in the garden
Project Brief
Made as a submission for the Women in Games Jam, this week long project was the labor of a group of five women (myself included) in the span of a week. Tom Bradstreet was our mentor for this project. We used Unity to create the project alongside the Fungus plugin, so as to avoid delving deep into code and working quickly to build the artefact.
The brief for the jam was to create a game that spoke of creating a safe space for communities, while thinking of atmospheres and the climate crisis.
Roles: Narrative Designer
Responsible for overall narrative & organizing team members
Managed art direction and script for cohesion of game
Co-ordinated and developed part of the game build
Overall rating by Women in games judging panel
play the game
Faced with the overwhelming workload of her studies and the grim realities of the climate crisis. An anxious student joins a community garden and makes friends with a variety of characters. But can she finish her quest and join the party?
narrative flowcharts created based on team discussions
Flowcharts developed on the basis of branching narratives
For this project, the team discussed what kind of game and story we wanted to create. On throwing out ideas, we agreed on a community garden and the idea of a protagonist slowly opening up by caring for plants.
Combining the two, we slowly discussed what plants our character would grow, the setting and NPCs for the community garden.
To ensure the team was on the same page and were aware of where checkpoints would begin and end, I created flowcharts divided by checkpoints to be used as reference.
Following which the team wrote up scripts and started art work centered around discussions.
To help the team once I was caught up with my tasks, I worked on some of the 3D art for the game to lighten the load on the art team.
checkpoint 2’s script & excerpt
Below you will find a short excerpt from checkpoint 2. If you’d like to read the full script for checkpoint 2, please download it right here.
EXT.- MC STEPS OUT INTO THE GARDEN
MC
It’s a pretty day at least, sky is blue and there’s no smog.
Everyone’s out and about in the garden as well.
If MC has not planted any seeds
MC
I wonder if it’s really that fun, watching all these plants grow.
Do they really believe this little garden will change things?
If MC talks to characters in the community garden (TOMMASO)
TOMMASO
Hi! Did you get a chance to find Hopper??
MC
Oh? Um – Was that your grasshopper? No, no I didn’t see it.
TOMMASO
Really? I wonder where Hopper went.
MC
Well, the gras- Hopper is likely hiding amongst some plants somewhere.
TOMMASO
Alright, well if you see him will you tell me?
MC
Um- yeah, sure. Might be a tough spot, but okay,
TOMMASO
Yay! Oh yeah, do you want to plant some seeds?!
Maybe Hopper will hide amongst your tomatoes and eat them if you don’t find him in time!
If MC takes seeds
MC
Alright, let’s give it a go . . .
Where should I plant this?
TOMMASO
There’s a bed there that my Appacha just forked. You could plant your seeds there!
If MC doesn’t take seeds
MC
No it’s fine, it was tomatoes and basil right? I’m trying to give my low carb diet a chance.
TOMMASO
Whaaaaat?! But pizza is awesome!
And pizza is not carbs. Or is it?
*Huffs* Alright, If you want to grow pizza later though, I’ll give you seeds. Just ask!