V GAS

Lore & Background

V GAS is a 3D serious game in which players explore and live in a house built to mirror their own. Players begin by building a profile that includes variables such as water use, transportation behaviors, heating and cooling practices, food purchases, and electrical appliance usage. The house is divided into rooms—bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, home office, and garage—each corresponding to a set of variables that affect greenhouse gas emissions. In the bedroom, players input lighting settings and heating/cooling preferences; in the living room, home appliance settings; in the kitchen, diet and major appliance use; in the bathroom, shower and hairdryer habits; in the home office, computer use; and in the garage, transportation habits including commutes and recreational vehicles.

Reader's Guide

V GAS is significant as an interactive educational tool that personalizes the issue of global warming by focusing on end-use and lifestyle decisions. The game operates on the premise that while industry is commonly cited as the source of emissions, emissions are ultimately a matter of end-use—when a product is chosen, so is a production process. Players run their profile through scenarios such as heat waves, mad cow disease, carbon tax, and outlawing private cars for commuters. They are allotted a limited time to adjust their settings in response, after which their decisions are recorded and their overall contribution to N2O, CO2, and CH4 is measured. The game also includes a library of information presented as a bookshelf with titles like 'Climate change policy,' 'Some History,' 'Greenhouse Effect,' 'Climate Change Dubiety,' 'The Phenomena Behind Climate Change,' and 'Visions of the Future.' Notably, 'Climate Change Dubiety' lists papers that do not agree with the hypothesis of climate change used in the game, preserving the existence of scientific dispute. V GAS thus serves as a platform for exploring how individual choices intersect with global environmental challenges, while acknowledging uncertainty in the underlying science.

Did You Know?

• V GAS measures the player's contribution to three greenhouse gases: N2O, CO2, and CH4.
• The game includes a library with reference materials that support the climate science underpinning the simulation.
• Players explore their virtual home at their own pace, with no time limit pressure.
• Possible scenarios in V GAS include heat wave, carbon tax, and outlawing private cars for commuters.