📸 Report It

A narrative 2D indie pixel-art game exploring how sensationalist media, viral outrage, and selective reporting manufacture racial division—and how empathy can break the cycle.

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"If you're not careful, the media will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing."

— Malcolm X

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✦ The Motive: Social Good & Media Literacy

In an era driven by algorithmic outrage, viral soundbites, and cultural polarization, Report It was created as an interactive thought experiment to teach social empathy, racial harmony, and critical media awareness.

Behind every news chyron and social feed is a human choice: What stories do we choose to amplify?

┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────┐       ┌─────────────────┐
│   SELECTIVE     │  ───▶ │     PUBLIC      │  ───▶ │     TRIBAL      │
│   REPORTING     │       │     OUTRAGE     │       │    DIVISION     │
└─────────────────┘       └─────────────────┘       └─────────────────┘
         ▲                                                   │
         └────────────────── VICIOUS CYCLE ──────────────────┘

1. Rejecting Racial Discrimination & Tribalism

The game humanizes its characters with authentic skin tones, diverse hairstyles, and expressive features. Rather than depicting violence as innate, the narrative demonstrates how prejudice is manufactured:

• Peaceful citizens walk together in the same park without fear or hostility.
• When the camera selectively broadcasts anger and labels entire groups, suspicion spreads through the crowd.
• The game illustrates the tragic cost of prejudice—showing players that division harms everyone, while mutual understanding is the only path forward.

2. Deconstructing the Outrage Economy

Social media and broadcast news often reward cynicism, conflict, and spectacle over peaceful reality:

• Capturing acts of kindness or quiet love produces zero sensationalism.
• Capturing a single misunderstanding, fear, or conflict creates immediate breaking news that dominates public attention.
• Players experience firsthand how content algorithms shape the human psyche.

3. Fostering Critical Media Consumers

By placing the player behind the viewfinder, Report It transforms passive observers into mindful media creators. Players learn to ask:

• Was this moment representative, or was it cherry-picked?
• Who benefits when communities are turned against each other?
• How can we champion unity, peace, and social justice instead of fueling outrage?

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✦ Key Gameplay Features

• The Park as a Living Ecosystem — A lush, handcrafted 16-bit park featuring rolling dithered lawns, wildflowers, and wandering citizens.
• The Broadcast Feedback Loop — Every photo taken is instantly beamed onto the giant public CRT television. The park's population watches the screen in real-time, modifying their behavior, dress, and attitudes based on what was reported.
• Beginner-Friendly Onboarding — Designed so first-time players immediately understand their objective:
  • Field Reporter's Guide Modal — Accessible with one click on the home screen (? HOW TO PLAY), explaining controls, role, and first assignments.
  • Target Locked HUD — Camera viewfinder brackets glow vibrant emerald green with a ● TARGET LOCKED indicator when framing story-relevant events.
  • Dynamic Assignment Ticker — Non-intrusive fallback guidance that gently steers players if they ever feel stuck.
• Atmospheric Pixel Artistry — Pure nearest-neighbor rendering with zero blur, authentic 16-bit color palettes, expressive facial animations, and retro scanline visual effects.
• Streamlined Ending & Replay — Dedicated post-credits reflection with an instant one-click restart.

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✦ Quick Start

Play locally with zero installation required:

Option A: Python Built-In Server

python -m http.server 8000

Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

Option B: Node.js (npx)

npx serve .

Option C: VS Code / Live Server

Right-click index.html and select "Open with Live Server".

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✦ Controls

Action	Control	Description
Aim Viewfinder	Mouse / Trackpad	Move the news camera reticle across the park
Capture & Broadcast	Left-Click / Tap	Snap a photo to air breaking news on the big screen
How to Play Guide	Click ? HOW TO PLAY	View the Field Reporter's Guide on the title screen
Pause	Click Outside Window	Pauses animation loop
Resume	Click Screen	Resumes gameplay immediately

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✦ Technical Highlights

• Engine: Point-filtered WebGL with PIXI.js utilizing SCALE_MODES.NEAREST for authentic pixel precision.
• Animation & Physics: 60 FPS fixed-timestep loop synchronized with requestAnimationFrame and choreographed with TweenJS.
• Audio Engineering: Multi-track positional sound design powered by Howler.js (camera snaps, crowd murmurs, broadcast chimes).
• Cache-Busting Architecture: Coordinated version query strings on all manifests and scripts ensuring immediate asset loading across modern browsers.
• Responsive Layout: Dynamic viewport scaling that adapts cleanly to any desktop or laptop display while preserving crisp 16-bit aspect ratios.

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Report It is dedicated to a more empathetic, united, and thoughtful digital world.