ConnectingtoaGameWorld

Whatarewedoing?Forthisproject,youllbecreatingagameavatarforyourselfusing
softwareofyourchoosing,andwritingabouthowthevisualyouvecreatedrelatestoyouandyour experiencesasagamer(oringeneral).Anotherwaytoapproachthisisthinkingaboutinsertingyour likenessintoagameworldyourelatetothatparallelsyourexperiences/attributesintherealworld.This willbedoneintwocomponents: TheVisualComponent:Youwillcreateavisualtorepresentyourselfinthegameworld.The waysinwhichyoucandothisarenearlyendless.Seebelowforsomepotentialapproaches. TheWrittenComponent:Youwillbewritingapaperofroughly46pagesinlength(a minimumof1,000words)explainingtherepresentationofyourselfyouvecreated.

Howarewedoingit?
Inshort,youll1.)createanavatar,2.)writeaboutwhyandhowyoucreatedtheavataryou didbytouchingonthetoolsyouusedtocreateyouravatarandwhy,3.)drawconnections betweenyourexperiences(witheitherlifeorgaming)andhowtheyrelatetotheimageyou created,orhowtheyinspiredyourdesign. FortheVisualComponent,youhavenearlyendlessoptionsforhowtoproceed.Herearesome (butcertainlynotall)potentialapproaches: Youcanchoosetodrawauniqueavatar. Youcaneditimagestogethertocombineelementsofothercharacters. YoucanusecharactercreationsoftwarefoundinfreegameslikeSecondLifeorWorld ofWarcraft,DCUniverse,oranythingyoucanthinkof.. Youcanchoosetorelatetoacharacteryouvealreadycreatedaswell,ifyoudesire, shouldyoubeanMMOfan. Youcanalsochoosetorelateyourselftoanexistingcharacterinagameworld,butIwill requireyoutodomorethansimplyprintapictureofaparticularcharacterand bedoneforthisvisualelementoftheproject.Youllneedtoeditthecharacterin somewaytomakeyourpresencemoreobviousinthecharactersappearance. Youhavecompletecontroloverthevisualcomponentandhowitsmade.This

canbeconfusing,soIstronglyencourageyoutoaskquestionsifyoufeellost! FortheWrittenComponentyoullneedtothinkaboutwhatyoudidintheVisualComponent, andwhy.Herearesomequestionsyoumightwanttodiscussinyourproject(notalloftheseare guaranteedtoapplytoyou,butatleastsomeoftheseshouldcomeacrossinyourwork).NOTE: Manystudentsinthepasttriedtousethesequestionsasachancetostitchtogethera bunchofdisconnectedanswersasifitwereapaper.Thisisnotagoodapproach. Doesthecharacterlooklikeyou?Whyorwhynot? Isyourcharacterrealistic?Fantastical?Why? Whatcolorsareyouusing?Isthischaracterbig(likeWreckItRalph)?Small(likeToon Link)?Powerful(likeKratos)?Emotionallyfragile(likeColePhelps)? Whoareyourcharactersenemies?Why? Whatgameorkindofgameisyouravatartheyin?IsitatwitchyFPS(likeCoD)?A stylishindieplatformer(likeThomasWasAlone)?Anartsyexperiment(likeJourney)? Whatmightthissayaboutyouortheavatar? Who/whatmightyourfinalbossbe?Howdoesthatrelatetoyouandthestrugglesyouve facedinyourlife? Doestheavataryouvecreatedhaveahistoryofsomekind,andhowmightthatrelateto yourownhistory/experiences?

WhyAreWeDoingThisProject?
Thisisacommon,andtypicallyunspoken,concern.Thissemester,youregoingtobeexploringgames, writing,andresearchinavarietyofways,andagoodwaytostartoutisbymakingconnectionsbetween yourselvesandgamesusingthewrittenwordandvisual/designsoftware.Beingabletosynthesizedesign skillswithwritingisanimportantskillandonewewillbebuildingonthissemester.Inmanyways,this projectisasmallerversionofmanythingswellbeworkingonallsemester,solikeagoodgame,this projectservesassomethingofatutoriallevelarelativelylowstakesspacetodosomeexperimenting, getcomfortablewithrelatingtoandwritingaboutgames,learnsomefundamentalconceptsaboutwriting andresearch,andstartoutbyrelatingyourselfandyourexperiencestovideogamesorhypotheticalgame worlds.

Logistics
Youwillcompletethreedrafts(allthreeofwhichwewillworkshopinclass),followedbyafinaldraft.All (4)willbeduetomeonthefinalduedate. Requirements: WrittenComponent 1,000wordminimumforthewrittencomponent. Thisisahardlineminimum.Notmeetingtherequired1,000words (whichdoesnotincludeheadersormarginalia)willresultinsteep penaltiestoyourprojectsgrade. NOTE:Successfulprojectswillbecloserto46pages Formatting(VERYIMPORTANT): TimesNewRomanfont,12pointsize,MLAheader,Doublespaced VisualComponent Youmustcreateanavatarforyourself. Youcanuseanynumberofapproachestocreatinganavatar,butyoumust includeanimage/drawing/render/visualofsomekindtopresenttheavataryouve created.

AssessmentModel
ThissemesterIwillbemakingsomechangestothewayIassessyourwriting,andassuch,Iwanttobe completelytransparentaboutmyprocesshere.Whenassessingyourwriting,Iwillprovideyouwith responsestothefollowingquestionsinregardstothewrittenandvisualcomponentsofyourproject. 1. Doesthewrittenportionofthisprojectclearlyconnectthewritersrealworldexperienceswith digitalworlds? 2. Doesthisprojectpresentanovelapproachtoavatarcreationand/orexcellenceindesign? 3. Doesthisprojectusethenarrativegenretomakeconnectionsbetweenhowtheavatarwas designed,theworldoftheavatar,andtheworld/experiencesofthewriter? 4. Doesthisprojectillustratemasteryoverfundamentalelementsofwriting,suchasstructure/order ofcontent,grammar,punctuation,wordchoice,anduseofsourceswhen/ifapplicable? 5. Doesthisprojectshowclearsignsofthedraftingprocess,includingmultipledrafts, decisionmakingskillsinaddingoralteringcontent,andproofreadingcontent? Thisiswhatsknownasaheuristicmodelofwritingassessmentandfocusesonthepartsofwhat youvedoneandhowtheycometogetherholisticallytocreateacompleteprojectratherthanbreakingit upexclusivelyintoindividualparts.Inthepast,Iveusedanumberbasedscalebutalwaysfoundmyself uncomfortablewiththewaythescaleoperated(whatmakespartofaprojecta37/50insteadofa38/50?). Thus,Ivedecidedtoaltermyapproachthissemester.Illbeaskingforfeedbackonthismodelthis semester,butIhopethismeansIcanrespondmorespecificallyaboutthesuccessofelementsofthis projectImtryingtoassessandgivebetterfeedbacktoyouasawriter.Yourassessmentsheetwill providealettergrade,however,soyoullhavesomethingtogoandknowhowroomtoimprovethereis.

Outcomes
Also,inanefforttobeevenmoretransparent,youcanseeontheright thegoalsofwhatwellbedoinginthisunitbasedontheFramework forSuccessinPostsecondaryWriting.Thrillingstuff,Iknow,but nonetheless,thisprojecttargetstheOutcomes/HabitsofMindonthe right,andintersectswiththefollowingoverallcoursegoals: 1. Usingvideogamesasalenstoexploreargument,composition, andresearchtoencouragecuriosity,engagement,creativity, andflexibility. 2. Experiencewith,andknowledgeof,composinginelectronic environments. 3. Experiencewitharangeofgenresasareaderandcreator,in bothwrittenanddigitalforms. 4. Encouragementtocomposemultipledraftsofprojectsand reflectontheprocessofwritingandcomposinginnewways.

DraftsandDueDates
(Shitty)FirstDraftWorkshop:Friday,January17th SecondDraftWorkshop:Friday,January24th ThirdDraftWorkshop:Friday,January31st FINALDRAFTANDALLPREVIOUSDRAFTSDUE:Monday,February3rd