The Sum of Your Choices

Jess Maggart

Table of Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................1
Design History............................................................................................................................................................1 Vision Statement .......................................................................................................................................................2 Logline............................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Synopsis ............................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Game Description .....................................................................................................................................................2

Formal Elements .........................................................................................................3

Objectives.....................................................................................................................................................................3 Gameplay Description.............................................................................................................................................3 Opening Screen ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Character Selection ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Conflict/Argument ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Challenge/Procedures ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Dramatic Elements......................................................................................................9
Game World ................................................................................................................................................................9 Characters ....................................................................................................................................................................9 PCs ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 NPCs ................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Story ............................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Reflection ................................................................................................................. 12
Dissoi Logoi .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 Composition ............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Introduction
Design History
This game is a writing assignment for English 460: Advanced Writing. It was inspired in part by the McDonalds game but comes largely from real life experiences. In todays world, there exists a strange dichotomy as the media places a large emphasis on being a certain size or a certain weight while companies and advertisers continue to produce and market unhealthy foods when what is truly important is not size, not indulgence, but overall health and wellness.

Vision Statement
Logline The Sum of Your Choices is a game of health and wellness, designed to teach people about living a healthy life by exercising and eating well through the choices the game allows. Synopsis The basic idea of this game is to inspire people to live a healthier life by making better choices in their eating habits and by exercising regularly. The argument in this game is that being truly healthy does not mean that a person is a certain size or weight; real health comes when eating and exercise allow the body to be at its most normal statenot eating enough, eating too much, eating unhealthy things too often, and not exercising contribute to an detrimental lifestyle that can lead to health problems and often times death. This first-person simulation game is, in general, marketed toward people in their early to late twenties but is truly meant to give a message to everyone. It is designed to be played on the computer through a website using the mouse as the controller.

Game Description
To begin, the player chooses to play as either a man or a woman. They enter a height, weight, and age, and the game begins. The game from here involves making a series of choices in a day. They begin in a house in their bedroom, then move to the kitchen of the house, to work, and back home. They are presented with choices: exercise in the morning or sleep in, what to eat for breakfast, if they have a mid morning drink, what to eat for lunch, if they have a piece of cake or a treat at work, if they have an afternoon drink, exercise or watch tv when they get home from work, what to eat for dinner, and whether to go out with a friend at night or go to bed. When the day ends and the choices are all made, the game ends and tells the player that if they lived every day like that one for one year, for five years, and for 10 years what they would be liketheir projected weight, their projected life span, and any health issues they may acquire or have a lesser chance of getting. The player then has the choice to play again either altering their sex, height, weight, and age or keeping it the same and possibly trying to change the outcome. Because this is a first-person simulation game, it is hoped to make the player feel as though they are actually in the game, actually making the choices themselves not making a character make the choices. This, in turn, will hopefully make the results at the end more impactful and possibly encourage the player to make better choices in real life. Some of the results may be exaggerated in order to make the biggest impact possible and really make the players consider their eating and exercise choices. Although somewhat inspired by the McDonalds game, this game does not resemble it. What it most closely resembles is the Orgasm Simulator game with the firstperson perspective.

Formal Elements
Objectives
Objectives o To make choices when they are presented throughout the day, which include exercise, food, and bedtime. o To learn through the game how to make better choices to prevent disease, early death, obesity, and malnourishment and to better the projected life span. Outcomes o General good health o Diseases prevented o Diabetes o Weight gain o Weight loss o Malnourishment o Cancer o Heart attack o Death at an early age o Projected weight in 1, 5, and 10 years o Projected life span

Gameplay Description
The opening screen will display the games title The Sum of Your Choices in a style similar to that below. There will be a button that says Play and a popup that says use your mouse as directed in the pop-ups throughout the game.

After the player has pressed the play button, they will be taken to the character selection menu below and a button that says proceed. Select your desired gender and enter a height (in inches) and weight (in pounds) of your choice. Then press proceed. Gender Male Female

Weight: __________ Age: __________ Height: __________ After the player presses the proceed button, the game begins as the character wakes up to an alarm clock that looks similar to the one pictured below, and it will read 6:00 a.m. A pop-up box will appear and will say the following: It is 6:00 a.m., what would you like to do? Get up and exercise. Hit snooze and sleep until 7:00 a.m.

If the player chooses the exercise option, there will be no actions needed to exercise. The screen will swirl and then show a pop-up that says You completed 45 minutes of exercise. If the player chooses the snooze and sleep in option, a pop-up will read, You have slept in for one additional hour. Following either options pop-up screen, the player will then find themselves in the kitchen with a view of an empty plate and a fridge similar to the one below. All the items will be labeled to avoid confusion. Another pop-up will appear and will instruct the player to do the following: Select the items you wish to have for breakfast by dragging the items from the fridge to your plate with your mouse. When you are done, press the finish and eat button.

Once the player has pressed the finish and eat button, they will find themselves at work sitting behind a desk, and the workplace challenges begin. The first workplace challenge involves NPC #1, and the conversation and procedure is listed in the dialogue section under Story. The second workplace challenge brings the character to the cafeteria, and they see an empty plate in front of them and a buffet lunch similar to the picture below but in a cartoon style. All the items will be labeled to avoid confusion. A pop-up will appear and will instruct the player to do the following: Select the items you wish to have for lunch by dragging the items from the fridge to your plate with your mouse. When you are done, press the finish and eat button.

Once the player has pressed the finish and eat button, they will find themselves back behind their desk. The third workplace challenge will involve NPC #2, and the conversation and procedure is listed in the dialogue section under Story. The fourth workplace challenge will involve NPC #3, and the conversation and procedure is listed in the dialogue section under Story. After the fourth workplace challenge is over, the player will find themselves at home in their living room. The living room will have a TV and will look similar to the one pictured below in the same cartoon style. A pop-up will appear and will say the following: It is 5:30 p.m., what would you like to do? Exercise Relax and watch TV.

Again, if the player chooses the exercise option, there will be no actions needed to exercise. The screen will swirl and then show a pop-up that says You completed 45 minutes of exercise. If the player chooses the relax and watch TV option, they will see a pop-up that says You watched one hour of TV. Following either options pop-up screen, the player will then find themselves in the kitchen with a view of an empty plate and the fridge. All the items will be labeled to avoid confusion. Another pop-up will appear and will instruct the player to do the following: Select the items you wish to have for dinner by dragging the items from the fridge to your plate with your mouse. When you are done, press the finish and eat button. Once the player has pressed the finish and eat button, there will be a phone encounter with NPC #4, and the conversation and procedures are listed in the dialogue section under Story. After the player makes the selection in the conversation with NPC #4, they will be taken to the final screen, which will appear with the text below and give the player the options of playing again and learning more about living a healthy life. Youre day is over. Now lets take a look at what your life will be like from the sum of your choices. If you lived every day like this day, you would be like this in 1 year Weight: ___________ Age: ___________ Health Status: ___________ in 5 years Weight: ___________ Age: ___________ Health Status: ___________

in 10 years Weight: ___________ Age: ___________ Health Status: ___________ Your projected life-span: ___________ Press the Retry button to play again, or click the Live Better link to learn more about living a healthier life.

Opening Screen There will be no tutorial with this game. It will begin with an opening screen with the title The Sum of Your Choices and a button that says Play. From this point, popups will be provided as the player moves through the game to instruct them as to what controls to use, how to use them, and what they need to do. There will be a pop-up for the character selection portion and each of the subsequent challenges. Character Selection The character selection in this game will include gender, height, weight, and age. The selection menu as the game begins will allow the player to choose male or female, a height of their choice, a weight of their choice, and an age of their choice. The pop-up will instruct the player to make their selections. Conflict/Argument The internal conflict of this game is story-based choices, and the external conflict is man vs. himself in the fight to be healthy in a world of tempting options to eat junk food and be inactive and a media push for diets and skinniness as the way to happiness. The game is designed to show that good eating and exercise are important to living a healthy life and preventing disease, that all the little choices throughout the day contribute to a persons health and well-being, that you can allow yourself an occasional indulgence if you are living well, and that no matter your size, living a healthy life is about choices and a conscious effort every day. Challenge/Procedures The first challenge will be an alarm going off at 6 a.m. The player will have the chance to have their character get up to exercise or press snooze and sleep until 7 a.m. The next challenge will be breakfast: the player is able to look in the fridge and pantry and create their own breakfast. Breakfast options will include yogurt, waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, Poptarts, cereal (with the option of skim, 2%, whole, or soy milk), orange juice, coffee (with the option of adding sugar and cream), hot tea, smoothie, bagels (with the option of cream cheese or butter), fruit, granola bar,

toast (with the option of butter, peanut butter, and jelly), and muffins. The next challenge will be when the first non-player character comes in at work mid morning and offers the player coffee with sugar and milk, black coffee, a soda, hot tea, or water. The next challenge will be lunch. The player is able to create their lunch in the cafeteria at work. Lunch options will include a burger, a turkey wrap, a salad (with the option of ranch or Italian dressing and the option of adding chicken or fish), chips, French fries, soup, fruit, a burrito, pizza, raw vegetables, yogurt, and a hot dog. The next challenge will be when the second non-player character will come in just after lunch and offer the player a snack: cake from a birthday party, a granola bar, fruit, or a bag of chips. The next challenge will be when the third non-player character comes in mid to late afternoon and offers the player coffee with sugar and milk, black coffee, a soda, hot tea, or water just like in the morning. The next challenge will be when the character arrives home from work and must choose whether to exercise or relax and watch TV. The next challenge will be dinner: the player is able to look in the fridge and pantry and create their own dinner. Dinner options include pasta (with the option of tomato or alfredo sauce), salad (with the option of ranch or Italian dressing and the option of adding chicken or fish), chicken, steak, fish, potatoes, and mixed vegetables. The last challenge will be when the fourth non-player character calls the main character after dinner and asks them to come out for late night drinks. The player has the option to stay home and go to bed, go out for a little bit and not get anything to drink, or stay out late and get a drink. Outcomes There is no win/lose scenario. The outcomes will be products of the choices the player made throughout the game and will offer the player reflection as opposed to victory or loss. A point-based system will be used to assign values to the food items, drink items, exercise, and other choices; the points will be used to predict the outcomes. There will also be an indicator of the types of food eaten, lack of exercise, too much exercise, etc. that will point to certain diseases or diseases prevented. Some of these outcomes will be exaggerated for dramatic effect and to hopefully bring about real change. Outcomes will consist of the player being informed that if the character lived every day like that one for one year, for five years, and for 10 years, what they would be like in terms of weight and health status. The possible outcomes will include good health, diseases prevented, diabetes, weight gain, weight loss, malnourishment, cancer, heart attack, and death at an early age. Along with outcomes, the game will provide the characters projected weight and life span. At the bottom of the results screen, the player will have the choice to play again, a disclaimer that the outcomes are calculated on a point-based system that does not take into account environmental or hereditary factors, and a link to click to learn more about living a healthy life that takes them to the CDC page.

Dramatic Elements
Game World
The world of this game will look realistic to the world today in the United States. Objects, food, clothing of the non-character players, furniture, etc. will look current; however, nothing will be in great detail. It will have a similar feel to the Jetsons cartoon pictured below in its simplistic design and coloring, but will not be futuristic.

Characters
PCs As this is a first-person simulation game, the player will not be able to see the character they are playing. However, they will be able to hear sounds. When the player makes the eating choice, if another person has offered them food or beverage, the character will verbally reply with whatever response the player selected. NPCs Non-player characters will include the people at work that offer the character various foods and drinks. There will be four non-player characters per game. Each non-player character will represent a different challenge. The non-player characters will have a similar cartoon feel to the setting and are again inspired by the Jetsons. The first will be a man who will be inspire by George Jetson (below). The second will be a woman inspired by Jane Jetson (below). The third will be another woman who is similar to the second but looks somewhat different. The fourth will not be pictured as it will be a phone call that will appear in the form of a pop-up with sound. The three non-player characters that are pictured will all be of average size not necessarily appearing thin or overweight so as not to interfere with the players decisions. These three characters will be dressed in business casual attire.

Story
The story of this game is a person living a fairly average day in which they get up, go to work, and come homeall the while they are presented with options to choose from such as to exercise or not in the morning, to exercise or not at night; what to put together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and if they go to bed or go for drinks. The premise is that the player is the character in the game going through a workday. The story is one not intended to be exciting but typical, a typical day to simulate a typical day in the life of a working person. Dialogue: The dialogue between the character and non-player characters will come in the form of dialogue boxes accompanied by sound: computerized female voice for the female non-player characters, computerized male voice for the male non-player characters; and a computerized male or female voice for the players character depending on which gender they chose at the start of the game.. Dialogue with NPC #1 NPC #1: Hey there, I was going to go grab something to drink from the break room. Can I get you anything while Im there? Character: A pop-up box will appear as follows instructing the player to select their response Yes, please Ill have a: (pick one) o Coffee with milk and sugar o Black coffee o Soda o Hot tea o Water No thanks.

Dialogue with NPC #2 NPC #2: Hey there, its Jims birthday, and there is cake and a bunch of food in the break room. Want anything? Character: A pop-up box will appear as follows instructing the player to select their response Yes, please. Ill have a piece. Ill have a granola bar. Ill have some fruit. Ill have a bag of chips. No thanks. Dialogue with NPC #3 NPC #3: Hey there, Im having trouble getting through these last couple hours of work and need a pick-me-up. Do you want me to grab you anything? Character: A pop-up box will appear as follows instructing the player to select their response Yes, please Ill have a: (pick one) o Coffee with milk and sugar o Black coffee o Soda o Hot tea o Water No thanks. Dialogue with NPC #4 NPC #4: A pop-up will appear along with the sound of a ringing phone. The player will hear NPC #4s voice and see a pop-up that says: Hey there, its Jim from work. I need to blow off some stress. Do you want to come out for a couple drinks with me at 9:00 p.m.? Character: A pop-up box will appear as follows instructing the player to select their response Sure, Ill meet your for a couple drinks. Sure, but Ill only stay out for a little while and dont want to get a drink. No thanks. Im just to going relax at home tonight and get some rest.

Reflection
Dissoi Logoi
While The Sum of Your Choices is intended to promote healthy eating and exercise, it may not have that effect. Possible interpretations that vary from what I intend could include thinking that people have to exercise every day and can never treat themselves when really I am trying to emphasize a reasonable amount of healthy eating and exercise that allow for the occasional indulgence as well as disease prevention. Another problem that I could foresee would be that people would think that if they exercised and ate healthy in real life, they would never be faced with disease or an early death; when as we all know, sometimes no matter how well you live your life, environmental factors and heredity take over. Hopefully, with the disclaimer at the end of the game, this potential confusion can be avoided. If this game was looked at through a different lens, I might fear that people could interpret it as stereotypical in terms of gender, dressing females in typical female attire and males in typical male attire, giving the males and females societys view of their image, asking players to choose from only male or female options; however, my intention is not to perpetuate stereotypes or give a black and white picture of gender. My argument in this game has nothing to do with gender in the sense of how it is perceived in society or felt by individuals; rather, I am using gender as a weighin, an indicator for certain diseases or health outcomes specific to males or females. The balance of trying to include everyone and not stereotyping is difficult. And it is my hope that people can see past the unintentional stereotyping to the true message that is health and wellness.

Composition
Game design as a composition technique is something I would have never considered before. In some ways it mirrors writing composition in that you have an argument and you use elements of the game much in the same way you use evidence in written work in an attempt to support your argument. What I found more difficult is that while in writing, you can specifically state your argument and follow that with evidence and critique, with game design, the argument is not directly stated but is somewhat more subtle and comes from various elements in the game such as dramatic elements and formal elements. Another potential drawback of game design is that for those unfamiliar with video games, it can be difficult to imagine what is possible or even simply come up with ideas. I do not think that it matters that we cannot produce the game we have designed. I think that the fact that it is not produced points out that planning is important when it comes to composition. It also demonstrates the way in which games, shows, papers, music, books, etc.really anything that is composeddoes not come out of thin air. Composed things take time and must be drafted before they are created.

As a future educator, I think game design in the composition classroom does have a place. Game design offers many of the same opportunities as writing including creating and supporting an argument. It also emphasizes attention to detail, purpose, planning, and revision. I think that perhaps it may not be the easiest for all students; however, for some students, I think that it could spark an interest in an assignment for them and give them a chance to use the skills required to make and support an argument in a format that is more interesting to them. For non-gamer students and proficient writers, I think that game design would offer them a challenge in the realm of composition that writing does not.