A Walk in the Park

A Walk in the Park is an interactive application set in an open world, outdoor park environment where the player will come across various popular video game characters who have been described as having a particular mental illness.

These game characters will be discussing the mental illness they are meant to have, and the behaviour it causes with individuals who have been based on real people and studies.

The player will be able to read their dialog and see the significant differences between the symptoms and the portrayal of mental illness in video games compared to real life.

The purpose: Attempt to eliminate the negative stigma surrounding mental illness due to the misrepresentation often seen in popular mainstream media.

Features:

• Read conversations between characters who share the same mental illness but have very different lifestyles.
• Walk around the park, meet new characters and greet some popular ones.
• VR mode where interaction takes a whole new level.
• No set game goal. Just learn about the things many people have to deal with on a daily basis.

Controls:

• WASD to move.
• Pan the camera with your mouse.
• Press the spacebar to interact with the characters.
• Optional: if you're running the Oculus Rift VR build (and got the Oculus Rift set up), interact with the menus through your gaze.

Note: support services and helplines are provided under the "Seek Help" section of the "About" menu.

• Charmaine Lim
• Derek Nicoll
• Juan Rodríguez (@timrodz)
• Thomas Greentree
• Mitchell Currie

Credits:

• Background Music: Old City Theme by remaxim
• Skybox by Farland Skies