First Steps...
- Alejandro L. Ruata
- Sep 5, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 19, 2021
Thesis Year - Blog Post 2
‘Among all interactive media, video games are recognized as tools, helpful in fostering community and relieving stress, as a result, video games are proven versatile and effective mediums that can stimulate healing in its users, even from global crises like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this healing effect is evident in my project “Memorial Tomb”’.
The team has gotten their first real tasks and I’ll be spending this upcoming Wednesday going over their progress during the meeting at 11AM (these tasks include layout(s) for the museum environment, museum installation ideas – I made a few of those myself as I am also taking on an artist’s role this semester, in Drive, and on Discord so other artists can have an idea of what I’m generally looking for – and a simple summary as well as presentation ideas for the narrative of the game). One of the tasks is for our lone programmer (setting up GitHub and Unity project), I will be looking in to getting him one more programmer to work alongside him this semester (either from the school, or outside it, will have more to say on this next week). He says if necessary he could work alone but would prefer at least one more person, and I’ll endeavor to try and make that happen.
As for what they already worked on, I was pleasantly surprised by the discussion that was had last Wednesday (I had asked everyone to think over what COVID means to them, personally or otherwise). The team was willing to talk and share brief anecdotes (regarding moments of deception, people with COVID infecting others without it, knowing full well how dangerous that was, and temporarily halting critical medical care work as a result; moments of friendship, people who have made new connections and bonds despite the quarantine that wouldn’t be traded for anything; moments of uncertainty, people halting their lives, living on pause while quarantine affected all life around them, and more), it was rewarding to have this real confirmation that there was interest and excitement for the project. This causes me to look forward to next meeting, where I hope we will have more to talk about and share.
Unsure what tasks will be for next week, artists will likely work to shave down all ideas to a “final” list of 10 and begin modeling, design may continue layout work, writing may continue summary work, programming may start looking into making a VR game, that’s my general idea, but it’ll really come down to what kind of discussion/progress is seen on Wednesday (will need to reinforce importance of uploading to google drive/linking to work on Discord, I also need to explain expectations in regards to how I will grade them as Sprint 1 ends on Wednesday).
On the research side of things, you may have noticed my slightly revised Thesis statement at the top, the original version from last week went over well (just needed to mention the project itself this time). Aside from that I’ve collected sources for my first of 4 support points below…
Video games are considered a form of art, art is proven to be a significant factor in healing during and post times of crisis.
Sources
Essentially, games will first be proven as a form of art to establish a connection from “games” to “art therapy”. Establishing video games as a form of art then allows for the discussion to then move towards the power of art (broadly, as a whole) and art therapy in times of crisis (and post crisis). Discussion on the unique strengths offered by video games (now established as a form of art) will be saved for the next support point. Expected inclusion of the project will cover game genre, why it should be taken seriously as a form of art, and design decisions meant to evoke healing/comfort.
Research work above has not been turned in yet, because I want to first work on support point 2 (refine it, mention VR, and collect sources) this Tuesday.
That’s been my week in a nutshell… see you next time!
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