A downloadable game

Game Story:

A Korean Jindo puppy and 75-year old Haenyeo free diver work together to survive on a climate-changed Jeju Island around the year 2053. Although they experience devastating storms and loss of seafood as the ocean warms and acidifies, they also discover new ways of healing and living in harmony with the natural world around them. Despite all that they have faced, their resilient community fills them with hope for a livable world for future generations.

Just Play Game Jam: The Haenyeo Training portion of Waves of Jeju was completed during the Just Play Game Jam, and other parts of the game were completed prior to the start of the game jam.

Playtesting Information:

Playtesting is available on the Meta App Lab, use this link to become a test user and the app will appear in your Meta Quest library: https://www.meta.com/s/4MH9e4M7w.

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZetJT8mtuc66hqitGCZeCVDl2BK0Cfr-/view?usp=shari...

Platform:

Meta Quest, in the future we will work on PC and console versions as funding allows.

Motivation to Create the Game:

We are creating Waves of Jeju to educate about environmental justice and facilitate cross-cultural awareness. Pollution and ocean warming have directly led to the disappearance of certain shellfish and seaweed around Jeju island. Haenyeo freedivers who have depended on this seafood for hundreds of years have been declining in numbers from around 25K in the 1960s to just under 3K today. If this continues, the divers are on track to die out around 2030. Most of the women are in their 70s or older and there is a critical need to attract and train younger divers. Luckily, there are several Haenyeo schools on Jeju focused on building up the next generation of environmental stewards. Part of the proceeds for Waves of Jeju will go toward funding the divers to help preserve their traditional knowledge and support their work. Waves of Jeju may even be used to help train future Haenyeo!

Team Members:

Karen Stritzinger - XR Developer & Technical Artist

Curry Du- Spatial Designer

Danny Pimentel- Research at University of Oregon

Yunji Johanning- Story Development

Roshelle Patterson - Advisor: Research & Narrative Design

Julian Park - Advisor: Localization & Translation

Miji Lee - Advisor: Culture & Climate Science

Game Discord: https://discord.gg/EpTUHnxwXp

Devblog: https://www.oldharastudios.com/wavesofjeju-devblog/

Website: Waves of Jeju – Old Hara Studios

Game Asset Credits:

No AI has been used in the making of this game. All assets have been purchased and used with appropriate licensing. Character and environment model assets have been modified with custom textures.

NOTE: Current assets may not be used in final game, and we will work to create more culturally accurate assets as funding allows.

Dog: Puppy - Shiba Inu | 3D Animals | Unity Asset Store

Diver: 3D model Female Scuba Diver VR / AR / low-poly | CGTrader

Town: Idyllic Anime Japan | 3D Urban | Unity Asset Store

Shells: Seashells Vol. 1 - Photoscanned | 3D | Unity Asset Store

Corals: Underwater World | 3D Vegetation | Unity Asset Store

Trash: Low poly Garbage Pack | 3D Food | Unity Asset Store

Jeju Island: 3D model Jeju South Korea 120km VR / AR / low-poly | CGTrader

Korean Sign Textures: 3D model Korean Corner Store - UE4 VR / AR / low-poly | CGTrader

Dog Animation Controller: Animal Controller | Animation Tools | Unity Asset Store

Toon Shader: Toony Colors Pro 2 | VFX Shaders | Unity Asset Store

Trees: Idyllic Nature Environment | 3D Landscapes | Unity Asset Store