Eric Giraudet de Boudemange
Artiste
The title refers to Doom, one of the first first-person video games with immersive 3D graphics, allowing players to create their own content. With this in mind, the artist and developer invited two classes of Year 7 and Year 9 pupils to contribute to all stages of video game production by imagining a sequel to the unfinished novel Perceval, or The Story of the Grail, written in the 12th century by Chrétien de Troyes
In this contemporary adaptation, the player guides Perceval on his quest for the Holy Grail. The game begins in a hub, resembling a classroom or library, which opens onto five doors giving access to the five chapters of the game: Perceval and his Great Conquest, The Quest for the Grail, The Enchanted Labyrinth, The Enigma of the Grail, and The Defeat of Perceval.
The pupils drew the maps for the levels/chapters, invented the puzzles, and chose the characters and scenery elements. Under the guidance of Éric Giraudet, the secondary school pupils drew inspiration from pop culture imagery and medieval illuminations digitised on the Gallica website of the National Library of France (BnF).
Players can explore castles, mazes and magical forests, encounter a witch from Harry Potter or Merlin the Enchanter, all while being guided by a digital voiceover. The voice narrates the stories of schoolchildren at funfairs, accompanied by their friends and favourite personalities, creating the effect of a joyful “exquisite corpse”!
The Grail in Doom-like is at the crossroads of several disciplines, joyfully blending high and popular culture, real and virtual worlds, medieval and contemporary universes, legendary tales and personal stories.