Amber Evening

A solo - developed JRPG about climate change made for a school project about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. 

Project Info

Game Engine: RPG Maker MV

Role: Solo - Programming, Systems Design, Music, Writer

Time: June 2024 - Present

I handled nearly everything on the game, from character design, level design, coding & scripting and narrative writing, with integration with AI for research, brainstorming and ideation.

About Game

Amber Evening takes place in a near-future dystopia where climate change is rampant, privatized businesses wield immense power, and governments collapse while people go on about their lives in blissful ignorance. When unknown entities cause a mass extinction event, control 24-year-old activist Xiyang Huang, who has been tasked by the Spirit of Mother Nature to fight back these powers and guide humanity back to the path of redemption. Explore a changed world, clash with monsters and threats to the future, and interact with survivors preparing to rebuild. Be warned, time is not on your side as more perish through the days and as your body grows weaker.

My Experience

Development on Amber Evening has been very taxing yet fulfilling. A problem I faced early on was integrating the themes of climate change as mechanics to make it not just stand out, but serve to highlight the setting and themes, while preventing ludonarrative dissonance. To combat that, I spiced up combat by introducing environmental status effects tied to pollution and weather that are affected by the player's action. With that, combat now reinforces narrative stakes while remaining comprehensible for new players to the genre. I still have much to learn though. While developing this solo gives me extreme flexibility, it also leaves me vulnerable to a lack of feedback and help, making me overworked working on multiple sections of the game without knowing truly what players want from this game.