Orogeny Landing Production Sprint

Hit significant snags in dialog production due to late noticed bug. They were subsequently overcome, but game is incomplete. Dialog for characters besides Alan Rhodes is written, but not loaded in the new format. Will attempt to overcome in next sprint.

“We shall never achieve harmony with the land, anymore than we shall achieve absolute justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations the important thing is not to achieve but to strive.”

― Aldo Leopold ~1948

Plot:

Global setting:

2030(ish) United States - Successive national ineffective & oppositional regimes have resulted in a Dust-Bowl / New Deal -esque sweep in visionary legislation. One of which is the creation of a National Climate Response Agency. This office strongly mirrors the NRCS districts created during the dust bowl - local level solutions to bring localities into compliance with national initiatives while encouraging local economic success.

Main character role:

Due to being a member of climate disenfranchised group Main Char is given a job (moved to the front of queue if meeting minimum job criteria, as DOD does currently with Veterans) as the Climate Liaison to a region that is poised to be left behind during the climate transition. MC is not properly prepared or equipped.

Local setting:

Orogeny Landing is a town (fictional) built around a large coal train terminal where coal is loaded from trains that bring coal out of mines for a third of the state (state is strongly implied to be West Virginia and region has similar aesthetic, speech patterns, & geopolitical views/orientation to national interventions). Ultimately the industry that sustains the town and it’s identity is not viable if climate change is to be halted and reversed through atmospheric co2 levels being restored to pre-industrial levels.

 

Main challenge:

Main Character is tasked with making connections for the local residents to transition into work that does not have strong negative climate impacts & externalities and finding place and identity in a future that is viable for human civilization. 

Gameplay:

The player can impact the future of the town and its residents through dialog and securing opportunities for them as well as their cooperation pursuing them. Player actions are tracked in a score of the climate impact of the residents, their economic viability, and continued residency. When the game ends, a total for these is calculated for the town and each resident. These determine whether each resident has positive or negative climate impact, their economic success, and whether they remain in the town or not. These are also calculated for the town. If residents exodus the town the town does not persist. If the town is economically successful, but climate is not preserved the world impact is negative. If climate is successfully preserved but the town economy is not the town becomes a community in crisis etc… These are not viewed as win loss criteria but instead alternate endings (example early fallout games)