From Simulation to a Game

It’s been some months since I began rebuilding LANDNAV from scratch in Unreal. I’ve had to learn how to code and manage a project on my own, but at this point I am feeling very confident in my abilities. If I can imagine a system, I know that I can create it (so long as I follow KISS principles, of course.)

LANDNAV is at a milestone point as a project. It has been uploaded to Steam, play tested by strangers from around the world, is stable on a technical level, and accomplishes the game design goal of being a true-to-life land navigation simulator.

Now, my primary focus shifts to making LANDNAV as fun, replayable, and addictive as possible.

To make LANDNAV into a proper game, I’m building a new career mode, expanding the characters athletic capabilities, and adding new environments and characters.

The goal is for players to have rewards to work towards, a smooth difficulty progression, and a deep meta-game to sink their teeth into for hundreds of hours.

The new game type will be a career mode that consist of several different styles of orienteering. It will take place in the Italian Dolomites - often dubbed the playground of the Alps and my favorite place in the world. The focus will remain primarily on navigation, but other factors will be added to the mix - the risk of hypothermia, dehydration, exhaustion, and falling to your death all must be factored into your planning.

In order to mitigate these risk, players will strategically manage an inventory of real-life technical clothing and equipment, paying careful attention to a risk/reward balance of weight versus likelihood of necessity.

A players hard earned skill development will be rewarded not just with money to buy gear, but with the ability to improve their character roster as well.

Naturally, some athletes have more advantages than others. Players can strive towards unlocking more elite athletes, though they may develop a sense of loyalty to the underdogs as they gradually become experts through a skill-based XP reward system. In short, the more challenge a character takes on and survives, the more they will develop into an elite athlete.

Realism still remains the foundation of LANDNAV, so the primary focus of the game economy is on true-to-life survival considerations.

Players will have to develop the same tactics used by professional alpinist- how to pack for multi-sport marathon event? How to survive a multi-day ultra-endurance adventure with overnights at high elevation?

The closest existing game you might reference would be “The Long Dark,” a personal favorite of mine, though in this case we are focused on goal-oriented alpine movements, which is quite a different ordeal than scraping-by survivalism in the Canadian backcountry.

Adding to the character controller will be the ability to bike, scramble and climb grade 5+ rock.

The fact is, I’m so excited about where this project is headed, I can hardly contain it. I think when I’ve got this new game mode, maps, and characters ready, it will be easy to describe the game even to a non-enthusiast audience. At that point, LANDNAV won’t just be a hardcore simulator, but a crossbreed of some of my favorite genres. Part survival, part racing game, part adventure game, and staying grounded in immersive realism. I think it’s shaping up to be something special.