ATLAS

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Summary

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Succession is a long process. In nature, a thing that takes many years. Years that pass, desperate and fleeting. Our sciences, our feeble mastery of nature, have accelerated the pace; that is the purpose of science as a whole; to advance, to create, to hasten. To hope and dream. We believe in better futures for dead worlds. Thus, ATLAS, sibling program to CALYPSO, long distant ancestor to NYX. We are no longer looking for life; we are creating it.

You are to shepherd this fledgling world from bare rock to lush utopia suitable for colonization. Tailor and progenitor, you are following and making careful alterations to the process of primary succession, to establish life where previously there has been none. It will not be easy. Your choices will have consequences -- some immediate, some only apparent hundreds of years from now.

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Current Version

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• 8.8k words.
• 13 randomly generated events.
• Framework for a glossary.

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Features

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• Random generation of events ranging from natural disaster sparking secondary succession to meetings with diplomats.
• Resource management: carefully guide your planet to climax-stage ecosystems lush and rich with plant and animal life -- or drive it to ruin.
• Educational information -- all events are based in real-life scientific concepts and ideas. The game also contains a glossary, providing further context to the concepts found in each event.

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Credits

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• Twine was created by Chris Klimas
• The Sugarcube format and Tweego were created by T. M. Edwards
• Various macros created by ChapelR, HiEv, cyrusfirheir, and SjoerdHekking
• Background and cover images from Unsplash, used and modified under their free use license. 
• Excerpts from Protocol used with modification.
• A generous thank you to Manon and all other anonymous beta testers for their contributions to the function and design of the game code and user interface.

ATLAS was created as as part of the final capstone project for my undergraduate degree and has been published in a proof-of-concept state. The abstract to the accompanying paper can be found below.

Abstract

Scientific literacy and education are growing issues in today’s world; the general public does not have the knowledge or training to interpret scientific information, and neither does the scientific community have the incentive to publish their findings in a manner accessible and easily digestible to the public. Teaching and learning in the sciences takes many forms, and interactive educational mediums provide an effective alternative method to introduce and reinforce learning alongside more traditional pedagogy. Utilizing both technical and creative writing, I have created an educational, text-based work of interactive fiction in Twine that synthesizes and summarizes the complex ecological concept of succession into a playable game. I have combined content from formal scientific papers with the more creative aspects of speculative science fiction to produce a compelling and entertaining story that keeps players – the average, everyday person – engaged while also providing accurate scientific information. Gameplay is choice-based and focuses on resource management, wherein the player makes decisions to manage an ecosystem from barren rock to lush climax-stage landscapes. By creating a prototype interactive educational game, future projects can aim to make learning in the sciences more accessible and engaging.