EcoGuardian – NewHope

EcoGuardian – NewHope is set in the future Earth in the 22nd century. Due to long-term human activities and neglect of the natural environment, the Earth's ecosystem has been severely damaged, climate anomalies have occurred frequently, and humans are facing an unprecedented survival crisis. In order to meet these challenges, humans have established multiple environmental protection bases in space, one of which is called "New Hope" and has become the command center for environmental protection operations. The player plays a staff member of the base. As a selected environmental pioneer, the player's task is to learn how to save the Earth's ecosystem by completing a series of environmental protection tasks and spread this knowledge to other humans.

Gameplay

In the game, players can improve their environmental awareness and knowledge by interacting with NPCs, learning environmental knowledge and completing various tasks. Players can read slides and books in the spacecraft to obtain knowledge about forest protection, garbage classification and wildlife protection.

Forest protection mission: Players first learn about the negative impacts of deforestation, then plant a tree by themselves to observe the positive effects of afforestation on the ecosystem. Players can see the recovery of the forest and the return of flora and fauna, and this intuitive experience helps them understand the importance of forest protection.

Garbage sorting mission: Players need to learn how to correctly sort garbage, including hazardous waste, recyclables, organic waste, etc. By performing actual operations in office scenes, players can test their knowledge and correct incorrect classification methods.

Animal rescue mission: Players learn how to treat injured wild animals and understand the impact of human activities on animal habitats. After completing the study, players go to the forest scene, find and treat injured animals, and send them back to their habitats safely.

Game scene design

The game consists of three main scenes:

Spaceship scene: This is where players learn about environmental protection, with advanced teaching equipment and database. The scene design has a strong sense of high technology, showing how future technology can serve environmental protection.

Forest Scene: This is an open scene with vivid vegetation and wild animals, showing the impact of human activities on nature. Through tree planting tasks and animal rescue tasks, players can personally experience the changes and recovery of the ecosystem.

Office scene: This is the place where players carry out garbage sorting tasks. The environment design is simple and clear, which is conducive to learning and practicing garbage sorting knowledge.

Player goals and endings

The main goal of the game is to complete all environmental tasks and improve the player's environmental knowledge and awareness through learning and practice. The only ending of the game is that the player successfully completes all tasks and passes the test to show that environmental knowledge and awareness have significantly improved. This not only shows the player's growth in the game, but also verifies the effectiveness of the game in education.

Learning during development

In the process of developing EcoGuardian – NewHope, I learned many important development skills and experiences:

Quest system design: I learned how to design a smooth and educational quest system that cleverly combines knowledge transfer with gameplay to ensure that players can learn new knowledge while enjoying the game.

NPC behavior and dialogue system: By developing NPC behavior logic and dialogue system, I understood how to build an interactive game world that enables players to obtain information and complete tasks through interaction with NPCs. This enriches the depth of the game, but also enhances the educational nature of the game.

Game scene and art design: I learned how to design different scenes to suit the educational purpose of the game. For example, in the forest scene, I used rich vegetation and animal models to simulate the real ecological environment, which enhanced the player's immersion and learning experience.

Player testing and feedback: During the development process, I realized the importance of player testing and feedback, verified the educational effect of the game through actual testing, and continuously optimized the game content and difficulty settings based on player feedback.

Through this project, I improved my technical skills, but also learned how to better integrate educational content into games to create a gaming experience that is both fun and educational.