Care - Prototype
Concept
Care is a prototyped virtual-reality game made in Unreal Engine 4 for my Honours submission at Abertay University.
Players take on the role of a community worker whose job is to care for the elderly. Players must complete all tasks required of them and try to increase the patient’s mood before leaving to care for the next patient. The game is all about the crucial work that these carers provide.
Project Type University / Honours Project
Software Used Unreal Engine 4
Motivation
I was motivated to take on this subject matter as my Mum is a carer and I wanted to discuss the work she does within a virtual reality experience. This project highlights the importance of the work done by community workers and home care assistants by representing some of the duties they perform as well as the difficulties they experience while caring for the elderly. I’ve done this by designing mechanics and interactions inspired by the day-to-day work carried out by these carers.
The Mechanics
In Care players have to support their patient both mentally and physically. Players can communicate with the patient through their clipboard which is attached to the players left hand, players will then use their right hand to select dialogue options or to choose to view a new page. This is done by selecting one of the three coloured buttons on the left.
Each dialogue option will result in a response from the patient, and may affect their mood.
The patients mood is also displayed on the clipboard. This can fluctuate depending what you say or do for the patient. Players who take an interest in the patient and ask them about themselves will find their mood more positive. Conversely, if you ignore the patient their mood will decrease. This may happen because the patient is lonely and you are the only person they'll see all day.
Mandatory player objectives involve tasks like giving the patient their medication.
Optional player objectives involve tasks like finding the patient their slippers.
If you would like to see the prototype in action please feel free to watch the above videos. Both videos show completely different playthroughs and the impact the player has on the patient.
Here is a link to a playlist of multiple playthroughs:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD-efasTwHOhG1k2SLNRGmt3yWbk4yz0k
Each playthrough showcases various choices the player can make as well as the results of their actions.
Next steps
The prototype for 'Care', which has been shown above, has taught me a lot about the process of prototyping, iteration and VR game design.
I aim to develop 'Care' into a playable game, using the mechanics and systems created for the prototype.
I hope to make this experience available to the public to download in the future. If you would like to see how this project progresses please follow me on Twitter.