Jeremy Bearmey Hero of Greenstown is a project apart of Nottingham Trent University’s & Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies’ Industry Week 2021. I and my seven team members were given 36 hours to come up with an original game idea & build that promotes sustainably energy and sustainability in general.

 
 

The Team -

Responsibilities -

As one of the designers & programmers on the team, my responsibilities were as followed:

  • Assist with the balance and implementation of major game systems;

  • Be able to take ideas from conception, through prototyping to detailed design and implementation;

  • Formalise and document the systems to communicate them to the production teams on the project;

  • Assist in the design of the player journey from single player to co-operative/player versus player;

  • Assist the Lead Game Designer with any other ad-hoc responsibilities;

  • Participate in the development of features that will make the game come to life;

  • Suggest and participate in the conception of prototypes with the design team;

  • Optimize and debug gameplay code to ensure that gameplay is fluid';

  • Participate in the architecture, conception and implementation of gameplay code based on design intentions, and implement game controls focusing on quality;

The Online Studio -

Due to the global pandemic, the Game Jam was done virtually, with each team member collaborating online within a Discord call. For file storage, the team used Google Drive as not everyone on the team had experience in Games Development, which was fine. It was a nice experience collaborating with fellow students across NTU that had never studied or been exposed to Games Development before.

Mechanics

 
 

Building Mechanic -

The player will find scrap around the world that can be spent on creating new buildings or upgrading them. Each building will base an energy efficiency rating that can be improved with the many possible upgrades; a higher efficiency rating will increase the player’s score and decrease the city’s overall carbon footprint.

Types of Buildings and Facilities

  • Housing - Lowers sustainable energy levels but gives the player income making it easier for the player to build more expensive buildings.

  • Solar Panel Farm - Using the sun’s power, solar energy is one of the most popular green renewable energy forms. This upgrade can be attached to houses to convert the electricity into green energy.

  • Wind Turbine - With the assistance of gusts of winds, these futuristic windmills will generate energy for the town.

Harvesting -

To get resources to spend on these new buildings and upgrades, the player will need to find scrap of various sizes and break them down into core components using a multipurpose tool. These core components are as following:

  1. Wood

  2. Metal

  3. Plastic 

  4. Stone

  5. Glass

Green Spaces -

The player can plant trees to lower the overall carbon footprint of the city. As the player reduces the city overall carbon footprint, animals’ start to appear, and the city’s general smokiness will decrease.

 

Influences -

 
 
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Animal Crossing -

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing is the main inspiration for this project’s aesthetics with the curved “small world” like environment and “green” rural vibes.

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MySims -

MySims by Electronic Arts is one of the core inspirations for this game, with its visual style and resource collection to building construction.

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SimCity -

SimCity by Electronic Arts holds vital inspiration for the game mechanics as you are trying to build and improve the city, making it an icon in sustainable energy.

 
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