Logging Tycoon
Role:
Programmer, 2D Artist
Software:
Unity, C#, JSON, Piskel
Logging Tycoon is a 2D, pixel-art, role-playing game created as a part of a research series on game development and environmentalism in the Amazon.
​As the new Project Manager for Logs R’ Us, play through this choose your own adventure game where you must make the best decisions for your company (and the environment) as you take on the Amazon Rainforest, all while you learn a thing or two about the importance of the Amazon.
Core Mechanics
Educational Narrative
Play as the project manager of a logging company and learn about deforestation in the Amazon from the unique perspective of the “bad guys”. Learn about sustainable foresting practices, the hidden dilemmas of the logging industry.
Rapid Clicker and Strategy Minigame
Go on foresting runs with your team and collect funds by rapidly clicking on forested areas in order to clear them. Choose clearing methods based on Value Meters (Funding, Forest Health, and Reputation) and clear various areas in different maps.
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Interactions
As the project manager, you will have to communicate with different groups located alongside you in the Amazon. Some of these groups include “upper management”, local government authorities, and indigenous protestors, and making choices on how to meet their needs affects your Value Meters.
Ideation & Pre-Production
The idea of making a game that told the story of environmentalism in the Amazon came from a desire to learn more about impactful game development— how to make a game that is both fun and shares an important message. Our team went with the Amazon as a topic with a strong narrative, setting, etc. and a somewhat objective message.
I wanted to try my hand at making a game from a unique perspective such as the sources of deforestation themselves. I’ve seen the typical educational games where players usually work to stop the bad guy and learn the message, but I wanted to tell the story of what goes into the terrors of deforestation and why the issue is a bit more complex and involves several factors.
Initial Prototype
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Choice-based visual novel
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Player interacts with different groups & make dialogue choices
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Player choices influence “value meters”, which affect the environment around them
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Tile Minigame
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Drive the logging equipment around the map as you collect logging materials as quickly as possible
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The game is finished once the map is cleared of all loggable materials
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Two Modes: Clear and Selective Cutting
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Changes from Initial Design
Unitys plugin for choice-based gameplay, Ink, didn’t work for the gameplay needs I had in mind and wasn’t very customizable. I spent a good portion of the revamping process programming a new dialogue system based on serialization and JSON data that better fit my needs and allowed more customizability.
Unity's Ink to Hand-Programmed Dialogue
Redesigned Art to Reflect Player Interaction
A big focal point of this game that I had in mind was the interactivity involved in the environment to really communicate the message of the player’s environmental impact. I wanted to do a bit more with the art since a lot of the other art mattered on gameplay and the value meters.
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Since the tiles in the forest area require a certain number of clicks to be cleared, I synched the different tile sprites with the number of clicks to give the player visual feedback.
Final Iteration and Future
Logging Tycoon is still a work in progress. The next steps will involve adding more storylines to the map and dialogue choices.