Week 3/4 - Psychotic State & Editor Inspector

Week 3/4 - Camera Mechanics & Assets

Assets

Tools used (to-date):

• Unity3d
• Trello
• GitHub

Future development tools:

• Autodesk 3ds Max
• Zbrush
• Subtance Painter
• Audacity
• Studio One

3rd Party Assets (to-date):

• ProBuilder (Unity)
• ProGrid (Unity)
• HDRP (High Definition Render Pipeline, Unity)
• Book of the Dead: Environment
• Boneskin Settlement Pack
• Mesh Effects

3rd Party Asset considerations:

• UMA 2
• Bush Craft
• Bush Craft Extension

Sprints

State Behaviors

It was important to easily blur between the differences of the states of psychosis. I chose to do this by adding the prodrome phase and acute phase and their possible symptoms into an Editor Window on Unity. This would mean the dynamic adjustments of these effects in-game to present the idea. This will also be of use for later User Experience testing when it is important to indulge the player in each of the symptoms, to see if they feel what is intended. However, this Editor Window came with problems, such as the convoluted approach to adjusting symptoms while in Play Mode. An custom editor inspector panel was much more appropriate for this type of work.

Also in order to represent psychosis symptoms, these effects needed multiple features to lerp between. The following are original thoughts to represent these symptoms in a game, limited by visual and sound immersion;

• Post processing effects adjustments.
• Camera / player mechanic adjustments.
• Weather adjustments (symbolic of mood).
• Sound design / voice-over.

so far the post processing and camera effects have been adjusted and mapped with anxiety, depression and lack of concentration sliders. These are not set-in-stone, as user testing would provide important feedback onto whether the sensation could be improved. For example; a grey, cold effect was implemented for depression, with a more intense vignette. For lack of concentration, a brighter UV range, and changing the depth of field at random intervals depending on the slider amount. Anxiety clamped the head in a downwards position, representing the feeling of being locked in a situation, as well as slower head movements. Sounds will drastically improve these effects, however I would like to implement these at a later date and focus on the visuals for the time-being. These effects are set back to their default state once toggled off.

Additionally, other scene adjustments were implemented, including the HDRP procedural Skybox and scene settings. This Skybox setting was used instead of HDRI skybox as it could be used to transition from day to night without obvious rotation of the Skybox. The HDRP diffuse profile was also set to the Book Of The Dead Environment pack profile as this pertained an immersive diffuse atmosphere. The field of view for both cameras was also lerped as the player started to sprint, which gave additional user feedback to player.

Risk Evaluation & Research

Risk assessment and measures taken;

• Deadlines ‐ At the beginning of this weeks sprint there were priorities of a report due on the 18th for AINT308. To combat this risk I will attempt to catch‐up during the coming weeks by pushing for significant progress in the level design.
• Internet Provider ‐ Virgin Media has had an outage / problem throughout the entirety of Plymouth for the last few days, so progress on the level design was ground to a halt due to the inability to push changes / research effectively. I have taken initiative to talk to the provider, however they have not yet stated a date in which it will be fixed. I will not be able to traverse my work onto the University computers due to the large amount files required to transfer over, and the router problems preventing me from doing so.  I will, however attempt smaller sprints on a separate project folder at the University using a separate branch / repository, so that once the service is running again I will be able to merge, and not lose significant progress.

For what I can do, I have been researching psychosis, with the condensed and relevant points of the findings, bullet‐pointed in the miscellaneous deliverable. This gives me a clearer understanding of the effects, and how I can incorporate those into my game.

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/psychosis#symptoms

https://www.healthline.com/health/unable-to-concentrate

Symptoms:

• Difficulty concentrating.
• Depressed mood.
• Sleeping too much or not enough.
• Suspiciousness.
• Withdrawal.
• Delusion - A false belief or impression that is firmly held even though contradicted by reality. (Paranoia etc.) Might think they are being followed, or that secret messages are being sent. There are other types of delusions such as somatic and grandiose.
• Hallucinations - Sensory perception. Seeing, hearing, feeling, or smelling something that is not real.
• Switching topics erratically.
• Depression.
• Suicidal thoughts.

(See document for more info here.)

More Research

Quick rise towards phase. Fluctuates a bit. Recovery phase is slower. Perhaps this function could be mapped into the blur between states, even though this is effective a graph of the long-term it could be represented in the short term for this type of medium.

First phase.

1. Disconnected.
2. Alone.
3. Suspicious.
4. Brighter or sounds become louder.
5. Difficulty on focusing on what they are hearing.
6. Difficulty screening out distracting information and sensation.
7. Difficult to keep track of things.

Second phase.

1. Hallucinations.
2. Delusions.
3. Very odd speech behaviors.

Upcoming Sprints

State Behavior (Continued...)

I would like to implement the weather conditions on psychosis state behaviors, as well as hallucinations and delusions visual effects within the upcoming week. If this goal is surpassed there will be an opportunity to gain access to the University microphones in order to perform voice-overs and sound effects for these states / transitions.

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