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Climate Controller Reflection

  • Writer: Joshua Angel
    Joshua Angel
  • Jul 5
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jul 20

Background


For the 2nd Semester of my 2nd Year at University, I was given 3 modules to work on, a dissertation prep module, a Maths focused Module and a Design focused Module.


Climate Controller was for this Design Module, having a focus on learning new facets of Design and how to both incorporate and iterate on these learnings. Specifically, within both a project and a Game Design Document (GDD).


When I started this module, I was unsure on what aspect to pursue, that being Stealth Mechanics or Strategy Mechanics. I ultimately went with Strategy Mechanics which evolved in this project.


Ideation

This project originally started out as my idea for expanding and deepening how Spore's Civilisation Stage could've been implemented, focusing more on the aspects of energy and player happiness rather than purely around war/profit.


I later also had the idea of making a more simplified RTS game, similar to how Plague Inc serves within the genre. This meant I focused on learning how to balance and present the information present within my project, such as with my UI.

My First Go at the UI
My First Go at the UI

As we learned more about different aspects of Design and as I chatted with my Lecturers, I decided to retool my UI, changing it based on the importance of the stats I have their readability. This led me to this design

The Information on the UI is more clearly defined
The Information on the UI is more clearly defined

This worked on the Region level but for the Sub-Regions, there's still little information on where they are and what they contain such as the Geography, population stats or Power Plants Present.


This was then my next focus, specifically for my University's Graduate Showcase that was soon approaching at the time. This led me to this design which is where the project sits currently.

Information is now more condensed, with 2 modes for readability
Information is now more condensed, with 2 modes for readability

Sub-Regions are now defined and other information about the Sub-Regions is now more easily displayed in the UI (check out the page for more info). This has all the information present now but I still think there could be improvements done.


Results/reflection

Overall, this was a good project, difficult to balance everything it needed informationally and visually, but felt like a good project/learning experience. This was also reinforced by the project scoring me an 82(!!!) for its assignment along with some potential connections and project opportunities out of the Graduate Showcase I entered.


I'm really happy with this project and I feel I can continue to develop this project further, which, is the plan! I want to continue developing this project into a full fledged game, including adding some more polish, balance and another redesign of how the information will be displayed, using what I know more of now.


I will posting again soon with an update and plan, moving forward for this game, hope to see you there!


Until Next Time!




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