ⓘ OVERVIEW
* This game is currently undergoing a big overhaul - stay posted!
Gata Guressi is a sci-fi translation RPG about learning and understanding the languages and cultures of Hierre, a fictional star system. There are 10 languages to decipher through conversation with characters from around the system and written text in the environment.
You are Quuvol, a merchant who has travelled to trade port Kallay Tirridor to sell a valuable resource called ielsek. Quuvol is from the planet of Guressen, whose former government turned the rest of the system against them by enslaving much of the low-class population. Guressen's new leader has outlawed slavery, but others are still wary of Guressi like Quuvol as potential slavers.
Characters speak one or more of 10 languages which you must translate to sell ielsek. Languages aren't just random words - you can actually learn them and play without the translator if you wish.
👁 RECEPTION
Gata Guressi earned a 1st mark (BSc Interactive Media, University of York) and the Best Project award at the 2024 University of York Interactive Media Showcase. I also presented it at GaMaYo November 2024.
⌨ DEVELOPMENT
This was a 3rd year university project developed in Unity. I aimed to develop a cohesive, immersive, optimized experience that simulated a slice of a larger sci-fi RPG. A few of the game's inspirations include Prey's Talos I, Cyberpunk 2077's Heavy Hearts Club, Star Wars' Cantina, No Man's Sky's spaceships, and rotation sushi restaurants.
Each language has conventions and an auditory identity to build cohesion. Lunsca is nearly impossible for non-native speakers to understand. Sorpri uses long, flowery words and names instead of pronouns. Hiesca uses consistent prefixes, suffixes, and sounds to build its identity (e.g. the sound “ie”, two-syllable words, locations of importance ending with -enne, -erre, or -ette).
All of the language dictionaries, cultures, and conventions are available over on the Hierre system page.
I wrote fictional languages and heavily built on the Hierre universe for this project. Each planet/region has an icon, culture, aesthetic identity, and language which you can learn about by speaking to its inhabitants and inspecting cultural objects like banners, statues, etc.
I developed a random character creator that generates all of Gata Guressi's characters at runtime. Using gradients, I created an easily modifiable set of colors which characters would source for their skin tone, eye color, clothing color, etc. They also select from different clothing textures.
Characters' bodies are made up of a collection of meshes for each body part. The parts a character is made up of (including their clothing and technical implants) represents their culture, status, and political/religious alignments. High collars and asymmetric sleeves are popular with traders, while metal/LED ornamentation is a staple of system-wide fashion.
If you're interested, you can find all up-to-date information about the system on the Hierre system page, including info about languages, history, culture, and basically any other concrete detail about Hierre.
🏔 SETTING
Gata Guressi takes place at Kallay Tirridor ("The Pinnacle Trade Port"), an upscale bar on the planet of Voenn in the Hierre system. Kallay Tirridor was originally just a local bar, but expanded to become one of Voenn's biggest pit stops after its signature drink Bollet Voenni gained international popularity.
Voenn is a low-population stoney/mossy planet in the Hierre Sor region. The population is made up of small communities united under Jan Kilen, Voenn's lax leader. Life on Voenn is slow, local, and centered around arts such as music and sculpting. Voenn's fauna and geology have made it an international wonder, drawing tourism and trade from across the system.
Hierre Sor is the remote "southern" region of Hierre including planets Guressen, Voenn, Lunscu, and Lunscu's moon Dorbis. It has a lower population than the other half of the system, but thrives on tourism and trade for its rich cultures and exotic fauna/flora.
Hierre is a paradise system where every planet is habitable. The Hierri colony occupied the system 485 years before the events of Gata Guressi, spreading to almost every planet in the system and quickly building cities, trade routes, alliances, cultures, and languages.