Before the Sun Rises
Re-growing a dying land with kindred spirits of the forest.
Before the Sun Rises is an experimental multiplayer online game designed to encourage altruistic and prosocial behavior between strangers. How can we create an environment that encourages kind, compassionate and generous behavior, but also provides a sense of agency while doing so? Can a game provide a space to experience the emotional impact of giving and receiving? Within the container of a 3D platformer and adventure game, I attempt to answer these questions.
[CONCEPT]
There’s something that feels wonderful and also uncommon when seeing positive interactions between strangers online in a game, when generally the online gaming community is overflowing with toxic behavior. What made one game more “friendly” and “safe” versus another, and what aspect of the game design influenced that feeling? Through several play tests, I attempted to create my own altruistic game by changing the level design, UI, game mechanics, and system structure. My definition for altruism in this particular game was the act of sharing knowledge and helping other players find resources on the map.
[TECH]
My initial low-tech prototypes were done in Miro, an online collaboration tool. The final game is made in Unreal Engine 5 with the Steam online subsystem, and with the option to play single or multiplayer. Animations were done with Mixamo and Unreal's animation tools, and the intro cutscene was drawn and animated by using Procreate and After Effects.
Music by Maou Tamashii
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