High-Level Project Summary
Explorer’s Journey to the Skies is a 2D exploration game where the player takes control of APHEL, an exploration unit designed to assist with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Upon APHEL’s reactivation, the player is greeted with a world devoid of civilization. Although APHEL’s memory is corrupted, there is but one image in its databank, titled "First Light" - the first image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Within it, there is a set of coordinates. And so begins APHEL’s mission: recovering every part of the JWST, learning how they work, and finally launching it into orbit. This game is targeted to audiences of any age, as a curiosity to explore is the one requirement.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
Developed with Unity 2021.3.11f and coded with Visual Studio Code 2019. Concept Art made with Adobe Photoshop 2020.
As a child, I found it fascinating how often I could not get myself to memorize school work, but could easily remember the name of all, by then, 649 Pokémon, their abilities, type advantages, move effects, etc. As a teenager, I realized that the reason was quite simple: Pokémon made learning fun, as one learns by experimenting and so it does not feel like a chore. Therefore I have always toyed with the idea of studying my favorite games, utilizing them as a base to potentially develop an educational game.
Educational games tend to focus on educating, which is not wrong but often neglects to make games fun. I will not claim to have mastery of game design considering how inexperienced I am, but in several of those games, it often feels as though learning is a chore. Personally, I find that I learn better by letting my curiosity run wild and experimenting on my own. Video games provide a safe environment to do so, stimulating and engaging the player’s attention and thus I find them perfect for learning.
My vision for Explorer’s Journey to the Skies is one of vast levels filled with plenty of information to learn about astronomy; mostly about the JWST, but also about past telescopes such as Hubble.
The player would have to seek each part of the JWST, learn how they work, and eventually rebuild it. In the player’s journey, an abandoned but functional Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket would be found. The player would restore it and eventually launch the JWST into orbit and finally, receive back images. Humanity’s enduring legacy would be one of science, for human curiosity is what has propelled us forward and shall endure.
To reward the player’s curiosity, I imagine APHEL’s memory would be slowly restored - APHEL’s memory would consist of images taken by Hubble, Chandra, etc. so that at the end, the player could compare the differences between images.
The underlying story of why humanity collapsed would take a backseat, for the journey would be one mostly focused on science. Nonetheless, there’d still be hints of the story waiting to be found by players who enjoy exploration.
Space Agency Data
Mostly, I utilized Webb.Nasa, specifically Mirrors Webb. Additionally, I utilized a site shared on the discord server which is an archive of every image taken by the JWST.
Hackathon Journey
To be frank, my previous knowledge of coding and game development was superficial at best. Although I could have prepared better, it is only two days before the Hackathon that I downloaded Unity and began playing around, figuring out how the engine works. I have learned quite a lot; before the Hackathon, I was interested in learning game development but lacked the motivation to do so. My journey is far from over, as I look forward to learning even more and continuing to make games.
As to why I chose this particular challenge, well, it is pretty simple. I remember being ten years old, reading about the JWST, and being so inspired and fascinated and wishing to see the first images. Ten years passed and I, now a twenty-year-old but still very much a child at heart, followed JWST's journey until the first images were revealed to the public. My inner child cried with joy, with awe, at every single image that has been released. And thus, as soon as I read about the challenge, I knew I had to participate.
My team consists of my family: my parents and my brother, whom I bounced ideas off and ranted about the complications of using the Unity engine. Without my family I would have given up quite easily - thanks to them, I was able to participate and do better than I imagined I would. They are the best team I could have had!
References
Programming:
- Unity 2021.3.11f
- Visual Studio Code 2019
Assets:
Art / Editing:
- Adobe Photoshop 2020
- Google Slides
Tags
#game , #2dgame , #JWST , #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope , #exploration , #videogame