Eco Home. Game Concept Document

Eco Home is a Serious Game created in “Serious Games Summer School 2013 in Tampere.
Team:
Pau Yànez: Project manger
Alexander Polden: Lead Programmer
Stefanie Horvath: Lead Artist
Clara Ferrer : Game Artist
Ville Hoikkala : Game Artist

“Midori Entertainment certify that all work included in this submission is owned and created
by the authors, and does not infringe any international copyright laws.”
Date: August 31, 2013

Copyright © 2013 “Midori Entertainment”

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. JUSTIFICATION

4

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

6

3. ABOUT US

7

4. THE GAME

8

4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
4.4.
4.5.
4.6.
4.7.
4.8.

GAME ELEMENTS
GAME MODES AND GAMEPLAY
PROGRESSION
REWARDS
FEEDBACK AND LEARNING INFORMATION
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
TUTORIAL
MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS

8
9
11
11
12
12
13
13

5. CONCEPT ART, SKETCHES AND STORYBOARDING

15

5.1.
5.2.
5.3.
5.4.
5.5.
5.6.

15
15
16
18
19
19

APP STORE ICON
SPLASH SCREEN (COMPANY AND GAME)
STORYBOARDING
CHARACTERS
MAIN SCENE SCREEN
GAME INTERACTIONS

6. TECHNICAL, BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION

20

6.1.
6.2.
6.3.
6.4.
6.5.

20
20
21
21

LEARNING OUTCOMES
TARGET AUDIENCE
BUSINESS MODEL
DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
MARKET ANALYSIS AND RISK


21

3

1. JUSTIFICATION
Humans need what nature provides. But it’s hard to figure out how much
resources we’re using and how much we can use while keeping our planet
sustainable. The ecological footprint has become the most important
measure of the humanity’s demand on natural resources.
“Our current global situation: Since the 1970s, humanity has been in ecological
overshoot with annual demand on resources exceeding what earth can
regenerate each year. It now takes the earth one year and six months to
regenerate what we use in a year” 1
In general terms data used to calculate the ecological footprint is coming
from:
• Energy consumption → Carbon Footprint
• Settlements → Built-up land
• Timber and paper → Forest
• Food and fiber consumption → Cropland and pasture
• Seafood consumption → Fisheries

Source:
Global
Footprint
Network

1

Source: Footprint Basics - Overview. Global Footprint Network.
(http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/footprint_basics_overview/).


4

The next graph shows the big difference in the ecological footprint level
between the most “developed countries” and the others considered “under
development”. We can infer that the great goal of humanity is to change the
Development Model to reduce the ecological footprint bringing it closer to
the “earth’s biocapacity level”.

Source: Global Footprint Network 2008 Report (2005 data)

Other recent studies are proving that “happiness and ecological well-being are
often portrayed as conflictual pursuits, but they may actually be
complementary”2. These studies have proved that the relationship between
happiness and the interest in ecologically responsible “behaviour was
explained by intrinsic values and mindfulness coming”.
In this game we are going to focus on energy- and water consumption and
waste disposal in settlements, and relate it with the happiness of the
inhabitants of the home, while trying to create a fun and informative
experience for the player.

2 Warren Brown et al. Are Psychological and Ecological Well-being Compatible? The Role of Values,
Mindfulness, and Lifestyle? November 2005, Volume 74, Issue 2, pp 349-368.


5

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Eco Home is a social strategy simulation game where you learn how to manage
your resources, to reduce the ecological footprint of your home, and keep the
inhabitants satisfied and happy.
Game Genre

Strategy simulation social game

Targeted Platform

Mobile Devices (Smartphones and Tablets) with iOS and
Android Operating Systems

Targeted Audience

Women and men (from anywhere) aged between 18 and 50

The main features of the game:
● Create your own home deciding which scenario you want to play:
family, single or a shared apartment.
● Manage the energy and water consumption and waste disposal while
adapting the use of resources during the different seasons of the
year.
● Discover the basic needs of the characters and the best way to
balance their satisfaction and their energy consumption, to keep the
overall happiness level as high as possible.
● Get new and more efficient appliances, take care of turning off the
lights, dispose of or recycle your waste.
● Manage resource and home crisis events that will tip the balance of
your home.
● Implement and learn about the latest green technology to make your
home more sustainable, presented as general house upgrades like
solar panels, heat pumps or water recycling utilities.
● Real Life Mode is a mode where you can modify the appliances of the
house to correctly mirror the appliances in your own home, as well as
upgrades and characters. Playing this mode will let you simulate the
energy consumption of your own home in a playful way.


6

3. ABOUT US

Project Manager
Pau Yànez Vilanova: Degree in Pedagogy by Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona (UAB). Master on ICT in Education by Universidad Carlos III
(Madrid). Project Manager on research and innovation projects around
language learning, sustainability and ICT applied to education. Also game
and serious games designer.
Lead Programmer
Alexander Polden: Certificate of apprenticeship in System Administration
with 6 years experience. Studying informatics, with a master degree in
software development as the target degree. Been programming for 14
years, with some game development experience in Unity3D.

Lead Artist
Stefanie Horvath: Certificate of apprenticeship in Media Design. Fulltime intern at User Centric Inc., a User Research & Design Firm located in
Chicago, Illinois. Project Manager - Concept & Design at Tiscover, an
Online Advertising Agency, specialized in Tourism, located in Innsbruck,
Austria. Currently Information Design Student at FH Joanneum Graz,
Austria.
Game Artist
Clara Ferrer Pérez: Student of Fine Arts (final year), being new in the
world of serious games and commercial art. Having experience with
design, video, photography and fundamental of animation. In the field of
work, she has made corporate images for private partnerships.

Game Artist
Ville Hoikkala: Student at Tampere University of Applied Sciences,
studying Media for the second year. Interests in digital art, video industry,
design and animation. Been an avid gamer for my whole life. Most
comfortable when working with a drawing tablet and a cup of coffee.


7

4. THE GAME
The goal of the game is to create the most efficient home with the best
ecological footprint while keeping the inhabitants satisfied. To achieve this
the player has to balance the energy consumption and waste generation
with the overall happiness of the inhabitants.

4.1.

Game elements

The most important game elements and in-game actions will be:
● Appliances
● Resources
● Time
● Characters
● Events
● Economy
● Ecoins and Rewards
● Social features


8

4.2.

Game modes and Gameplay

There are two Game modes: The Simulation Mode and the Real Life Mode.
Simulation Mode
The player controls the environment of the home. Depending on the
player’s interest he will be able to select between 3 scenarios: family home,
singles apartment or shared apartment. Each scenario will have various
settings and different events.
As time and seasons go by, random events occur. These events can come
from different elements of the game:
● New needs of the inhabitants
● New pet
● Energy crisis
● New family members
● Family members move out
● Family member become unemployed
● Water pipe breaks
● Broken appliances
● Rain and/or thunderstorms
● Robbery
● Fire


9

The events will be presented as “floating messages” with the basic
information in the screen that will remain active until it is dismissed or the
game AI detects that the challenge is completed.
To manage all these events the player will be able to navigate freely around
the house buying new appliances and items that consume electricity, water
and generate waste. To do it the player has to tap the item to see the
properties and go to the virtual shop to buy a new appliance with different
resource properties and inhabitant influence.
Also it’s important to manage an appliance’s allowed hours/times of usage
per day, amount of water consumption, turning off the light of the rooms,
empty the trash regularly, etc. During these events the player must, in
addition to balancing the ecological footprint, also consider how the
changes made influence the satisfaction of the inhabitants.
All these events will challenge the player and will test the strategic skills to
achieve the goal of the game. As the player gains more experience, events
will become more difficult. And, of course, will be rewarded with better
technology.

Game modes and scenario selection screens


10

Real Life Mode
Real Life Mode is a mode where you can modify the appliances in the house
to correctly mirror the appliances, upgrades and characters at home.
Playing this mode will let you simulate the energy consumption and waste
disposal of your own home in a playful way.
This game mode has the same main features and mechanics as the
Simulation Mode with some differences related to the player’s real life. E.g.
the player can within reasonable limits define their own income at the
beginning of the game, the prices for power, water and waste management
in their area. This mode will be available from the beginning through an inapp purchase.
Example of gameplay:
The game time is winter, and when the player thinks that has the overall
happiness and the ecological footprint in a decent level, that will unlock a new
Green Tech (power-up) to make his/her home more sustainable, the AI of the
game will show a floating message with a small description of the situation
asking the player to act. “There has been electrical power cuts in your city
because of excess demand of energy. If you can manage it you will be rewarded
with a general house upgrade.”. Of course it will affect the satisfaction of the
inhabitants and the player will have to interact with the appliances that
consume more electrical energy to try to solve the problem: manage daily usage,
buy new and more efficient appliances, buy new green technology (power-ups),
etc. The message will remain on the main screen as a floating icon until the AI of
the game detects that all the needed actions are done. When the player has
solved the situation the message will automatically disappear and the player is
rewarded.

4.3.

Progression

The progression of the game will progress through transparent levels (or
milestones). These transparent levels will control the difficulty of the game
and the level of the unlocked appliances and upgrades. You progress
through the levels by keeping your ecological footprint and the overall
happiness in balance. This balance is lost as events are presented to the
player and will not be restored until the player makes the appropriate
decisions using the available actions.

4.4.

Rewards

As months go by the player gets virtual money to buy new appliances. The
in-game currency is called "ecoins" and comes from the salary of the
characters. At the end of each month if the player has money left over after

11

paying all the bills, the player receives interest that allows him/her to make
home improvements.
When the player solves a situation coming from a random event he receives
special rewards called “green technology”. This is new technology that
allow the player to reduce the ecological footprint and make his home more
sustainable. Green technology can be unlocked by the player before it is
unlocked through normal progress with a in-game purchase.

Green tech power-ups pop-up screen

4.5.

Feedback and learning information

4.6.

The social aspect

Every game element has a description with the main properties and the
consequences of using it. With this information the player will be able to
figure out what is the best strategy to solve the events.

During the evolution of the game, if the player rotates the device to
landscape mode, he/she will be able to:
● See the progress of his/her friends and learn about it.
● Turn off the lights. Your friends can help you conserve energy by
turning of the lights when you forget.
● Send messages.


12

Social mode screen

4.7.

Tutorial

4.8.

Music and Sound effects

The tutorial is going to be built in-game, and will teach the basics to interact
with most of the features of the game while the player overcomes the first
level. Depending on the game mode the tutorial will have different
dynamics. The main features the player will learn during the tutorial will be:
● The basics about navigation: home, rooms, active assets.
● The basics about appliances: buy, sell, manage usage, turning off/on
the lights.
● The basics about resources: electricity, water, waste.
● The basics about time: seasons, in-game time.
● The basics about characters: satisfaction, overall happiness.
● The basics about events: messages, causes.
● The basics about ecoins, rewards and economy: satisfaction, overall
happiness, ecological footprint, green-tech, bills, interest.
● The basics about social features: visit friends, help friends, message
friends.

The music and sound effects are two very important elements of Eco Home
so we will use it to enhance the game experience creating an environment
as realistic as possible by providing emotions to the player.
Background music:
We want the player to feel comfortable while playing the game but inviting
him/her to action. The music style is “up-tempo” jazz or blues.


13

Background sounds:
Combined with the music, the background sounds will give information
about the season of the year. We want to create a real life experience so the
sounds will be recorded from the nature and integrated in the game engine
to be played randomly.
Sound Effects:
We will use real life sounds when the player interacts with elements of the
game. For example: When the player touches the TV of the living room to
upgrade it, a real “Turn on” sound will be played.


14

5. CONCEPT ART, SKETCHES AND STORYBOARDING
5.1.

App store Icon

5.2.

Splash Screen (company and game)


15

5.3.

Storyboarding

Storyboard page 1


16

Storyboard page 2


17

5.4.

Characters


18

5.5.

Main scene screen

5.6.

Game interactions

Developed prototype is available at: tinyurl.com/midori-ecohome

Note: all artwork used in the game is original and copyrighted by “Midori
Entertainment”.


19

6. TECHNICAL,
BUSINESS
INFORMATION
6.1.

AND

DEVELOPMENT

Learning outcomes

After playing the game, the player will be able to
● Try and implement best practices around energy management in a
safe and fun environment.
● Make the player conscious of how the management of a home can
affect energy consumption.
● Know how the seasons and the weather affect the energy
consumption at home.
● Know the latest technology for self-producing, optimizing and
recycling energy at home.

6.2.

Target audience

Eco Home is designed for women and men (from anywhere) aged between
18 and 50.
We decided to target our game based on data coming from studies about
social and casual games3:
● 600+ million Casual/Social game players
● Age of a player is between 18 – 44 years
● 70% of players are female
This data fits perfectly with the nature of our topic and gameplay.
It is a very large market that offers great freedom in game and graphic
design but presents a big challenge to please all potential players. In this
sense we can highlight some of the most important features of “Eco Home”
that are consistent with our target audience:
● Gameplay: it’s a social game that everyone can play, but with some
complicated mechanics that will delight the more experienced
players.
● User Interface: Clear interface that displays all relevant data to help
all kind of players to interact with the game.
● Colors: intense to attract attention from younger players, but cool
and intermediate colors that fits with older gamers.
● Characters: some realism to emphasize with older players but with
plain textures.

3

NDP Research (2010). Thanks to Dr. Paul and Dr. Maja Pivec.


20

6.3.

Business model

6.4.

Development timeline

6.5.

Market analysis and risk

Eco Home is a free to play game with in-app purchases:
● Unlocking the “Real Life Game Mode”: the player has to pay a small
amount of money to be able to play this game mode (1,99€).
● Buy virtual currency: the player can buy “Ecoins” using real money
to improve his/her home quickly and to manage all the events better.
Depending on the amount of “Ecoins”, the player will be able to select
between different prices: (0,99€ = 1000 ecoins // 1,99€ = 15.000
ecoins // 2,99€ = 50.000 ecoins).
● Buy new appliances/“Green Tech” (power-ups) before they are
unlocked: the different appliances and upgrades unlock at different
levels if they are not unlocked with in-app purchases, and can be
installed in the house by using “ecoins” which can also be acquired
through in-app purchases.
It is planned to develop the game within one year, including one month
initial and two months final test, evaluation and improvement periods. We
suggest the start of development in January 2014 and release the game on
January 2015.
Social games such as Farmville or Hay Day are getting so popular.
Simulation games like Sims also have created a very large community of
players that enjoy managing resources, characters satisfaction, happiness,
etc.
In Eco Home we want to take advantage of this boom trying to offer a
different experience in the following points:
● Real life Game mode: there is no social strategy game in the market
where players can personalize the in-game data to keep track of their
real Ecological Footprint.
● Sustainability topic: there is no a social strategy game in the market
where the player can learn how to manage all the resources at home
and balance it with the overall happiness of the inhabitants.


21

“Midori Entertainment certify that all work included in this submission is owned
and created by the authors, and does not infringe any international copyright
laws.”
Date: August 31, 2013
Copyright © 2013 “Midori Entertainment”.


22

Eco Home. Game Concept Document

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a Eco Home. Game Concept Document

Similar a Eco Home. Game Concept Document (20)

Último

Último (20)

Eco Home. Game Concept Document