In commemoration of the Fire Prevention Month this March, young game designers introduced a 3D-based simulation and puzzle game to raise awareness on basic fire safety and protection.
Enterprising innovators Hanz Tristan Sy, Justin Ferdinand Jacobe, Dylan Geoffrey Galimpin, and Jonathan Carl Cruz noted while fire is considered an essential tool in everyday life, it is likewise one of the most dangerous when left unattended or used irresponsibly.
With this in mind, the trailblazers from the Interactive Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (IEMC) Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) combined interesting visuals and gameplay to provide an engaging educational platform for the youth.
They were mentored by educator Johndale Alfred Julian. The project was hailed as the Best Thesis.
After approximately four months in final development, the students launched the game called Fire City. It is an offline, single-player game which challenges users to take the role of handymen as they inspect and place protection systems within the community. It consists of four zones – Residential, School, Commercial, and Business – each with different difficulty levels.
There are two additional time- and reflex-based minigames. Arrange the Card walks them into the procedures of basic fire safety and protection, whereas the classic Multiple Choice encourages participants to pick the correct type of fire extinguisher to be used in a presented situation.
“Fire City capitalizes on the availability of personal computers,” the group explained. “It was made to be more accessible compared to related recent mainstream video games.”
“It aims to be an accessible supplementary medium to existing media,” they continued. “The gameplay was made simple enough to allow for a more involved experience wherein users can learn, experiment, and enjoy themselves at the same time.”
The team likewise highlighted the increase of fire emergencies in the Philippines. “It can occur anytime and anywhere, leading to the loss of life and property,” they lamented.
The group underlined that appropriate inspection, maintenance, and operation of fire protection systems, such as alarms, will help reduce the number of such tragedies.
“This is an issue that is rarely tackled in the industry. Games emphasize the disasters than the solutions,” they ended.
Benilde Interactive Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (IEMC) Program is a hybrid discipline that combines the technical, art, and business aspects of gaming with majors in Game Development and Game Art. It guides students to build their portfolio of small interactive mobile applications and complex PC- and console-based systems and equips them with the essential skills to run and manage a game development studio.
