Game Title
Mission: Muskox

Developer Name
Hey_MGX

Short Promo Blurb
Mission: Muskox is a project developed by Hey_MGX for submission to Climate Jam 2024 in alignment with the jam's theme: “Change the Story". It is an educational game designed to help learners of all ages better understand the ways in which climate change affects the muskox, an animal species living in the Arctic.

Full Description
In this game, players will have the opportunity to read through an informational text which provides an overview of the muskox and how climate change is affecting its feeding habits. After the text, players will control a muskox searching for food (using WASD) in an environment based on its native habitat. Players will have a limited amount of time to clear snow (using Left Shift) and collect the food (using Space) necessary to sustain the muskox.

Promo Image(s)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14PF-FoMxyFUrsLYdH_dOzb84C2LHToO1/view?usp=sharing

Promo Video
https://youtu.be/F3S7XSbe0NU?si=maLVKAjQ1J2F603I

Artistic Statement / Use of Theme(s)
This game is aligned with the theme of Climate Jam 2024: “Change the Story.” The theme encourages game developers to tell lesser known stories about the impact climate change has on the planet. Players are unlikely to have encountered the story of the muskox previously, making it an excellent candidate for inclusion based on the theme. Between the informational text contained within the game and the experience players have of controlling the muskox in its native habitat, the game helps convey the plight many muskoxen have faced in recent years as climate change has affected their habitat.

Development Summary
Mission: Muskox had a solid development journey over the course of Climate Jam. As a solo developer, my goal was to produce a short, theme-aligned game which would 1. stay manageable in scope and 2. help me hone my skills as a developer. I believe I was successful in accomplishing both of these goals through the development process.

Throughout the ideation phase, I tried to keep my scope limited to one core gameplay loop that I could develop around. My fellow jammers agreed with this assessment, and ranked the game #1 for scope during this phase. Even with this mindfulness, I had to scale the project back over the course of production. While I initially wanted to have the game contain three levels, I decided to cut the first two and have players jump right to the third due to time constraints. As a result, I had to also cut the number of texts players would encounter, meaning that the initial text had to summarize the majority of information I wanted to convey to players. Even though I had to scale back, I believe the game still conveys the story I wanted to tell in a complete manner.

With respect to my second goal, I was successful in trying several new techniques as a part of the development process. First, I opted to create the game in 2.5D and adopt a pixel art aesthetic for sprites in the game as well as the environmental textures. I learned how to create sprite sheets in Aseprite, import them into Unity, and create both stationary and walking animations for the player character. Second, I learned how to program a timer and include it on the overlay for players to keep track of time. Finally, I recorded my own sound effects and learned how to code them into the game. While I was not able to include all of the sound effects I recorded in the final game, I will be able to easily replicate the process I used in future projects.

I think the greatest challenge was managing my time appropriately over the course of the jam. I wanted to make sure that I was fully participating in the jam, including reading through game design documents, playing prototypes, and providing feedback to other jammers. However, this became a tradeoff with time spent on my own project. Overall, I am thoroughly pleased with my final product and am glad I participated in the jam to the extent that I did. This has been an excellent learning experience, and has given me inspiration to take on new projects moving forward.

Release Plan
As of this submission, the game is complete in that it contains a full gameplay loop and all of the base assets required to play it. However, I would not consider it fully releasable, as the game is short and has limited replayability. In order to release it, I would want to add in additional levels and/or minigames which would either continue telling the story of the muskox, or tell stories of other Arctic animals affected by climate change. I also would make the levels larger so players have more to explore while controlling the character. I do not foresee myself doing additional development on Mission: Muskox at this time, and would rather take what I have learned through this experience and apply it to a new project.