Hey everyone, I'm working on an environmental education-focused game as a project for university and chose to use Construct because I had used it in the past and it seemed rather accessible and versatile. I've been really satisfied so far and completed several tutorials and looked into a bunch of example games. I want to make a platformer that teaches some pretty basic environmental concepts through gameplay. I’ve already made the platformer as instructed through one of the tutorials for beginners but am seeking some help and advice on how to put in the specific features I want.
Essentially, I want the game to be a platformer where the goal of each level is to collect a certain number of “energy” collectibles to power a town – the collectibles are differentiated between “green energy” and “fossil fuels”. These will be scattered around the level, and once enough has been collected, the player returns to the town (perhaps just simply represented by a small sprite on the level) and the player must choose how much of what collectible to give. For example, one level may require the collection of 50 energy. The player could give 25 fossil fuels and 25 green energy, 50 green energy, or 50 fossil fuels. Any combination of energy which reaches the goal is accepted. However, when fossil fuels are given, each amount given equals a certain level of pollution added to a global pollution variable. I haven’t worked out exactly how much this would be yet, but let’s say 0.10 pollution per collectible. When a certain threshold of pollution is reached, for example, 10 global pollution, the pollution level for all subsequent levels will be increased, reflected in essentially making the game harder. The environment will visually look darker and dirtier, there will be obstacles such as goop which the player is slowed down in and cannot jump out of, certain paths will be blocked off, and at high enough levels, enemies will appear which the player will need to deal with. Additionally, in all subsequent levels, the energy demand of the town will increase, but the pollution added by each fossil fuel collectible stays the same, reflecting increasing energy demand.
I hope my explanation makes sense! I have been experimenting with different things to do but am looking for some pointers from more experienced people as I’m still so new to this. Right now, I have the base platformer created from the platformer tutorial, and I intend to build off of it. Thanks much for any help provided!