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Venture Arctic, Consulting the Experts
Venture Arctic, Consulting the Experts
| Name: | Andy Schatz |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Apr 06, 2006 | |
| Rating: |  Not Rated | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
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| Profile Page: | View profile page for Andy Schatz |
Blog post
I'm sitting here babysitting my first full commit to my new Subversion repository (on WUSH.net, thanks Phil), so I figured I'd write about the design for Venture Arctic.
The really interesting hook to Venture Arctic is that the player is rewarded for acting like nature -- every time an animal dies in the game, the player collects their spirit, which they can use as currency to alter the landscape. But in order to generate a lot of this currency, the player must facilitate the birth of the animals too. Unlike Venture Africa, the player can't create animals at will, they must help the existing animals to breed in order to generate new life.
The player must create healthy life cycles for the animals so that they can best emulate the boom/bust cycles of Arctic ecosystems.
Seasons also change in Venture Arctic, and the player is encouraged to use tools appropriate for the season. In the winter, the snow/ice tool is the cheapest, in the fall, the wind and sickness tools are cheapest, in the summer the sun tool is the cheapest, and in the spring, the fertility and vegetation tools are the cheapest.
Once I had put this design together, I realized how closely it mirrored some aspects of Native American lore. In addition, art from northern Native peoples made for a perfect aesthetic touchstone for the game.
Here's why I love my job. Once I had decided to incorporate Inuit beliefs and art into the game, I got in touch with a reporter friend of mine who also happens to be Native American and involved in a lot of Native American work in video games and other media. Today I had a phone conversation with her, working out how to best represent Inuit beliefs and how to best work them into my game.
In addition, this morning I got to have breakfast with a marine biologist from the UCSD graduate program to discuss Arctic marine environments and how I can best turn them into a game.
My dream has always been to own a game company making games about real-world subjects such that I would have an excuse to study cool stuff and visit interesting places. Well, I think I'm there. What a day.
The really interesting hook to Venture Arctic is that the player is rewarded for acting like nature -- every time an animal dies in the game, the player collects their spirit, which they can use as currency to alter the landscape. But in order to generate a lot of this currency, the player must facilitate the birth of the animals too. Unlike Venture Africa, the player can't create animals at will, they must help the existing animals to breed in order to generate new life.
The player must create healthy life cycles for the animals so that they can best emulate the boom/bust cycles of Arctic ecosystems.
Seasons also change in Venture Arctic, and the player is encouraged to use tools appropriate for the season. In the winter, the snow/ice tool is the cheapest, in the fall, the wind and sickness tools are cheapest, in the summer the sun tool is the cheapest, and in the spring, the fertility and vegetation tools are the cheapest.
Once I had put this design together, I realized how closely it mirrored some aspects of Native American lore. In addition, art from northern Native peoples made for a perfect aesthetic touchstone for the game.
Here's why I love my job. Once I had decided to incorporate Inuit beliefs and art into the game, I got in touch with a reporter friend of mine who also happens to be Native American and involved in a lot of Native American work in video games and other media. Today I had a phone conversation with her, working out how to best represent Inuit beliefs and how to best work them into my game.
In addition, this morning I got to have breakfast with a marine biologist from the UCSD graduate program to discuss Arctic marine environments and how I can best turn them into a game.
My dream has always been to own a game company making games about real-world subjects such that I would have an excuse to study cool stuff and visit interesting places. Well, I think I'm there. What a day.
Recent Blog Posts
| List: | 08/02/08 - Game Guide Released 07/26/08 - Pocketwatch Games has a great week 12/23/07 - 2007 Sim Game of the Year - Venture Arctic 11/30/07 - Poetry Slam in Eugene 10/17/07 - The Abrupt Goodbye 10/15/07 - Pixel Art 10/09/07 - IGF Entries Out 09/27/07 - TV Appearances |
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Submit your own resources!| Marcus (Apr 06, 2006 at 04:12 GMT) |
Really looking forward to Venture Arctic. BTW, I saw Venture Africa at Best Buy, congrats! :)
| James Laker (BurNinG) (Apr 06, 2006 at 07:26 GMT) |
| Mathieu (Apr 06, 2006 at 07:42 GMT) |
| Phil Carlisle (Apr 06, 2006 at 07:57 GMT) |
I've gone down a similar road. The research side of games is really pretty fun too. I've spent DAYS downloading gun camera movies, aerial and sattelite data, researching different planes, contacting various museums etc.
Phil.
| James (Apr 06, 2006 at 11:30 GMT) |
Well done and all the best of luck!
| Alan Hembra (Apr 06, 2006 at 12:38 GMT) |
It sounds like this Venture Artic will blow away Venture Africa when it's done. It also sounds like the perfect game for my kids to learn about nature and how to respect it.
I'm looking forward to this.
| Steven Peterson (Apr 06, 2006 at 15:22 GMT) |
Quote:
It also sounds like the perfect game for my kids to learn about nature and how to respect it.
An educational game? SHHH! Don't speak such witch-craft 'round here; you'll jinx it! ;-)
Great work Andy, can't wait to see the seasons changing. Oh wait, that's the code I'm supposed to be writing right now... Guess I should get back to work. :-)
| Logan Foster (Apr 06, 2006 at 16:00 GMT) |
| Andy Schatz (Apr 06, 2006 at 16:34 GMT) |
LF- It's been a while since I was last up there, but I've been all over the coast of Alaska, and futher south in Victoria. I've always been in love with the west coast. It truly is beautiful country. I may head up that way when we get into production to pull a Dallman and work from the back of my car for a week or two. I wish I could've visited Africa when I was working on that stuff!
Everyone else- Thanks guys! There's still plenty of cool stuff to talk about with the game design. Can't wait to share it with you!
| Justin DuJardin (Apr 06, 2006 at 16:56 GMT) |
Cheers,
-Justin
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