Inspiration
Agriculture is essential to modern society and switching to eco-friendly and sustainable practices is an important part of the decarbonization process. We wanted to educate and sensitize the younger generation on the importance of farming and on how to do it in an eco-friendly manner.
What it does
Farm Manager is a 2D video game based on a farm. In the current stage of the game, the main character has to coordinate creating plots and planting and harvesting crops, while taking into account the amount of resources currently at his disposition. For every drop-off, points are earned which can be used to upgrade the farm towards more energy-efficient practices later on.
How we built it
We built Farm Manager using Aseprite for the various visual elements including the crops and the farmer animations. Unity was used to implement the game itself. We used existing free libraries for the trees, the house and the wagon due to the time frame.
Challenges we ran into
We ran into multiple challenges. Firstly, 3 out of 4 team members had no knowledge of video game development ahead of the project. Therefore, understanding and learning how to use Unity was a major challenge for the team. Also, the visual layout of the crops and the character animation took longer than expected but it allowed the team to learn a lot.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are very happy with the visual components and the current complexity of the game. Although one team member was already familiar with Unity, to fully develop such a complex and interactive game on such short notice remains a huge accomplishment for our team.
What we learned
We learned to use Aseprite to create animations and more importantly, we got introduced to Unity's game development software. We will be sure to incorporate these new skills into our future projects.
What's next for Farm Manager
We see Farm Manager as a bigger game where players will be challenged to manage a sustainable farm. The types of crops and plants are currently very limited, therefore we will be adding new crop types in the next update. As pesticide are known to destroy ecosystems, we will also incorporate a water and pesticide management system that will teach players about the the negative effects of pesticide overuse. Furthermore, although farming is essential, the use of gas to power farming activities is detrimental for the environment, so small clean energy power plants will be available for players to fully power and automate their farming activities.
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