[Hypothetical] - A game to explain Gender Dysphoria?

[♥︎ SarahD ♥︎]

Hay everyone! ♥︎

So, being a girl who's always been interested in game design and how /why games work the way they do, I was just sitting here lamenting over the fact that there's nothing out there (aside from some unknown indie games perhaps) that really tries to address the trans* experience.  I mean, games have the wonderful ability to allow you (the player) to experience life in another person's shoes (so-to-speak), right?  And we're always complaining that cis folk don't understand us, so wouldn't it be great if there were a game which could give a cis person a taste of the experience of GD?

I thought this would make an interesting and revealing thought experiment, so here's my question to all of you - if you were designing a game to explain to a cis person what GD was like, what would your game be like?  What sort of game mechanics would you use to describe the experience?  How would the plot play out (assuming there is one)?

I'm eager to see your answers ♥︎*Hugs*♥︎

[Ms Grace]

I'm not a gamer myself, but maybe a trans character in The Sims?

[nguoiviet]

ima in

[Jade_404]

I have the Oculus Rift and the first thing I did was make a female character and a room with a mirror. It felt amazing seeing myself as a full-blown girl when I looked down at my body and when I looked in the mirror. If my arms and legs were tracked too it would of been more immersive. I think if a Cis person were to have to play in an opposite gender role in a VR game they may experience a bit of GD themselves after playing a while , or at least gain some feeling of empathy for what Trans* go thru with being in the wrong body.

I read an article about using the Oculus for experiencing gender swap. It claims it increases empathy and intimacy. Found a link http://digg.com/video/using-oculus-rift-to-swap-your-gender

Love,
Jade

[Bellatrix]

While it would certainly be a niche title in the age of kickstarter and a golden age of indy game development then I see no reason why it could not at least get to a design brief.

However, as has been shown by the recent #gamersgate controversy the gaming industry is still so far behind the rest of the world in equality for women in general, let alone trans women/men, that it would undoubtedly end up turned into some comedy title played for laughs rather than a serious game.

But then again, I never thought I would ever see a game like Depression Quest, so what do i know 

[Jade_404]

I do agree with Bellatrix here. The loudest gamers are the rudest and they are not ready for equality for women in gaming, let alone Trans* people. That being said, I am a programmer / game designer and would love working a team to build a game with gender role swap in mind. Something for the Rift because of the overwhelming feeling of being the character in the game. It takes lots of time to build a good game so maybe the world would be ready for such a thing by the time a game could be complete.

Love,
Jade

[Bellatrix]

I do agree with Bellatrix here. The loudest gamers are the rudest and they are not ready for equality for women in gaming, let alone Trans* people. That being said, I am a programmer / game designer and would love working a team to build a game with gender role swap in mind. Something for the Rift because of the overwhelming feeling of being the character in the game. It takes lots of time to build a good game so maybe the world would be ready for such a thing by the time a game could be complete.

Love,
Jade

Yeah, I'm with you on that, the sensations available with something like the Rift would take the game to the next level. I think another issue would be that to make a compelling game about this subject matter would require alot of graphical power, enough to convince you that the body you are looking down at is not something akin to an extra from Mike Tysons Punch Out. The graphics required could push costs up to an untenable level.

Jade, as a game designer (although I obvs have no idea about your background) would it not be feesable to do a basic development document and garner interest from potential backers about a project? Even if its not a trans life simulator, it could be incorporated into an interesting RPG type situation. Heck, even as part of the backstory for a character in a game focused elsewhere.

[Jade_404]

Yeah, I'm with you on that, the sensations available with something like the Rift would take the game to the next level. I think another issue would be that to make a compelling game about this subject matter would require alot of graphical power, enough to convince you that the body you are looking down at is not something akin to an extra from Mike Tysons Punch Out. The graphics required could push costs up to an untenable level.

Jade, as a game designer (although I obvs have no idea about your background) would it not be feesable to do a basic development document and garner interest from potential backers about a project? Even if its not a trans life simulator, it could be incorporated into an interesting RPG type situation. Heck, even as part of the backstory for a character in a game focused elsewhere.

I am not good at documents... however, I can make working demos of games using Unity3D. (or build full game with funding and a team) I can create very realistic characters and 3D environments as well as do game programming. The thing I lack the most is friends / visibility / exposure. I had a kickstarter for an awesome game but no one even looked at it so I never met my mark. I don't personally have the capital to afford a team so I have built everything alone or with the help of my brother who is a 3D artist. I think if we could map out a game idea I could put together some demos easily. This sounds fun, turning [Hypothetical] into something possibly real!

I spend a lot of time doing prototypes for Hasbro, leap Frog, Fisher Price, Crayola, Wild Planet and more. I create 3D simulations of their toys before they are created, so they can play around with concepts and ideas without having to involve engineers and model people. I currently have only 1 project so I have a bit of time to invest in something

[♥︎ SarahD ♥︎]

Great responses so far peeps, I'm having fun reading these ideas

Here's something to get you all thinking though - does it have to be so literal?  Do we really need photo-realistic graphics and an expensive headset to communicate the feelings and sensations associated with dysphoria?

Here's an Extra Credits episode explaining the concept of Mechanics as Metaphor.  It's well worth a watch to get where I'm coming from


The game can be found here: http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/flash
And this is a quick play through of the game they are talking about if you don't want to go and quickly check it out for yourselves:


I find it incredible that such a simple game (a simplicity on-par with 1st-generation games like Pong) can convey such a deep experience and narrative just from its mechanics alone.  That is true elegance of design, and it doesn't need a NASA super-computer to run it.  Could something like this be applied to the trans* experience?

♥︎*Hugs*♥︎

[Avinia]

I personally have worked on some very small games that were never released since I didn't want to release them, but the furthest I ever went was adding a third gender option, since most of the games were designed to be online roleplaying games...

But, a game like you are talking about, would be, amazing. Also, just adding, since I mostly play games with lower graphic qualities(even though my computer can run most games on ultra), I can easily say that even the worst graphics can still allow you to feel attached to the character you are playing as. Though, you still have that stupid part of the gaming community that is obsessed with graphics...

By the way, I saw someone talking about how if only you could also control your hands with the Oculus Rift? Might not be exactly what you were looking for, but go check out Loading Human on YouTube. They are the closest I have seen to having a full virtual reality experience.

[Vale]

I'm not a gamer myself, but maybe a trans character in The Sims?

I believe The Sims 2 has a transgender mod. Probably my favorite in the series if you can get all the expansions. Has a lot of really good mods.

As for a game concept, I suppose you could have the player create their sort of character, then have their sex be changed in the game. This might give someone the idea what it'd feel like to have GD if you were able to make them feel as if their character really represented them. An example might be the player is a male and is suddenly forced to take the role of a woman, or vice versa. Maybe some sort of narrative driven game might really help players understand?

[Jade_404]

Back in the days of D&D in the 80s, I got turned into a female by an Orc Shaman when I called her sexy... The dungeon master thought I would be upset about having to be a girl in the game. I ended up loving the girl character so much I made only girl characters from then on and that continued into video games later. I still only pick girl characters, if a game does not have girl characters to pick from I won't play it long.

Love,
Jade

[Bellatrix]

Great responses so far peeps, I'm having fun reading these ideas

Here's something to get you all thinking though - does it have to be so literal?  Do we really need photo-realistic graphics and an expensive headset to communicate the feelings and sensations associated with dysphoria?

Here's an Extra Credits episode explaining the concept of Mechanics as Metaphor.  It's well worth a watch to get where I'm coming from


The game can be found here: http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/flash
And this is a quick play through of the game they are talking about if you don't want to go and quickly check it out for yourselves:


I find it incredible that such a simple game (a simplicity on-par with 1st-generation games like Pong) can convey such a deep experience and narrative just from its mechanics alone.  That is true elegance of design, and it doesn't need a NASA super-computer to run it.  Could something like this be applied to the trans* experience?

♥︎*Hugs*♥︎

Sarah. I don't even know if I can define Loneliness as a game. I know that it is leading us down a somewhat different conversation route, but can a game with no inherent win conditions, nor loose conditions actually be considered a game?

However, I can see the point that was being made. But i believe that a game of the kind we are talking about would require a certain sense of realism that comes from decent graphics. I'm not suggesting Crysis levels of GPU destroying realism, just something that looks somewhat palatable.

[Jade_404]

Sarah. I don't even know if I can define Loneliness as a game. I know that it is leading us down a somewhat different conversation route, but can a game with no inherent win conditions, nor loose conditions actually be considered a game?

However, I can see the point that was being made. But i believe that a game of the kind we are talking about would require a certain sense of realism that comes from decent graphics. I'm not suggesting Crysis levels of GPU destroying realism, just something that looks somewhat palatable.

I do agree with Bella, without some level of realism, much would be lost in the translation.

Love,
Jade

[MelissaAnn]

I absolutely agree with Bella,

Although a trends game would be interesting. I just don't see how you can achieve the feeling of loneliness, isolation, severe depression and the absolute need to change without knowing how to change it is such a feeling of desperation that I just don't see how that can come across in a game, but I would love to see it. I do wish you the best of luck in trying to develop this game and really do hope you succeed.

Hugs,

Melissa Ann

[MelissaAnn]

Sorry about that, I mean Trans game

[Bellatrix]

Although a trends game would be interesting. I just don't see how you can achieve the feeling of loneliness, isolation, severe depression and the absolute need to change without knowing how to change it is such a feeling of desperation that I just don't see how that can come across in a game, but I would love to see it.

You might be surprised how well a game can convey some of those feelings.

If you have circa 45 mins to spare give Depression Quest a go to see what I mean, its free to play and can be played in your browser.

http://www.depressionquest.com/

As someone who has suffered from particularly bad depression it does an alarmingly good job of putting those feeling across.

[Delsorou]

I volounteer to help with this project if it leaves the conceptual phase.   Self taught CGI work, amateur but effective.

My resume and only surviving example of my work (I quit doing it during my trans-denial-angst years): https://plus.google.com/103876956860374542597/posts/CiKbpNY86Rd

I was going to mention Depression Quest, but I see it's already been pointed out.    I think a trans game along similar lines could be very helpful in getting people to GET it.

[Sephirah]

It felt amazing seeing myself as a full-blown girl when I looked down at my body...

There are mods which allow you to do that in Skyrim.

VR is probably the most efficient way to get people to experience what it feels like to see yourself, and be treated by others as someone you know you're not. You probably wouldn't really need to make a specific type of game for it, just one which takes place through the eyes of a character of a different gender to your own, in which there is a lot of interaction with others and oneself. Although it would probably add to the immersion if the premise of the game was being someone outside the game, a real person, and being addressed as such by the world. Sort of like Omikron. But add in dialogue options, and choices that the character you're playing would be expected to say, or make, and situations they would be expected to find themselves in. That might do a decent job of portraying some of the feelings of frustration and discomfort of being seen a certain way, and expected to behave in a certain way, in a world which seems to have freedom of choice and expression, but really doesn't.

[Jade_404]

You know what would be good... A very detail character creation process. The user picks a bunch of attributes and sets up a character. When the game starts, they are not the character they designed. They can see a reflection of themselves with opposite character attributes of what they chose at the start... they are like WTF this is not me!  then ACTION!

Love,
Jade