高鸣明
Game Developer
When the War Is Over
Team Size: 4
Duration: 12 weeks
Responsible: Game Design/ Narrative Design
War seems far away from us, but war happens from time to time, no matter what era we live in. Even in peaceful times, we should learn to understand the nature of war, learn from history lessons, and cherish hard-won peace. Therefore, war has been chosen as the theme of this game. Players will join a role-playing story and experience the brutality of war first-hand. In addition to the harsh survival conditions, players face many moral dilemmas. Different choices can lead to different outcomes. Through this game, we hope to convey to the player that everyone is small and cannot influence the wider environment. Once a war has begun, it isn't easy to stop. Whatever the outcome, both sides of the war will pay a considerable price. The only thing we can do is put aside our hatred and unite as one to survive.
Target Audience: Middle School Students
Many young people do not deeply understand the subject of war because we live in relative peace. This game shows players some of the realities of war and teaches them scientific and historical knowledge. It's an immersive game that students can experience in the classroom or after-school activities.
Rulebook
Art
Serious Mechanics
1. Competition VS Cooperation
2. History of war
Our game references some of the real events of the war in history
3. Mental Health
People affected by PTSD are also at high risk for behaviours such as drug, alcohol and violence.
Resources within the game are limited. Players may fight over set identities in the first playthrough. Some will choose to rob others of their supplies to keep themselves alive. Unexpected events during the game will reveal the importance of cooperation as a reminder to players. The game will be considerably more difficult if players choose to fight because of their opposing identities. On the other hand, if players can work together to overcome difficulties, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, class, etc., the chances of survival will increase.
While the physical effects are often the first thing a person pays attention to when they are hurt, the mental and psychological state needs equal attention. A character's SP (Stability Value) indicates the change in the character's current mental state. Starving a person for a few days is not life-threatening but can be demoralising. If a person goes without water for more than a week, they will die. Therefore, we set the player's SP to decrease when starving and HP (Health point) to decrease when thirsty.
Test & Craft Display
The game has been tested in five rounds. A few significant changes:
1. Early
I created a draft GDD with the inspiration and initial idea and pitched it to some PhDs specialising in serious games. At first, I envisioned the game as a DND-like game to enhance immersion. But the feedback I got was that the war theme was heavy, and there shouldn't be mechanics to enhance the fun. So I removed the step of letting players make their characters with crafts. And started to review some literature to think about what the target audience players would learn from my design.
2. Rules modify
In the setting, the wounded soldier and the two civilians come from the same invaded country and are supposed to get along and be more united. And civilians are the underdogs. It will be harder for them to survive in this game without help. To adjust the balance, we have added a rule that ties the interests of the wounded soldiers to civilians. If a character dies, other characters from the same country as him will suffer a severe psychological impact.
3. Props
If the player comes out of the basement, they need to determine whether they have been attacked and succeeded in searching for the item. The values for both have been tested to fit 1/2 and 1/6. We have tried to reduce the game's complexity by combining both into identical dice. Later, it was tested that the two situations could not occur simultaneously but without effect on the game.
Test site:
