Language
Welcome to the world that is on a downward spiral. As a conselor, you don't have power to change the world, but you do have a job to do. Immerse yourself in the familiar yet decaying atmosphere and fulfill your duties.
Heart Of The Island
（2023.12）Localization & More Art Assets
Localization:
I translated all the current text within the game (translator + human proofreading) and added it to the game by reading the sheets, enabling the game's multi-language switching feature
Art Assets:
More new art asstes are added.
Concept
The original concept of the game came from the "Loong (not dragon) flying over the rainy city streets" scene that popped into my head. The first three images are realistic and mysterious looking scenes that I built and rendered on UE4 based on this idea, using my own accumulated materials, and in a style that blends cyberpunk and Chinese elements. The content I wanted to express was focused on "broken and evanescent beliefs and individuals" and "the good old days that will never come back". In addition to the exploration of the future of our culture, this is actually my personal reflection on the global recession after 2020.
After starting the group work, the art students explored the 2D direction, including drawing the scene atmosphere, character drawings based on my original settings, etc.
LeYuan Mall
The real protagonist of the game is in fact this incompleted mall called "LeYuan Mall", which I designed with reference to a luxury mall in my city that has been suspended from 2000 due to legal disputes. This kind of building has gradually lost its former status in today's advanced network society, and this newly designed and built LeYuan is also a nostalgic way for a twilight businessman in the game world of the not-so-distant future to reminisce about the past.
However, the vintage building fell into disrepair with the death of the businessman and became the host of the "Loong in the City" legend. The XingWei group, which saw the value in it, and the young people who were incited by it to emptiness, gave it a mythical character, and thus it also became a place of spirituality for those who lived in this era.
Design
At the early stage of game conception, I played and referred to several text games with interactive and modern network elements such as "Orwell", "Emily is away", "Red String Club", etc., and built the main framework of the game from them.
It is an interactive 2D text-based game where players can move freely in the real world (in-game) and interact with scenes and characters, but also use network devices called "Net Glasses" to navigate the network world that is closely related to the offline world.
Net Glasses
Net Glasses that was mentioned above, is a portable device that are gradually replacing smartphones in the game world. Net Glasses is designed with reference to Google Glass, and is lighter and easier to use than cell phones, while having functions that cell phones do not have.
In terms of game mechanics, players will use this device a lot in the game to advance the plot, contact with game characters, explore the online world, etc. The macro world that is not shown offline is filled in here, and other people in the world who cannot be seen by the player speak and interact with each other here. The story of the game itself is not macro, but it is a way for players to get a glimpse of what is happening in the world they live in and to influence it with their own choices.
Gameplay
We are committed to creating a rich and believable world, one that has a macro world framework. Therefore, we filled the game with a lot of graphic and textual content, and exposed the player to a wide variety of elements and interactions as they progressed through the plot. As a counselor, the player can focus on solving his main goal: helping an old man solve the problem of his "Loong" story being stolen. But at the same time, he may also be attracted to other information seen in the process, and try to understand the situation behind. The world is not made for the protagonist, it has its own logic, with a variety of new developments that do not change due to the will of the protagonist, which not only allows the player to learn more about the world, but also allows the player to experience the powerlessness of small individuals in the tide of the times.
Politicians in the halls of IUU(International Unity Union, a fictional international political organization.), talking about the already hopeless "international union", companies focusing on their own part and trying to reach out further, scientists are planning how to cripple the space exploration that has been stalled for decades to ensure the "safety of humanity in the universe". Young people with empty hearts, speculative businessmen and an old man left behind by the times are obsessing with the unrealistic "Loong" and willing to sacrifice anything to it - even their own lifes.
The world turns.
Programming
We tried to find full-time programming students, but didn't find the right person, and the two art students didn't have any programming experience. Therefore, the development task fell on my shoulders alone. Considering that I don't have a lot of programming experience and I am responsible for other aspects of development, I limited the narrative size of the game to a manageable size. At the same time, I chose to use the more convenient Unity engine, which allows me to add supplementary plugins for development (the most common plugin is Fungus, which is responsible for the game's flow, and I still write most of the functions myself using C# scripts).
It was indeed an exhausting time, as I had to overcome a lot of programming issues and implement various features required by the game mechanics while balancing plot and art development. But on the other hand, I also gained more experience with the Unity engine and C# programming, which will greatly benefit my future personal learning and development.