Game Design / Narrative
The Kalidax Farming Program
Project Status: Completed
Project Type: Indie project
Project Timeline: 10 weeks
Software Used: Unity
Languages: C#
Primary Role(s): Narrative Designer / In-Engine Programmer / Game Designer / Trailer lead
Collaborators: Sebastien Mena Andrade, Lucas Zacaria, Sarah Chambers, Emilty Barraclough, Brady Anderson
About KFP
Project Description:
Kalidax Farming Program was a farming sim set on an Alien planet, where players were tasked with "Uplifting Aliens" to financially survive. My task was to create and design the setting, aliens, items and script. Additionally, I was a backup programmer and designer for the project, mostly floating to where the team needed me the most.
Design Goals:
1. Write a cohesive setting to ensure that the script is narratively grounded
2. Design items and aliens that create both a compelling narrative and immerse the player in the setting
3. Ensure that the team doesn't fall behind in any areas where we were struggling.
GDD Down Below
Narrative Design
When designing the economy system for Kalidax, I put a lot of thought into creating the water, air, and ground-type aliens. Each type had unique item pools, growth times, and incubation yields, all carefully balanced to fit the game's mechanics and tell a meaningful story about exploitation and its effects on the environment and the people and creatures involved.
For the ground-type aliens, I imagined them as toxic creatures that spawned pus-like insects. These insects would eventually become massive hybrids, filled with diseases, causing chaos in their environment. The idea was to show how ground exploitation leads to toxic waste, which then mutates and exacerbates the problems, creating a vicious cycle of destruction.
The air-type aliens represented pollution. I designed them with lungs clogged with filth, spreading corruption through the air and making the atmosphere toxic. This was meant to illustrate how air pollution can suffocate life, making it difficult for other creatures to survive and thrive, and turning the very air they breathe into a weapon against them.
Water-type aliens symbolized the impact of overfarming. They evolved into apex predators, ruthlessly eliminating other animal life and disrupting the ecosystem. This showcased how over-exploitation of water resources can lead to the rise of dominant species that outcompete and destroy other forms of life, leading to a barren and unbalanced ecosystem.
Each type of alien was designed to affect the land uniquely, highlighting the destructive consequences of exploitation in the world of Kalidax. This not only added depth to the gameplay but also conveyed a powerful message about the importance of sustainable practices and the devastating effects of unchecked exploitation on both the environment and its inhabitants.
Creature Design
Item Pools
Introduction Script
Game Design / Programming
Quota System:
Players will have an exponentially increasing quota over the course of the game, which requires them to overtime not only expand the farming operations but sacrifice increasingly sentient creatures, at the end of the day, the quota will be deducted from the player's wallet, if they don't have enough currency, it will trigger a game over state.
Pager System:
This system introduces the players to the game, using a data container to store quest information. By cross-referencing the players inventory, or checking if a specific method has been activated, it will trigger the quest transition, calling the next subtext. Upon completion of all text for the "Day" or "Scene" the box will close.
Upgrade System:
This system was a prototype for our building upgrades that the player could unlock over time, if the player was within a radius of X units, a UI prompt would display the stored cost of the upgrade, (The upgrade costs being kept within a data table). If the player could afford the upgrade it would glow green and prompt a buy, otherwise it would glow red and give the player audio feedback based on action.
Quota System
Tutorial / Pager System
Upgrade System
