Green Atlas: Play to Learn
“The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way…” — Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin
It is a sad truth that wildlife, ecosystems, environments and habitats are negatively affected by humanity’s need for resources. It is a sad truth that so many changes have been conducted, yet wildlife and habitats are harmed all over the world. However this issue is not easily resolvable and will take time before our methodologies in obtaining resources change. The destruction of wildlife is not something that can be universally stopped in a matter of days. It is through education where we will be able to reach out to a larger audience of individuals who can collectively understand the need for change. Much like other global issues, education results in significant effects, however it is dependent on the medium which the issue is being educated. Specifically, video-games are a prime example of a medium which can educate individuals of all ages on different subjects and provide the player to interact with core game-play structures, allowing great room for creativity and immersion. Green Atlas is a game that is conceptualised to allow players to construct their own wildlife park, zoo or nature reserve and interact with their creation as well as the fauna that thrive there. This non-linear construct will give challenges to players, enabling quick thinking and careful planning, as well as educating players about the choices they make in preserving their own ecosystems. Furthermore, a percentage of the revenue collected will be donated to wildlife organisations such as Feather-dale Wildlife Park in Sydney and support the practice of wildlife conservation.
Green Atlas requires attention from the player. Just as animals or the environment would need to be cared for, so would the game. This is done by the game’s demand of the player completing certain tasks. These tasks can be such as placing rubbish bins in locations, creating water reserves, enclosures for animals, feeding, grooming, attending to safety hazards, creating shelter, hiring zoo keepers and park rangers, as well as numerous other tasks that would need to be addressed in order to earn in-game currency and progress up the leader-boards. Completing these tasks will allow availability for other more exotic animals to be included in your environment. The more animals that are unlocked, the in game encyclopaedia increases in volume, teaching the player of different species, their diets, habitats etc. On the other hand, if players do not complete the tasks, in-game currency will fail to accumulate, animals, vegetation and much of the other core game-play features will be locked. This methodology is applied primarily to have individuals contribute and learn the ways of the game as well as the benefits of wildlife conservation. Additionally, the target audience for this game is wide, however this game will be favoured upon by animal lovers and younger audiences.
Taking inspiration from games such as Zoo Tycoon, the perspective the player plays in will be in an isometric view with the ability to zoom in and out into the game world. This allows navigation to be simpler and user friendly. Furthermore, the player will be able to customize their own character and have themselves walk in the world they created. This will be displayed in third person and will have the option for the player to switch into a first person view. Third person view will allow the player to walk around the environment as their created character and gain a sense of scale with the environment and fauna around them. First person view will enhance the sense of immersion and let the player closely interact with the animals and feel included in the game world. The interaction with the animals would be dependent on the type of animals they are, teaching players the behavioural patterns of the animals as well as the kind of mood the animal is in. Animals that are cared for will be more willing to interact with the user, as opposed to an animal that is poorly cared for resulting in enraged or minimal levels of interaction.
This being said, players will have a narrative that differentiates from other individuals in the game. Your story will develop through the relationship with your NPCs (Non-playable characters), animals and other players. One of the multiplayer components of the game will be leader-boards. Many games tend to have leader-boards that only focus on a singular high score, however Green Atlas contains leader-boards where players are able to promote their skills in certain game-play areas. This will allow players greater opportunity to feel a sense of achievement with their creations. Additionally, another primary multiplayer feature is the ability to visit another player’s created area and interact with the wildlife that has inhabited it. These interactions can be similar to the ones as you would in your own created area, however there are restrictions to how much you can control animals. This feature will allow players to attain a sense of discovery, surprise and venturing into the unknown, based on how well the host cares for the wildlife. This also provides a sense of exploration which is a crucial aspect of immersion, just like a Wildlife Park such as Feather-dale would encourage exploration.
The platforms that Green Atlas would be available on, are current generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One) and PC. The game could easily be an app, however with the power of gaming hardware, Green Atlas has the potential to be a more immersive experience. Using more power in creating more graphical detail, realistic animations and AI, as well as a complex character creator. These factor into a more immersive game and makes it easier for certain features to capture a player’s attention. For instance, interacting with a koala on a phone while waiting for a bus would not have the same effect as interacting with it on a larger screen, in the comfort of your own home with a far greater sense of realism. However, a second screen experience will be possible, allowing players to play with their environments on their phones and tablets. Like many mobile games, this will allow individuals to interact with their created world wherever they are. Funding for a game such as this would be immense, especially if platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox are used as a medium. However our need to fight for wildlife preservation is important and we as a species need to start understanding that this is not only our home, but home to 8.7 million other species.
Raising money for organisations such as Feather-dale, will increase the chances of protecting wildlife on a larger scale, as well as funding for other organisations big or small that are actively fighting for wildlife conservation. Games have such a vast audience, that the practice of wildlife preservation passively becomes memorable when playing the game. This becomes an exceptional form of educating audiences of the practice and encourages individuals to make similar changes in their communities as they would in their game world.