A journey through understanding the different farming techniques that will help feed the world
Since the dawn of agriculture, physical embodiments of different vegetable varieties have appeared all around the world. To protect them as well teach them about the world, all of them are brought to a high security and incredibly classified government facility: Fertile Crescent High. As each vegetable avatar can directly affect the growth of their respective variety, the United Nations are asking for their input as to which major form of agriculture, organic or industrial, will feed the ever-expanding population of the human race. As a recently awoken variety of kale, it is up to you to navigate the rising tension in Fertile Crescent High as you attempt to bring the warring factions together, find out just how difficult it is to do so, and possibly find romance along the way!
Technical details
In typical visual novel style. In particular, the program Tyranobuilder will be used, complete with branching storylines, music, and variables that affect how the game plays out.
Progress
We as a development team have completed the introduction part of the story. You are introduced to all of the characters you will be interacting with throughout the rest of the game, and the conflict has been presented to the player. Currently we are still working to get original art assets into the game, and we are also working completing the story so that the player has some kind of resolution to the main conflict being presented.
Next steps
We are currently researching various issues regarding feeding the ever-increasing population. Specifically, we are looking at how different GMOs can be good for the world. Things like Yellow Rice being made to help save thousands of people from going blind helps paint a better picture for GMO-based foods. Also, looking locally at how acequias can be used as a model for irrigation that is sustainable along with corn varieties that are drought resistant and produce enough food to feed a community. Lastly, once the artists are done with their hand-drawn models, they will import them into our game engine.
Why you should support this project
- Attempts to bring awareness to a controversial topic (organic and GMO) in a way that reveals some of the nuances and misconceptions about this seemingly black and white topic.
- Brings about this awareness through comedy, with cute anime characters representing not only vegetable varieties, but certain stances/viewpoints in the agricultural debate.
- Like Go Go Nippon, but about agriculture instead of Japan!
- Each romance route features a different sub-arc. Three planned routes to choose from: acequia arc, nutrition arc, and transportation arc!
- Hand drawn anime characters, music, and background visuals in typical visual novel style!
- Determine the fate of world agriculture!
- Cute vegetable girls
Risks and challenges
- Overdoing the anime influences to the point of decreasing our potential audience (ie., too many Jojo poses).
- Scale of writing. We have the introduction and first day (the branch point of the story) completed; however, as some routes can go into the tens of thousands of words, we will probably only finish two routes. However, we believe that the two we are working on (Blue Corn and Golden Rice) will be some of the more pivotal points of the plot.
- Scale of art. Due to the pace of writing vs. the pace of art, music, and characters, some of the prototype pictures might still be seen in gameplay. However, every single picture chosen as a prototype has been chosen to be as close to the final product as possible!
The Team
Mark – Secondary Education: Communicative Arts Major. Writer, Researcher. “Wait, what?”
Chris – Chemistry Major. Music, Background, Programming. “I’m doing my best here!”
Becca – Math Major. Characters, Sprites, Proofreader. “I’m always looking for an excuse to draw cute girls.”
Michael Apostol – Biology Major. Writer, Researcher. “Will send you to the shadow Realm on a bad day.”
