Changing the Game

 Over and Out 

Artist Statement:

This project was actually really difficult for me. I had a hard time coming up with a way to make a game about an issue that I’m passionate about without making it overdramatic or offensive in some way. Also, I am completely inept at video/computer games of any kind (except for Typershark, which doesn’t really count). So this project really challenged me on several levels.

The TED Talk we watched really made me want to find an issue that isn't really considered by many people, but is still a big issue. As I was racking my brain, I finally settled on one that I feel doesn’t get much attention in the media, and is actually something that I care a lot about: the extreme number of homeless veterans. In my research I found that between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year, and on any given night, there are more than 300,000 veterans living on the streets. I also found that veterans are twice as likely as regular citizens to become chronically homeless.

Coming from a family with a strong military background (my father, several uncles, and one grandfather have all served in the armed forces), this disturbed me greatly. Here are men and women who have spent significant amounts of time serving their country, and they don’t even have a home in that country they were willing to give their lives to defend. It just seems wrong.

I was having kind of a difficult time figuring how to translate this into a game until I looked at some of the top reasons veterans become homeless. One of those reasons was PTSD. PTSD is extremely difficult to overcome, and it can be extremely detrimental to a soldier trying to live a civilian life after being in combat. I decided to center my game around the experience of PTSD, and the struggle it presents. The monsters in the game represent the “monsters” and the terror that PTSD creates. The escape pod represents the escape from PTSD as well as an escape from homelessness.

In my research I also came across several organizations that are working to resolve this problem of homeless veterans. There are foundations such as U.S. VETS that provides shelter for homeless veterans and helps them find steady employment to get them back on their feet. Other organizations such as Veterans NOW are doing similar things to help veterans integrate back into society and readjust into civilian life.

Reading and learning more about this issue actually made me want to get more involved, and do something to help. I’ve always been taught to have respect for those who fight for our freedom, and I believe that the least we can do is make sure they have a decent quality of life when they return home.

~Brontë Campbell

 
Sources:
http://www.veteransinc.org/about-us/statistics/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/03/homeless-veterans_n_4890972.html

/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/03/stephen-peck-son-of-movie-legend-leads-homeless-veterans-group/