Detour Bus
Project Overview
Casting “Detour Bus,” a casual VR game where players build ridiculous winding highways around themselves to take the dysfunctional Flowers family on a road trip across Post-Infrastructure America. Get in the construction groove with Daddy Flowers, Momma, Goldie, and Junior to take on corrupt Senator Joseph McCarthief’s attempts to turn all freeways into pay-to-drive tunnels and reclaim your right to transportation.
Production states: "The project is funded in part by Oculus."
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Daddy Flowers (55) lost his job as a payroll accountant at the Chicago Department of Transportation two months ago, when the city cut half their budget. But instead of telling his family, Daddy spent his 9-5 every weekday repairing an old VW microbus he found in a junkyard. With the bus ready to roll, Daddy now only needs to roam the country with his family, like people did in the good old days, when public infrastructure trived and busses were still celebrated. Although he managed to get his wife and kids to come along, they refuse to buy into his romanticization of the 1970s vagrant lifestyle, and he has yet to come clean about his unemployment. Daddy struggles to realize that his desires to relive the past and also build his family’s bonds for the future are in direct conflict.
Buckle up, chunks! Our first stop on the grooviest Flowers Family road trip ever: Moooount Busmooore! Monument to the Open Road and memorial for the greatest busses in American History.
Once we get to the TexaFlordia Superbridge, the beauty of the greatest infrastructure project ever will wash over you and you'll forget all about this little detour, Momma.
Once we get to the TexaFlordia Superbridge, the beauty of the greatest infrastructure project ever will wash over you and you'll forget all about this little detour, Momma.
Momma Flowers (52) can’t help but bring home her work as a corporate mediator. She tries to step in to solve her family’s conflicts, despite the emotional toll it takes on her and the fact that some arguments would probably just resolve themselves without her textbook everybody-is-right approach. Momma enforces peace with a loving bluntness and practicality, but could do better to let go of her need for control and be swayed by her kin’s various passions.
GOLDIE: My photo only got like twenty likes. Now my friends are going to think I'm boring.
MOMMA: Maybe you just need a better angle, Goldie. There's an Observation Deck on this map they gave us. Let’s try there.
DADDY: Ahh. Much better.
MOMMA: I'm glad YOU are much better. But this VOLCANO is erupting! We have to warn the FBI.
DADDY: I have to ask, Momma: you're not mad? That I got us thrown in here?
MOMMA: It was a painfully obvious trap, but a trillionaire like McCarthief will get his way no matter what. You picked what seemed safest for the family. What else could you do?
(18+ to play 10) Goldie Flowers is about to turn ten years old, but instead of throwing a fabulous cowgirl-fairy-princess birthday party she’s stuck on a road trip with her stinky family! Microbus life is boring as hell for Goldie and her dad’s oldies music taste is terrible, but the stupidest part is that there’s no wifi for her tablet. Without being able to post on social media, Goldie fears all her friends will forget about her, or worse think she’s boring! Goldie needs to learn that living in real-life moments actually leads to the best stories to share later
Ugh! My pic is taking forever to upload. This Visitors Center had better have WiFi.
JUNIOR: Notice how none of the exhibits mentioned they defaced stolen land to build this.
GOLDIE: Probably because that's boring, Junior. This whole place is boring. My photo of it only got like twenty likes, and now my friends are going to think I'm boring.
DADDY: I've really messed up to the max, this time, huh.
GOLDIE: So? You mess up all the time-- BUT you always find a way to fix it. And when you’re done, it’s even better than before.. Like the bus!
DADDY: Wait. You like the bus?
GOLDIE: OMG dad. I mean, it does smell... musty. But it's so groovy. And perfect lighting for selfies. I love the bus, and I love you. Now can we please find Momma. And I guess Junior, too.
(18+ to play 13) Junior Flowers failed a civics course his last semester of middle school and has now become a staunch advocate for the adoption of communism in America. Which of these caused the other remains unclear. He revels in acting contrarian to his parents’ and sister’s corporate-centric lives, but is not yet in a self-reflective stage of life. He is also using the moral superiority he feels from calling out the System to hide his insecurities about entering high school, hoping a brash attitude will make him cool. Junior will have to get comfortable in his own skin and stop being a smart-ass in order to liberate his family from the shackles of capitalism.
Paying for pictures WE take? What are they going to charge for next? Air?! This is why America needs communism.
GOLDIE: I'm still hungry. That gyro was not monumental.
JUNIOR: Overpriced, nutrition-less cardboard is what you get when you give monopolies to the fast food corporations.
I just can't believe we're the ones in the gulag. This isn't right.
Part James Bond villain, part crooked mid-century politician, and part Silicon Valley overlord, Sen. Joseph McCarthief (D. CA) inherited a small fortune from his father, which he converted to billions via lucky tech investments. His latest endeavor, private vacuum tunnels to help drivers avoid city traffic, was threatening to bankrupt him due to its absurdity, when he made a run for Senator. Bolstered by deep pockets and a populist platform, he seized control of the Public Works Committee and ran America’s highway maintenance into the ground, leaving his tunnels the only travel option. Any threat to his transportation monopoly infuriates McCarthief, so he takes a special interest in personally putting an end to the Flower Family’s free-roaming adventure.
You’ve taken one too many detours, Flowers Family! In this world, it’s my way or the highway, and I own all the highways!!
Uh oh, it seems your bus is too small to play with the big boys. Try again when you have something less... diminutive.
(lying through his teeth)
I had my doubts, but you’ve proved that you know infrastructure as well as I do, Mr. Flowers. I am so sorry that I released my little weather storm on you.
You’re on a road trip, right? Ever driven on a hyperspeedway? This is uh... my “Special” platform. It will take you straight to my personal route. Consider it an... apology.
The Very Cool Cowgirl is technically a park ranger at Yellowbus National Park, but that title isn’t quite romantic enough for her. She spends her time tending the park’s bison population, and sees her work as part of a deep commitment to environmental justice.
(cowgirl accent not necessary)
JUNIOR: This is a misunderstanding! We’re on a road trip to the TexaFlorida SuperBridge, but these Federal Bus Investigator goons won’t leave us alone!
VERY COOL COWGIRL: Well why didn’t you say so sooner! Any enemy of the FBI is a friend of mine. Those road hogs have been after my farm for ages, saying something about shungite fracking.
Tell you what: if you round up my bison, we’re square. Y’all are on a trip too, right? Do a good job and I’ll show you a road the FBI hasn’t even dreamed of.
(To a bison)
Anna-Mae, get back here right now!
(To the Flowers Family)
She’s a free spirit, always wandering wherever she pleases. You all are doing a good job so far! You sure you’ve never herded bison before?
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