Perennial Summer is a 2D isometric game where the player navigates an eternal summer. As the player enters their thoughts in the journal, the game switches between four different moods to reflect the user's feelings.
This game was an interactive experience about childhood nostalgia and memory. As a partly autobiographical game, I drew from my experiences spending summers in the suburbs of the Bay Area. I also took inspiration from games such as Animal Crossing.
View the code on Github here
I implemented a chunk-based terrain system, with the terrain randomized with diamond-square, perlin noise clouds, a journal system with file reading/writing, and an inventory/cooking system using dictionaries and OOP. The art and UI were made with Procreate and Piskel.
I wanted to design a reflective, calming game centered around the player's thoughts. The UI was intended to be minimalistic, with the player simultaneously entering their thoughts and exploring the world, which I felt to be a reflection of how people interact with nature. The inventory / collection system was designed as a feedback loop-- the player would therefore be incentivized to continuously go out into the world to explore and pick up items to cook with at the home location.
Journal system
Various moods
Journal affects world appearance
Different octaves of Perlin noise
Cooking system
Home location
