Fresh Start
Fresh Start was a multidisciplinary public health projects aimed towards teaching college students ‘mindful’ drinking strategies through a narrative game as an alternative alcohol education program. The project was founded by Dr. Yifeng Hu and Professor Josh Fishburn.
All screenshots are from the 2019 build of the project, which I worked on. The project remains a collaborative effort, and does not represent the work of one student. However, pieces that I worked on are highlighted.
Publications:
Our work was highlighted by The College of New Jersey
The team also published two abstracts to the 2020 Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) conference:
Programming Role:
The game is built in Unity, using C++ and a dialog engine called Yarn, using the Unity plugin YarnSpinner.
I served as a programming generalist, helping out with various projects as needed.
My initial project was the ‘Drink Pouring Game’
The educational goal of this mini-game is to teach people how much alcohol is in one ‘standard drink’, as defined by the National Institute of Health. A red solo cup is used for approximate measuring, and to give college students a frame of reference.
The game teaches through trial-and-error, with a focus on giving feedback so players progress with the correct amount of alcohol. It also serves as a visualization of a ‘standard drink’ for players.
I also developed a mini-quiz to evaluate user learning at different narrative stages.
Once again, the design is focused on trial-and-error, and players are not scored, just given feedback and new opportunities.
Artist Role:
As a multidisciplinary team member, I was responsible for background design, asset creation for all mini-games, and assisting our character artist.
