SCG Life: An Educational Game for Sarasota Residents to explore their county!
Aug 2024
Project Time: 12 Weeks
Internship Project (Solo Game developer/Artist)
Skills: 2D Art, UI Design, Game Design, Unity, C#, Collaborating, Production
During my internship at Sarasota County, I designed and developed a Unity interactive game “SCG Life”. This game allows players to explore the county and play mini-games to understand what they can and cannot do here. I designed 16 scenes, and 18 NPCs for interaction, and 14 avatars for the player to choose from.
As a key contributor, I leaded brainstorming, took charge of 2d Art, programming in Unity, talked to people in different departments for content, and giving a tutorial to other employees on game maintenance.
Game Art Design
The game features a cartoon art style designed to appeal to a wide range of ages, making the gameplay enjoyable for everyone. I designed 16 scenes in total, including 6 different departments. To create these scenes, I contacted department representatives and gathered materials in person, ensuring that players can connect the game with the real world and better understand what these locations are truly like.
Characters
When designing the characters, I made sure to emphasize diversity. The game offers 14 avatars for players to choose from, reflecting the local population's diversity in terms of race, age, and gender, including several gender-neutral options. This helps players immerse themselves more fully in the game.
The NPCs are also thoughtfully designed; some of them are modeled after real people working in the departments, based on my discussions with department leaders. During internal playtesting, many participants recognized their colleagues in the game, which added an extra layer of fun and engagement.
Gameplay Design
To ensure the content was both important and engaging, I communicated extensively with different department leaders. This was the first time the county was developing a game, and since the local demographic included many people with limited gaming experience, we had numerous discussions and playtests. I also introduced a tutorial and a "?" button for easy access to instructions.
Initially, the game was conceived to address some of the most frequently asked questions received by Sarasota County's 311 customer service line, such as inquiries about the new Breeze Transit system. To identify the most relevant topics, I connected with the person responsible for the customer service database and accessed the database to find questions and answers that would be both suitable for the game and of interest to the public.
Mini Games
During this process, I realized that simply presenting dialogues could be dull, so I proposed adding more interactive mini-games to make the gameplay more engaging.
In the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources department, players help spot rule violations in a local park to learn what they can and cannot do.
In the Emergency Center, the player can play a mini game to learn how to prepare a household for a hurricane.
In the Solid Waste department, there's a mini-game where a little girl asks for help with recycling, teaching players about local recycling policies.
Lastly, in the Administration Building, there's a small quiz where players can learn general information about county administration.
Playtests
For example, I observed that many people did not notice the arrows but directly went to click the “start” option to eagerly start the game. Therefore, I made UI adjustments, such as adding floating arrow animations and displaying previous and next options on the avatar selection screen, which helped players better understand and navigate their choices.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this project was an incredibly valuable learning experience for me. I gained hands-on experience in developing a complete game in Unity using C#, from initial design to final implementation. Additionally, I learned how to maintain and update the game by creating video recordings and tutorials for full-time employees, enabling them to make text changes and other updates as needed. This was my first time developing a game for an organization rather than for personal use, which brought a new level of responsibility and collaboration. I'm very proud of the final product and the impact it will have in helping Sarasota County engage with its community in a more interactive and informative way.
