Susbtance Induced Psychosis Reflection

The game I created is called Substance-Induced Psychosis, it is a game about the journey of an addict experiencing a mental disorder due to drugs and the challenges that he faces because of that and the decisions that he has to take based on those challenges in addition to what he goes through. In my first draft, there was an error with the linking between the scenarios and I needed to make my game more appealing by making the pictures smaller and the text more visible while changing the color of the font because it was not very appealing to the eye. Also, I needed to reference the pictures I have used throughout my whole game. Adding to that I had to change a problem that was confusing to the player where he didn’t know whether he was the one asked or whether it was a question about his friend. Also, I had to cite my work as it was mostly scientific theories and symptomatology. In addition, I had to change a huge mistake I made by calling the person who gets back to drugs a “loser” in the game which was very harsh and silly. I have managed to fix those things in my final draft.

If I had more time, I would have added more scenarios that are present in situations like that because more scenarios would give the player a wider scope of the situation and make him relate to it, I would have tried to consider the challenges that face people that come from different backgrounds such as social or economical class. But also, add videos of live footage of real addicts and people who quit drugs talking about a situation like that in the game. Another point is I would have previewed how people who fail to quit drugs have a hard time continuing their lives normally and explain the misery they go through most days if not all of them

In the process, while making this game I realized a lot of things and learned many more. I learned about how I really stand on the topic and that despite some drugs being very normalized that I am totally against all of them. But also, I learned that people who do drugs really need help and sympathy, and they don’t need to be looked down upon because they are struggling even if they themselves don’t know that. I Learned how friends and the circle around you can impact you and implicate you and pressure you into trying things against your will just to fit in, not understanding how big the consequences could be.   Finally, I learned how to utilize Google slides in a way to create a fun game activity and not only presentations. The most important thing I learned is how to pick my images and the use of legal ones. Because before that I mostly used images that are copyrighted or not referenced which I learned is illegal and not right.

The only comment I got from my colleagues to edit in my game was the point that it was confusing who was taking the actions in the game after they pick that they don’t want to take drugs. It was confusing to understand who they were playing for and why are they still asked and it wasn’t very clear that they continue the scenarios as one of their friends, that decides to take drugs. This was due to the fact that I merged the scenarios of people who say yes to taking drugs and people who refuse and play for a friend together that is why I had to fix this and create separate scenarios in the final draft.

As for the use of the special classroom it had a few positive aspects. It was good that there were a lot of smart boards which helps everyone see better and on larger screens. It was also good that we were able to edit things and take notes live while we were working and most importantly that we weren’t all looking on a tiny computer screen as a group. However, it was a bit sad that there wasn’t room for everybody and some people had to go work outside on their phones or laptop because of the lack of space. Also, during other times people had to sit on the tables at the back of the room.

All in all, it was a fun and new experience. I learned new methods and skills using a smartboard and it was fun to give and take critiques from my classmates because they showed me and helped me with flaws I was not aware of in my game which helped me create a better game.