Sands of Wealth

Dive into 'Sands of Wealth,' a Roblox historical simulation that transports you to the Mali Empire's zenith from 1312 to 1337 C.E. This game offers more than just an adventure—it presents a reclamation of a narrative, showcasing the height of African civilization under leaders like Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man ever known. Unlike the tales of exploitation that often dominate history books, 'Sands of Wealth' highlights unity, philanthropy, and a flourishing empire that thrived on cooperation and cultural prosperity.

In this game, players will explore the Mali Empire's rich history, uncovering the true essence of black excellence beyond the struggle for survival—it's about thriving in the footsteps of giants like Mansa Musa. Join us to experience a chapter of African history that celebrates its peak of cultural and economic success, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of black excellence.

What it does

"Sands of Wealth" is an immersive Roblox adventure game that transports players back in time to the Mali Empire during its golden age. Players assume the role of an explorer who must navigate through a village in the empire while interacting with historical figures and solving puzzles. The game offers a blend of education and entertainment, allowing players to learn about the empire's history and culture while embarking on an epic quest.

How we built it

We built "Sands of Wealth" using the Roblox game development platform, Roblox studio, leveraging its tools and resources to create a visually stunning and engaging experience. Our team collaborated closely, combining our skills in coding, 3D modeling, and game design to bring the Mali Empire to life. We also carried out intense research on historical sources to ensure accuracy and authenticity in the game's depiction of the empire's landmarks, culture, characters, and events.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the development process, we encountered a number of challenges, including:

Limited knowledge: We were first-time users of Roblox studio which meant we had to research and teach ourselves various aspects of the studio including the programming language Lua, making NPCs, and more.
Bug fixing: We faced numerous technical issues and glitches that required careful debugging and troubleshooting.
Technical specifications: Some aspects of game development, such as scripting using Lua and asset integration, were initially beyond our understanding, requiring us to seek outside assistance and dedicate extra time to learning and experimentation on YouTube, google, and the Roblox website.
Balancing historical accuracy with gameplay: Striking the right balance between educational content and engaging gameplay mechanics proved to be a challenge, as we wanted to ensure that players learned while also having fun.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite the challenges, we're proud of several accomplishments:

Creating a visually stunning and immersive game world that accurately depicts the Mali Empire's landmarks and culture.
Designing engaging gameplay mechanics that blend exploration, puzzle-solving, and interaction with historical characters.
Successfully integrating educational content into the game in a way that feels seamless and enhances the player experience.

What We Learned

Through the development of "Sands of Wealth," we learned valuable lessons about teamwork, problem-solving, and the power of storytelling in gaming. We gained a deeper understanding of African history and culture, as well as valuable technical skills in game development. We found that breaking down our problems into smaller tasks and setting time frames for completion boosted our overall performance in achieving most of our goals.

What's next for Sands of Wealth

In the future, we plan to continue expanding and improving "Sands of Wealth" by adding new features, quests, and historical content. We also hope to engage with the community to gather feedback and suggestions for further enhancements. Ultimately, our goal is to create an even more immersive and educational experience that celebrates the rich heritage of the Mali Empire and inspires curiosity about African history.

Built With

lua
roblox
scripting

Submitted to

BisonBytes
- Winner Gaming Track

Created by

I worked partly on the terrain and outline for our project. Additionally, I created the character's transportation system and timer function. I also designed the feature that allows manuscripts to disappear when touched by the player. Lastly, I scaled the buildings to fit the characters.

Kafilat Sarki-Umar
I worked on scripting the NPC dialogue system with my fellow teammate, June. I also helped create our NPC avatars including the front guard, Mansa Musa, and Scroll Woman.

Nyla Crespo
I worked on developing a opening sequence, which was a button controlled slide show. The slide show demonstrated the background story-line leading into the main story line of the game.

I also worked on the 3D modeling/shaping of the map. Creating/designing a biome and map unique and historically accurate to the Mali Empire. Including a custom created "Niger River" going through the map, a sandy biome, and custom dusty skies.

I also developed a click shift to sprint function within the game.

aamorifreeman
I worked on researching on and creating the narratives told in the game to ensure they were historically accurate together with one of my teammates Kafilat, wrote down the script for the dialogues to be used in the game, helped come up with original paths that the player would follow to complete the quest, worked on making the manuscripts with some help from Kafilat, wrote the content of the manuscripts as well and designed the original buildings for the city which were scaled by Kafilat. I also helped Nyla design some dialogue.

June Mwenda

Updates

Kafilat Sarki-Umar started this project — Mar 31, 2024 09:34 AM EDT

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