and make your worldview triumph.” In 2013, he writes of the Fort McMoney: “It belongs to you. Write the film. The game starts November 25.”
As a game, Fort McMoney has striking images and sounds–especially the eerie winds on the opening screen, even interactivity with other players. This game isn’t one in which users win or collect trophies. Users control what they see, they make decisions, and their decisions affect not just other players in the game, but Fort McMoney itself. With all this control, Fort McMoney becomes less game or documentary, and more thought experiment.
Related Resources:
Creator post: Fort McMoney: Make Your Worldview Triumph!
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-dufresne/fort-mcmoney-web-documentary_b_4319259.html
Where Film Marries Video Game:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/arts/video-games/where-film-marries-video-game.html
Interactive ‘Fort McMoney’ Documentary to Look at Canada’s Oilsands:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/interactive-fort-mcmoney-documentary-to-look-at-canada-s-oilsands-1.1558027
Fort McMoney Docu-game Plays Out Complexities of Oilsands:
http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2013/11/28/fort-mcmoney-documentary-video-game/
Documentary Video Game Fort McMoney Clocks Up 350,000 Hits
http://www.screendaily.com/news/doc-game-fort-mcmoney-pulls-350k/5065847.article
Prison Valley (David Dufresne & Philippe Brault):
http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/?lang=en
