[SA Game Jam 2018] Sirocco

Sirocco
Level of Experience: Hobbyist
72 Hour Entry


https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gZOUsdjFnWgn2So0WK54xEFPrdRDd17o?usp=sharing

Team Members:
@NickCuthbert
@SleepingSafari
@Riley
@Rigormortis

The departing colonial government has deliberately sabotaged economic and infrastructural reform. Take the role of the first democratically elected president of Sirocco and put your country back on track
Thanked by 1Asriele

Comments

  • Interesting premise. Fictional country?
  • @sugboerie, it does play out in a fictional country yes.

    image
    Thanked by 1riders_of_rohun
  • A work in progress shot from @Riley
    image
    character08.JPG
    1113 x 702 - 88K
    Thanked by 1SleepingSafari
  • Another work in progress shot:
    image
    Screen Shot 2018-09-24 at 17.14.38.png
    942 x 616 - 950K
    Thanked by 1kidult
  • edited
    Our team is only uploading now. Know it's a bit late, so don't mind if we're not in the standings, but would love to get the same level of feedback.

    Here is a link to the win 64 and mac builds. May if we get a chance polish it a bit more during the week and upload to itch:

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gZOUsdjFnWgn2So0WK54xEFPrdRDd17o?usp=sharing

    Gratuitous screenshot
    image

    Music is creative commons no derivatives licensed, with credit going to Chocolate Billy for the track Malade taken from the album Délicat déni
    Screen Shot 2018-09-25 at 02.52.35.png
    1818 x 1024 - 3M
  • The country you are trying to manage has been left in shambles by the recent ousting of colonial powers.
    Okay, right off the bat, this sentence is provocative. It seems to imply a certain political view. I will leave this observation at that.

    On the game, it's a shame that it seems incomplete, I was met with this:
    image
    And the "ending" screen did not fit in the screen:
    image

    All that aside, the game is really pretty. The scene is constructed well, and the characters charming. The little bouncy effect of them dropping in is cute. Though I would have wanted to see more dynamism in the use of the scene - I kept thinking that I was staring at a 2D bitmap rather than a 3D scene. The camera shake thing was fine, but still didn't make use of the scene. The characters' materials felt too shiny.

    Then gameplay: There wasn't enough indication of the implications of choices, so the game felt like it was just a quiz asking you very straight-forward morality questions, with the end coming up "YOU ARE A: DICTATOR!" or "YOU ARE A: NICE GUY!", or whatever. For a game of this nature to feel interesting, I feel like it needs both better feedback to the implications of your decisions, as well as more ambiguous options in writing. It needs a game engine to make your choices feel like they mean something. The game Reigns is a really good example of how something as simple as a Tinder swipe left or right (yes or no) can play out as an empire builder.

    It's an interesting premise and given the systems, can really highlight the complexities of our times. I think that'd be cool.
    Screen Shot 2018-09-25 at 12.09.39.png
    475 x 307 - 254K
    Screen Shot 2018-09-25 at 12.09.56.png
    1280 x 800 - 196K
  • edited
    Thanks for the really constructive feedback @Tuism.
    Tuism said:
    The country you are trying to manage has been left in shambles by the recent ousting of colonial powers.
    Okay, right off the bat, this sentence is provocative. It seems to imply a certain political view. I will leave this observation at that.
    A game like this I feel has to be inherently political. It would be useful feedback to know how you interpreted this. the overarching goal was to highlight how colonization, structural inequality, and imperialism have and continue to undermine efforts to improve matters on our continent. We completely failed to achieve that (quite ambitious) goal in the given time, but I at least would be interested in perhaps working further on this, and understanding how people interpret some of the subtext would be an interesting data point.
    Tuism said:

    On the game, it's a shame that it seems incomplete, I was met with this:
    image
    That's actually a bug :/
    You shouldn't ever be seeing that line. But yes the game is unfortunately quite incomplete
    Tuism said:

    Then gameplay: There wasn't enough indication of the implications of choices, so the game felt like it was just a quiz asking you very straight-forward morality questions, with the end coming up "YOU ARE A: DICTATOR!" or "YOU ARE A: NICE GUY!", or whatever. For a game of this nature to feel interesting, I feel like it needs both better feedback to the implications of your decisions, as well as more ambiguous options in writing. It needs a game engine to make your choices feel like they mean something. The game Reigns is a really good example of how something as simple as a Tinder swipe left or right (yes or no) can play out as an empire builder.

    It's an interesting premise and given the systems, can really highlight the complexities of our times. I think that'd be cool.
    Absolutely love Reigns. I'm kind of disappointed in what we achieved during the weekend. There was tension between creating the UI and writing, and I at least don't think I have enough experience to nail both in a single weekend. Became a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none situation.

  • A game like this I feel has to be inherently political. It would be useful feedback to know how you interpreted this. the overarching goal was to highlight how colonization, structural inequality, and imperialism have and continue to undermine efforts to improve matters on our continent. We completely failed to achieve that (quite ambitious) goal in the given time, but I at least would be interested in perhaps working further on this, and understanding how people interpret some of the subtext would be an interesting data point.
    By no means was I saying "don't be political". I might not make political games but I communicate plenty around politics.

    "The country you are trying to manage has been left in shambles by the recent ousting of colonial powers."

    That to me read like the colonial powers were the benefactor. Like it was a mistake to oust them, cos it left it in shambles. I know now that's not what you meant, but I had no idea from just reading that statement by itself.
  • @Tuism: Thank you for the clarification. That's useful.
  • Wow. I was really interested in there game ever since the that you posted in the original post I was already concerned the about subject matter and how it would be been portrayed in the game

    Firstly the art is good and music sets the tone nicely.

    The subject matter you were attempting to tackle is rather complex. With 100s of years of History so don't feel bad if you got it wrong but there are few connotation that I find problematic.

    I played the game extensively over and over and over again just to understand what certain decisions have. I've come to the conclusion that people that come to you are randomised in order.

    Although in my first playthrough, the mining guy from the wherever asked if he could buy the mines. I said no. Later on in the game Mrs Wallace said that the mines have deteriorated based on poor management and I couldn't stop but think was it because I said that we should keep the mines Which comes off quite badly.

    but obviously like I mentioned above the decision-making happens randomly so sometimes Wallace would come to me and say the minds of fuked up and then De Beers guy comes and says "can we have the minds".

    The the last thing is that because you're trying to tackle an issue that is inherently based on our continent I feel that they should have been people that represent the the continent better.
    Thanked by 1NickCuthbert
  • edited
    Thanks for the feedback @Sugboerie

    It was essentially randomised, as we didn't get around to adding the rest of the arcs. Funnily enough I didn't connect the diamond miner with the problem in the coal supply chain, but I can see how it could've been read that way. That's an interesting aspect of story telling that I hadn't considered, I suppose it's much like how editing can change the perceived emotions of an actor.
    SUGBOERIE said:
    The the last thing is that because you're trying to tackle an issue that is inherently based on our continent I feel that they should have been people that represent the the continent better.
    100% agree. I've also been thinking about abstraction a little this morning, which is related, and it kind of feels like a complex topic like this may need more specificity than a game like say Reigns provides.
    Thanked by 1SUGBOERIE
  • edited
    Sorry everyone. I have been informed that our initial description of the game came off sounding racist. I would like to apologize as this was in fact opposite to our intentions. I would like to take full responsibility for this miscommunication.

    A second attempt to describe the game might be: "The departing colonial government has deliberately sabotaged economic and infrastructural reform. Take the role of the first democratically elected president of Sirocco and put your country back on track"

    Lastly thank you for the patience and understanding that the game as it stands may come off sounding insensitive. You have all been extremely charitable. The game systems have not been developed enough to convey our intent.
  • @Rigormortis This game is awesome in terms of the style and the colour theme of this game! It is soothing to the eyes and also not too busy, the situations when you are asked are captivating and immersed. I cannot help get engrossed as the president. I love it! I want to suggest if you can slow down the handshake camera effect slower, I am sure the president does not want to get sick on the job. Amazing job! (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧
Sign In or Register to comment.