"The Inattentive Mind"
March 2018 - December 2018
“The Inattentive Mind” was the game I created for my Master’s Thesis. This game was a first-person simulation story game. The game was created to increase the players’ attention skills and increase the players’ empathy of an ADHD experience. I used both 2-D and 3-D art to create a simulation of an ADHD student’s day of exams. This game was made with the help of two undergraduates Isiah Garcia the game rigger and Micheal Harvey the game animator. I used Unreal Engine 4.18, Autodesk Maya 2018, and Krita for the creation of this game. Sound effects came from the YouTube AudioLibrary. I was the programmer, 3-D Artist, 2-D Artist, Designer, Developer and Researcher for this game.
I worked to create a UI system that would both be visibly pleasing and intuitive to simulate an ADHD mind. To figure out the best way of having players interact with the UI system I went through the process of prototyping and design iterations. I originally started with many ways of interacting with the UI system; however, I realized that having too many methods of interaction lead to confusion in the controls. Therefore, I simplified the number of ways to interact with the game’s UI. When it came to the design of the UI system I tried different art styles till I found a 2-D style that would blend well with the 3-D assets. In the game the 2-D represented the mind of the player, while the 3-D represented the environment the player was in.
I have provided a video of the game play, the 3-D models, images of the game play, and the 2-D UI element from the game. Additionally, I provided images of the game during stages of prototyping along with images of Blueprint coding and game organization.
I worked to create a UI system that would both be visibly pleasing and intuitive to simulate an ADHD mind. To figure out the best way of having players interact with the UI system I went through the process of prototyping and design iterations. I originally started with many ways of interacting with the UI system; however, I realized that having too many methods of interaction lead to confusion in the controls. Therefore, I simplified the number of ways to interact with the game’s UI. When it came to the design of the UI system I tried different art styles till I found a 2-D style that would blend well with the 3-D assets. In the game the 2-D represented the mind of the player, while the 3-D represented the environment the player was in.
I have provided a video of the game play, the 3-D models, images of the game play, and the 2-D UI element from the game. Additionally, I provided images of the game during stages of prototyping along with images of Blueprint coding and game organization.
Prototyping and Design Process Images
I used simple drawing and stock images to start building my game. I focused on trying to figure out my design style and how the game would function. It was a challenge trying to figure out game play that would simulate ADHD.
Blueprint Coding and Game Setup
I used Unreal Engine 4's blueprint scripting to establish game play functionality and the UI scripting. within this process I setup parent child relationships with my blueprints to allow for smooth scripting of similar components.
User Interface Images
Moving images were used in the UI to demonstrate distractions someone with ADHD may experience. These images were also made bright and colorful to take precedence over each other as different distractions would be added as the players interacted in the game.
Game Models
To make the game more immersive I went with a moderately realistic environment. For the Characters I used a TV headed green person to allow anyone to put themselves into the game. The TV heads were symbolic as you can see a image coming through but you don't know what is behind the screen. Just like for many with ADHD, people around them don't know the what is going on in their minds and how they have to manage distractions.