Marsh Explorer

Overview

Design Goal

This project was made as part of the 3D Game Project class of my master's and came from a proposal to make a game to about the real-world location of Santiago da Fonte's salt marsh in Aveiro, Portugal. The aim was to make a game to show how the salt marsh and the artisinal sal production works as well as showcasing the wildlife around it.

Core Mechanics

• The player can explore Santiago da Fonte's salt marsh, get to know it's wildlife and document it.
• The game provides a photograph mechanic and a catalog to record their sightings of both animals and plants present in Santiago da Fonte's salt marsh.
• It's possible to change the tides and time of day to get the perfect photo.

Design Challenges

The main challenges were developing the game beyond being a 3D model of the salt marsh in order to make it entertaining.

Solutions & Decisions

In the end we decided to add the photograph mechanic and the catalog because it allowed us to also inform the players about the wildlife present in the saltmarsh.

Results & Learnings

• We were able to make an accurate replica of the salt marsh and found a way to make exploring it feel entertaining.
• The game feels like a virtual visit to Santiago da Fonte's salt marsh and less like a game.
• We were planning on adding missions and tasks for the player to complete as a way for them to learn about the preservation of the salt marsh and its wildlife aswell as the production of artisinal salt and all the work that goes behind it.

Media