Solargram's fix it shop
In a post-disaster world, a community finds refuge in the middle of a flooded city. As Pomo, a skilled mechanic and grandson of a community leader, you are vital to their survival. Your mission is to fix their machines, empowering your people to prosper in their home.
Concepting and Finding our Protagonist
protagonist
Coming up with a protag was harder than it seemed. I had to script most of the backstory, key events, and characters to figure out what kind of protag the story needed. I ultimately landed on a community helper archetype, so I wanted to create a character that looked somewhere in the middle of a mechanic and a gardener. This not only evokes a solarpunk style, but also signals that they're a cultivator, not just someone who fixes machines.
Since the team decided the game would be in top down perspective, I went for a triangular, bottom heavy design in order to maximise space on the character for narrative props.
workshop
The fact that the entire game takes place in a single room led to a lot of debate about the layout. The two versions here represent our two schools of thought—one open-planned and homey, the other industrial and cramped. We decided to go with the open-planned workshop, specifically so we could add more greenery and better evoke the solarpunk atmosphere.
Storyboarding
Although this storyboard for a prologue cutscene was not integrated into the final game, it was a critical tool for establishing the project's tone. The narrative of the protag taking over a derelict workshop became a key reference for designers, informing decisions about game scope and puzzle difficulty.
Creating Pomo and the workshop
Style
The workshop's design balances a futuristic aesthetic with an approachable feel. Its pod-like structure symbolizes the resilience needed in a post-disaster world, while an emphasis on indoor plants brings in a sense of the old world being fostered within. This contrast not only sells the solarpunk atmosphere but also underscores the theme of cultivation and new beginnings. Special thanks to PolyPizza for all the environmental assets.
pomo
The character, Pomo, was modeled in NomadSculpt and optimized with retopology in Blender. This minimalist design facilitated a quick rigging workflow using Mixamo and enabled easy integration of existing animation libraries.
flooded city
The city's design, inspired by the illustrations of Dustin Jacobus, visually calls to a solarpunk aesthetics, a world where nature reclaims machinery. The green/yellow lighting is there to represent lingering pollution, while the flooded city highlights rising sea levels, reinforcing the game's core themes.
the design behind the world
setting up the structure
The game was initially designed with a three-act structure, each spanning a set number of days. Within each act, players would repair machines for various characters, but they would also encounter narrative conflicts. During these conflicts, Pomo must choose between two NPCs and their needs, a decision that directly sets the narrative tone for the entire game. For example, prioritizing the repair of guns over water filters would cause the community to become more militaristic.
inky and dialogue integration
The dialogue system was built using Inky, a scripting tool created by the developers of 80 Days. I utilized a global dialogue script to store a comprehensive memory of player interactions, including which NPCs had been spoken to, topics that had been mentioned, and Pomo's reactions. This allowed the system to dynamically select the next dialogue lines based on specific conditions met in the script.
the npcs
Each dialogue choice you make is tracked to build a unique web of relationships and friendship levels with the NPCs. The relationships between NPC-to-NPC were also predefined in a document, which made it possible for me to create unique world events that they could share between each other and suggest a story that extends beyond the workshop.