Solution

The general idea was there - I just needed to break it down into something presentable and entertaining. Why should people care about colonizing Mars? What are the actual threats if we remain isolated on Earth? How can I break down the complex sciences of space travel into a cute, fun game? What would I name my boat if I had one? Should I start working out again? I was asking the important questions, but only applied answers to the first three on this project.

Communication

The first step was making sure I had an accurate understanding of the topic before developing the concept of the game. I’ve done a lot of preliminary research over the years through my own self-interest, but I wanted to work with someone who lived and breathed space exploration and astrophysics – I was put in contact with Dr. Dan Durda, a research associate at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. My conversations with Dr. Durda helped in the development of a communication plan - how I could properly present the ideas and information about colonizing another planet.

The Game

Next, I needed to figure out the premise of the game. A lot of information needed to be absorbed quickly so it could reach as many people as possible within the duration of the thesis show. I decided to focus on the very real threat of an asteroid impact. The idea would be to fuel your spacecraft at a planetary gateway located on the moon, defend Earth from a barrage of asteroids, and then head to Mars (or so it seemed).

The Experience

The game would be projected on a large screen, with a couch positioned in front of it. High scores for the second stage of the game (Earth Defense) would be recorded on a scoreboard, with the winner receiving a prize at the end of the show. Around the screen, I wanted to create a set of posters to highlight the dangers to the human species, such as asteroid impacts, climate change, and on the extreme (but not impossible) level - alien invasions.

Once I figured out the concept for the game and the overall experience for the players, I created a list of elements I wanted to include.

What To Include:

Creating a Project Schedule

After determining what needed to be included, I broke down everything into smaller action items along a structured schedule. This Gantt chart helped me stay on task, and was a good reference for the items I needed to complete before the May 12th deadline.

Being that I spent nearly 42.36% of my childhood playing Pokemon on Gameboy, I felt it was necessary to integrate a pixelart illustration style into this game somehow. I began with the design of the main astronaut character that the player would navigate around the moon and into their spacecraft.

Once I finalized the design for the astronaut character, I began work on the additional sprites in the game - asteroids, spacecraft, background textures, moon base, equipment, and more.

After completing the designs for the in-game sprites, I moved onto animation. To speed things up, I created quick examples within Adobe After Effects, which provided a good reference during its recreation in Unity.

Simultaneously, I began working on the posters surrounding the projector - these provided information on three possible threats to the human species (climate change, asteroid impact, and alien invasion), as well as information on current plans for colonizing Mars. Below is a very early mockup on what the exhibit setup looked like: