DEAS EHAB Game
A mobile & web site management game developed in collaboration with EHAB as part of a research project. The game was developed in Unity with the aim of teaching EHAB's clients about their services and how they work through play.
2021
Unity
Mobile & WebGL
Project & Role
Following on from the DEAS Uptime / Howden game, I was involved in a another similar research project at Glasgow Caledonian University. As with the previous game, the project aimed to see whether games could be used for companies to better inform customers of their long-term service agreements and benefits. For this project, we collaborated closely with EHAB, a company that provides a weather risk management platform to help manage and tackle weather risk for the construction industry. Working with EHAB, we designed and produced a small site management / strategy game for mobile and web that showcases some of the services and benefits that EHAB offer.
In the game, the player is tasked with opening and managing construction sites on a monthly (turn) basis. Their task is to complete as many sites as they can in 48 months, whilst ensuring that their sites are adequately covered from the weather by efficiently managing their weather risk allowance. At the start of the game, the player manages their first site in a traditional manner, leaving a lot of the (optional) risk allowance and effects of the weather to guesswork, which can have negative effects on their progress and profit. Through eventually unlocking EHAB services, players are able to purchase upgrades for their sites, unlocking the benefits of EHAB's services. These including augmenting their sites, which provides timely warnings for upcoming weather events, allowing the player to reconsider their risk allowance for the month. The player can also subscribe to the Enhanced Planner, which reveals the probability of weather days per month, allowing them to ensure they are not paying too much or too little when deciding on their time risk allowance. The player can also take out parametric insurance, insuring that there are minimal or no delays when it comes to receiving insurance payouts. After each year, the player is shown a breakdown of their progress, including their profit and stats, allowing them to see positive progress and growth - providing they are using the EHAB services effectively.
By the end of the game, it is hoped that the player is able to understand the benefits of EHAB's services, especially as they will be able to progress more smoothly with use of the EHAB upgrades for their sites. By progressing through the game and consistently and effectively using EHAB's services, the player should (hopefully!) notice the positive effects of each service, alongside a steadily increasing profit and progress on their yearly and final in-game reports.
I developed the app from concept to release in Unity over the space of around 5 months, with several versions and builds produced prior to final tests with users for the research study. The app was also released and updated a couple of times for Android and iOS on their respective stores. Additionally, a WebGL build was provided and hosted for testing purposes (alongside a standalone Windows version)
Some of my roles and tasks for this project included:
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With academic supervision, contributing towards the general creative direction and production of the game
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Producing iterative UI mockups and passes for design pitches, meetings, and eventual implementation
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Designing and prototyping features to meet the research aims of the project
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Iteratively designing and testing builds of the game with clients and testers
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Sourcing and utilising assets on Unity Asset Store to speed up development
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Implementing various assets including models, materials, particle effects, sound clips and more.
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Creating scripts to manage the overall game loop, flow and various game managers
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Designing and balancing the in-game economy to meet the design goals of the game
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Designing and implementing the UI based on its requirements, functionality and variable screen sizes / ratios
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Designing and developing the game for both mobile and web / PC platforms
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Building to Android, iOS and WebGL for testing and distribution
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Managing the releases of the app on Google Play Store and App Store
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Designing and implementing an additional cross-platform leaderboard system using Firebase by Google and REST API
Some the main Unity assets I used (and highly recommend!)
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Doozy UI by Doozy Entertainment
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DOTween Pro by Demigiant
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Feel by More Mountains
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Procedural UI Image and UI Gradient by Josh H
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Easy Save by Moodkie
Screenshots
Downloads
A version of the game was released for a research study and is currently available for download on Android, iOS and on most web browsers with WebGL:
Initial Brainstorming
Prior to starting development, we spent a significant amount of time working with EHAB to understand their services and brainstormed concepts and ideas for the game. Through design meetings and material, we examined the services that EHAB were offering, and came up with various ways in which their services could be represented in gameplay. Similar to a previous DEAS project, we were in agreement that the player would be able to purchase or unlock EHAB services as in-game upgrades, allowing the player to progress more successfully - mirroring the real life benefits. We examined the four potential services that EHAB were offering, and conceptualised various ways in which they could function and benefit the player in the game.
Following these design meetings, I was tasked at consolidating the design work and material we had in order to start conceptualising the overall game flow and player interactions. Using the material we produced, I created a low-fidelity mockup that aimed to demonstrate the overall interaction and flow of the game, helping us to have a shared understanding and vision of the game at this early stage. Whilst some game features were still to be designed and refined, this mockup helped demonstrate several key features of the game, including the map screen, site selection and management, upgrades, insurance and progress. This mockup was shared with the team for feedback and helped drive our future design meetings.
My Adobe XD mockup can be viewed in the video below and the interactive prototype (with comments) can be viewed: here
Design Iteration
Following on from the previous pitched design and mockup, we had further design meetings with EHAB to change and refine some of the ideas for the game. Whilst the general flow of the game remained mostly the same, we spent some more time refining how the EHAB services would function in the game, alongside how they would be represented accurately as upgrades. There was some minor misunderstanding on our side on how the specific EHAB services function in the real world, so further time was spent correcting these issues and reconsidering how they could be represented in the game. This resulted in further changes to the existing weather days / insurance selection screen, in an attempt to simplify it for players and make it more consistent with the real world version.
These changes were taken on board and introduced into an new iteration of the previous mockup, with significant changes to the upgrade screen, site offer and budget screen, and insurance selection screen.
My Adobe XD mockup can be viewed in the video below and the interactive prototype (with comments) can be viewed: here
UI Pass
Once we had finalised most of the game's design and implemented a significant amount of it, I began working on a UI pass to make the game more visually appealing and usable. Using Adobe XD, I experimented with various styles, before settling on a simple clean rounded aesthetic for the UI - using EHAB's brand colours to influence the colour palette.
The UI was designed and created in a somewhat modular manner to make it easier to implement in Unity, alongside helping keep a more consistent look and consistent interactions. Using the UI pass mockup in Adobe XD, I created the various screens and elements in Unity, as close as possible to what the engine would allow.
Since the game was still subject to design changes at this time - and thus UI changes - I attempted to avoid locking down the design of the UI screens too much. Fortunately this was advantageous, as a number of screens and features had to be changed in the game. However, due to the consistent design style we had produced, additional screens and changes were able to be directly produced in Unity without breaking consistency or function - as shown in previous screenshots of the game.
The initial UI pass and screens can be viewed in the video below:
City Prototype Demo
Following the game's release, to explore further possibilities for the game, I was tasked at converting the game to a 3D environment as a proof of concept and prototype. Over the space of a few weeks, I spent time reworking the existing game by implementing two scanned city environments (Glasgow and London) and updated the UI and site assets to fit the new realistic appearance and 3D environment.
A demo gameplay video of the city prototype can be viewed below: