Serenity Citadel
An RPG on PC, developed with Unreal Engine 5.
Game Design
Current Progress
Currently, the farming simulation module is implemented. A playthrough video is shown below:
Our Journey
Initial idea & prototype
Initially, I just wanted to make a simple RPG prototype. I chose one of my favorite game genres: farming simulation games.
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For the design, I decided to make the farm lands grid based. Then, the player can use the operation desk to change the grids, and the grid types defines the action space. For example, the dirt can change into soil, and the player can farm/water/dig on a soil grid.
​For the engineering, I implemented:
The RPG part:
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A player controller based on Enhanced Input System​
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An interaction system, where the player character carries a collision box detecting custom collision chanel ​
The Farming part:
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A singleton design pattern based on Unreal subsystems
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A Perlin-Noise based random geometry generator​
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Parameters opened to designers for easy adjustment and configuration​
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The operatoion desk's UI and implementation
Initial prototype showcase
Growth of team & further development
I presented the prototype to my friends and they like the idea. We decided to make a team and develop the game into shipment. We become a 4-person team, with me as the only engineer, and my 3 teammates as technical artists.
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I want to solidify the game design. I consulted some designers and host several brainstorming sessions, but all ideas didn't go well. I finally apporached Xiaoqi, a talented designer and a good friend, and he said one thing: don't make farming as the goal, instead make it as the means.
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His advice embarks our brainstorm. We decided to make farming as the means to cultivate robots, and thus solve the mystery of the main quest.
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We followed the design and developed our game into our current showcase (in the Current Progress section).
Brainstorm records
Presentation on Fusion Symbiosis Exhibition
In August 2024, our team had the honor to present our game on Fusion Symbiosis Exhibition in Jiangsu, China. We chose to participate in this Exhibition because our biomechanic concept perfectly meets the symbiosis exhibition topic.
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Exhibits should be artist installations, so we adapted the game into an alt-ctrl game. With custom made hardwares, audience can easily touch the sensor and patch a farming robot in the game. With all the audience's participation, the wasteland will be changed into a lively sea of flowers.
Exhibit area
