The client —
The Water Utility Operator is one of the 4 interactive installations/games we designed for the Ghajn – Water Conservation Awareness Centre in Malta. The project was commissioned by the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean in cooperation with the Energy and Water Agency in Malta, in charge of the Centre. The Centre is open to schools and the public. The games are used to raise awareness on the water scarcity challenges encountered in the Maltese islands and the Mediterranean. The concept of the Game was developed by GWP-Med.
The game is a fun and educational experience for children aged between 8 and 12. It is displayed on a large screen installation (135x241cm) that consists of 4 smaller screens, paired together as a unit. It is ideal for two players.
The design objective —
Water is a finite resource and extremely scarce across the Mediterranean. The gap between water availability and demand, in a context of increasing pressures and climate change impacts, dictates the exploitation of non-conventional water resources to cover secondary, non-potable uses as well as the wise use of water throughout our cities. The need of the client was to raise awareness among children towards water scarcity and present a more complex side of the water management reality.
The client specifically requested that we should create a strategy game of a water utility operation facility where the player would be the Utility's Operator. Through the strategic management of complicated operations, the game could provide a deep insight regarding the internal and external factors that affect water availability, water quality, and water usage in the water utility operation and by extension in the city.
The creative concept —
In the game the player faces 9 challenges in total in which the water utility has damages or problems need to be fixed. In every case, the player is called to take a decision considering multiple choices per problem. Additional info is provided explaining facts for every possible choice. The successful completion of the game is when a player manages to complete the 9 problems, maintaining a positive score in all measures (coins, energy, production, demand).
With the help of our associate developer Nomatter we developed an algorithmic system that calculates all the measures affected by every choice that player makes. The challenge was to calculate all the possible answers of the game and to design it in a way that a player could both win and lose.
The whole game unfolds in a big control panel which covers the whole screen installation. In the panel, the player can see all the measures as well as a map of the city. We created the game’s environment using references from the Maltese Islands landscape, architecture, monuments etc. Inspired from technical drawings, maps and other strategy digital games we designed the background illustration using a strict 30° isometric guide. All the lines and shapes are directed following 30°, mirrored or 90°.
Using a colorful and joyful aesthetic we tried to create storytelling in the background that would keep the player’s interest ongoing since there is not a lot of action in the gameplay. For the hero of the game, we designed a friendly cool character and various animated themes for every situation he is involved in.
