1.6 Games for Change
Tracks
Track 6
Monday, June 24, 2024 |
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM |
Plaza P10 |
Speaker
Ms Bengi Agcal
The University of British Columbia
FP: Designing a Serious Game Utilizing Beaver Behavior for Water Responsibility Education and Communication
11:00 AM - 11:25 AMAbstract
This paper introduces an approach to water responsibility education and communication through the design of a serious game centered around the behaviors of beavers. With a growing global concern for water conservation and responsible usage, innovative methods are necessary to engage and educate diverse audiences. Building upon traditional ecological knowledge and leveraging the captivating characteristics of beavers as ecosystem engineers, this research delves into the development of an interactive game aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of water conservation practices. The game design integrates key aspects of beaver behavior, such as dam construction and habitat management, to simulate real-world scenarios related to water resource and landscape management. By gamifying these concepts, the aim is to promote awareness, inspire responsible water usage, and facilitate meaningful conversations about conservation practices among players. Drawing upon principles of traditional ecological knowledge, education and game design, this study outlines the theoretical framework behind the game's development. Additionally, the paper discusses the design process, highlighting the challenges, considerations, and strategies employed to create an immersive and educational gaming experience.
Biography
Bengi Agcal is a multimedia artist with computer engineering and psychology backgrounds. She is currently pursuing her MFA alongside NSERC CREATE in the Immersive Technologies program at the University of British Columbia. Through art and engineering, she aims to engage with the issues of environmental degradation. Her research interests and art practice include speculative fiction, participatory design, 3D rendering, digital sculpting, XR technologies, web computing, immersive technologies, sustainability, climate change, and material recycling.
Mx V. K. Tian
Graduate Researcher
Drexel University
SP: You Are Under Watch: Designing an Uncomfortable Pervasive Game for Critical Reflection and Player Equity
11:25 AM - 11:40 AMAbstract
Discomfort in digital design has recently emerged as an open space for exploration, challenging notions that play and digital experience should strive towards pure "fun" or frictionless interaction. Pervasive games, which blend gameplay into players' regular lives, offer an apt means of exploring discomfort by situating play activities within the real world. Uncomfortable pervasive games are uniquely positioned to prompt critical reflection in players by integrating discomfort from game mechanics with real-world concerns encountered during everyday life. This paper details the design process for Under Watch, a pervasive game aimed at investigating the relationship between uncomfortable interactions and moments of critical reflection during play. Under Watch's design considers the ethical and safety concerns of both pervasive play and discomfort design. This work offers implications and poses challenges to those seeking to further explore artistic works and interventions within the space of uncomfortable pervasive games.
Biography
V. K. Tian is a graduate researcher at the Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University. Their research interests include discomfort design, pervasive games, and transmedia storytelling.
Mr Lucian Rodriguez Lovell
Lecturer
RMIT University
SP: Dark Forest: Critiquing Online Communication in an Art-Game of Digital Monsters
11:40 AM - 11:55 AMAbstract
Dark Forest is an ongoing speculative and critical art-game project exploring how individuals perform, adopt and exploit language online for personal gain post Web-2.0. The Dark Forest theory of the internet describes this cultural phenomenon as a communication game, and we use it as the metaphoric basis for our game design. We see an opportunity to engage players through game mechanics with the aim for players to reflect on how they perform, exploit or engage with language online to navigate social capital. The first iteration of Dark Forest engaged players in an open world built in Unreal Engine 5, where they could construct tweet-like phrases and send them into a dark forest environment. Monsters and elements of the forest environment would respond in different ways to these phrases based on their implicit alignment towards the player-composed phrases and open or close pathways based on their endorsement. We hope that players understand and absorb some of the critiques made by the piece through their interaction. Future iterations of the work, based on reflection after its first showing, will streamline the design so that consequences for players are more explicit and encourage deeper progression.
Biography
Lucian Rodriguez Lovell is a Game Design Lecturer (Industry Fellow) and PhD student at RMIT University. He lives and works on unceded Wurundjeri territory. Lucian’s research interrogates embodied human-computer interactions, generative ai, and digital cultures, through a paradigm of practice-based research. His contemporary creative practice involves mixed-reality games (AR and VR), experimental digital experience design, and image to 3D processes
Dr Tom Penney
Senior Lecturer / Program Manager
RMIT University
Co-presenter
Biography
Dr Tom Penney is the Program Manager of the Bachelor of Design (Games) at RMIT University and Lecturer in Games and Digital Design. His practice involves media art, post internet art, virtual and augmented reality, ai-generated art and artwork made in game engines. His art and research interrogates digital identity play, queerness, humour and internet communication.
Session chair
Mike Stubbs
Artbomb
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