It is hereby certified that Kelven Ling Kian Hau (ID No: 18ACB03026 ) this final year project/dissertation/thesis* entitled “ Interactive Game for. Depression Individual ” under the supervision of Dr Tong Dong Ling (supervisor) of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty/Institute* of Information and. This project allowed me to be exposed to game development and strengthened my strength in many aspects.
I am doing this project not only for marks but also to increase my skill and knowledge. This project aims to improve social recognition and help depression individuals with depression through a game. Since the game development process will have high uncertainty, agile methodology can play its role nicely during the development process to change some of the design and requirements.
Games with similar functionality and background are reviewed to strengthen and improve game development and design. Bachelor of Information Systems (Honours) Information Systems Engineering Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (Kampar Campus), UTAR.
- Problem Statement
- Motivation
- Project Objective
- Project Scope
- Impact, Significance, and Contribution
- Background Information
- Report Organization
Reviewing previous research on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help decide the most appropriate technique in CBT to use in the game. A short storyline will be developed in the proposed game, and a series of questions will be asked throughout the game. Video games have been strategically used in the medical field and affect various health issues among the patient [6].
Video games are supposed to allow players to interact with NPCs or other players in the multiplayer genre. The first chapter mainly introduces the background information, objectives and scope of the project. Chapter 4, system development will be explained to give the readers an insight into how the proposed application is developed, the software required and the explanation of the main functionality of the application.
Chapter 5, tutorial on how to install the application on the computer and the screenshots of the application have been shown. Chapter 6, the system test result is reported and the details of the test criteria are also explained.
Literature Review
- Depression Quest
- Reach Out Central
- SPARX
- Night In The Woods
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Comparison Table
All the problems and themes displayed by the game can be found in every corner of the world. The game creator wanted to develop a game about depression in early development as the development team had experienced depression in some way. These threads tell players what's going on in the actual world, not just in the game.
After the game was released, the development team published the development journal (refer to Figure 2.12) on the development and design with a mental health expert on the game mechanism. The game's mind meter leads to hallucinations in the game, which is one of the symptoms of psychosis (Figure 2.14). The game has the strength of having a large and wide population in delivering the message and improving awareness of mental illness.
The details of the game are also one of the strengths, especially the audio and sound used. The game costs RM56 for players on Steam (see Figure 2.15), which is considered expensive for students and low.
- Agile Development Methodology
- Software Development Tools
- Hardware Development Tools
- System Design
- Storyboard
The main features of the game are the implementation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the stage with three labyrinths. When the players first enter the game, a splash screen is displayed that directs players to the main menu. From the main menu, players can choose to continue playing the previous save or start a new game.
If the players choose to continue with the save, the players will be redirected to the game. If the players choose to start a new game, the information is quick for players through the starting process. In the starting process, players will see warning information to inform players about the game and how to get the best result.
When players interact with an object, the system will determine whether the interactable is a dialog, item, or log. If the interactable is a key item or log, players will pick it up and store it in inventory. When the dialog system is activated, it will check if answers or item usage is required.
After the player's input, if the question is a puzzle, it will check if the answer is correct. If the answer is wrong, it will show a failed dialog and nothing will happen. If the answer type is a question type, it will display the appropriate dialog based on the chosen choice and calculate a new score for the players.
When players reach the end of the game, the game will display a corresponding ending according to the score the players get. G11 Graphic Graphic displays the Save button G12 Graphic Graphic displays the Credit button G13 Graphic Graphic displays the Quit button.
Project Development
- Fundamental
- Camera Isometric Setting
- Character Movement
- Interaction
- Map Change System
- Dialogue System
- Save System
- Audio System
- Game Build Setting
Importing the required asset (refer to Figure 4.7) can be added to the hierarchy and start development. In the Fixed Update function (refer to Figure 4.14), the raw horizontal and vertical axis input, arrow key, will be captured. In Figure 4.17, the initialization function will check the status of the object each time the object is loaded.
In the update function (see Figure 4.18), key inputs are logged to execute the function. The script used the "is trigger" setting to check if players are within range to interact with the item (see Figure 4-20). After the scene is included in the build setting (see Figure 4.22), the map change script can be added to the object component where the place on the map wants to transform players to a specific map.
This function will store the current map information in the player's preferences that will be needed (Figure 4.24). Since many dialogs will be needed throughout the game, a scriptable object has been defined to make the process easier (refer to Figure 4.27). The dialog will open using the "Dialog Open" function to change the UI layout (refer to Figure 4.29).
The step dialog function (see Figure 4.30) will run the text through the typewriter effect script, which gives it the typewriter effect when the dialog is running. If item usage is required, it will run the unlockable item container build, which will build according to the available item currently in the inventory (see Figure 4.31). The Save function saves the file in the application's persistent data path where the application's default is set (Figure 4.35).
If in the player script the game is loaded from the game, all the data will be loaded from the saved data into the corresponding variable in the Start function (see Figure 4.37). The Audio Source component will be added dynamically according to the list in the alert function (see Figure 4.39). Open player settings (Figure 4.42) to further set game details such as resolution, icon and other additional settings.
As figure 4.43 shows, Company Name, Product Name, Version and Icon can be set in the setting. In the resolution and presentation tab (refer to Figure 4.44), the type of screen mode and default resolution will be set as above.
Hardware Set up
Software Setup
System Operation
This sign informs players what the game is and how to get the most accurate result. When players press space it will proceed to the name input for players (Figure 5.6). The first page is the model asset authors, the second page is the UI/Sprite authors, and the last page is the audio authors.
When the line of the dialog is completed, key hint X appears in the corner of the dialog. At the bottom right of the popup, show the main hint to close the popup and continue the game. It has multiple slots for the key item (Label 5.5), the current mission message (Label 5.6), and the description of the key item when the key item slot is selected (Label 5.7).
On the left is the log tab and on the right is the system tab. In this maze, several questions are also asked during the scene to further determine the mental state of the players. Several questions were also asked during the scene to further determine the mental state of the players in this maze.
At the end of the maze, the players' mental status scores will be completed, and the corresponding final scenes and dialogue will take place to complete the game.
System Testing and Performance Metrics
- Main Menu
- In Game Control
- Map Transition Control
- Interactable Control
- Mission Control
- Timeline Control
- Audio Control
1 Audio List add clip All used audio clips are available in the audio list with the appropriate setting. 3 Sound Effect Play Character's Walk Effect Transition Character's Kick Walk Effect Transition Typewriter Effect Dialogue Transition Dialogue Confirmation Effect Transition Response Selection Control Effect Dialogue.
Objectives Evaluation
Discussion
More functionality allows the game to provide more flexible help to players and spread more knowledge and awareness about mental health and other relevant topics. Since PHQ-9 questions will be asked throughout the game, the players' answers are important to ensure the accuracy of the PHQ-9 score. Since the game has its story, the players can change the story and answer the question according to the 'player' self and not the 'real' self.
The puzzle and the solution to solve the puzzle can be found across the game, such as log content. However, players may not read the log and any description and brute force through the game testing each answer or choice. The low number of contents leads to easy task solving due to the project's time limit.
This is a 30-45 minute story and just a simple story design that fits all the PHQ-9 questions and other relevant information the story calls for.
Conclusion
Checklist
