Context
My father took me to Guangdong to visit a factory that made pots and pans, where the workers were working on a sandblasting process, wearing simple masks and working in extremely harsh conditions filled with dust, coughing from time to time. My father told me that every year in Guangdong, thousands of workers get lung disease from inhaling excessive dust, affecting their health and even dying. Seeing this scene, I was greatly shocked and touched, and determined to find a good process that does not harm the health of workers but also ensures work efficiency to change such a bad situation.
Left: The process is to make the aluminum substrate surface rough enough to allow the paint to perfectly adhere to the surface of the pan.
Right: The traditional method involves placing emery in the nozzle and using air pressure to spray it onto the pot’s surface, creating a textured surface for the paint to adhere to.
Entering the factory, I was shocked to see workers with powder covering their faces except where masks and goggles protected. The constant sound of coughing filled the air. Despite comprising nearly 0.7% of the population, the health and working conditions of these workers remain unreported and largely ignored by society and the public.
Above: The workers’ environment is filled with dust, yet they only have goggles and thin masks for protection. One worker removes his goggles, revealing eyebrows and eyelashes coated in white dust. He says he’s used to it...
Design Target
Therefore, as a game maker, I aim to raise awareness about this group’s existence, highlighting the physical harm caused by such work. I also urge individuals and the government to prioritize workers’ working conditions and physical health, and to consider implementing policies to ensure their safety.
Gameplay Design
Sandblasting Worker
You are a worker on a sandblasting production line for pots, dressed in protective gear with goggles. Now, your day on the assembly line begins.
- Health Points: Displays your current level of health.
- Goal and Countdown Panel: This panel displays that the game needs to complete the spraying of 1000 pots within a 5-minute countdown.
- Pass Rate Panel: Displays the pass rate of the pots you have already sprayed.
Assembly Line
Pots move from right to left on the belt, and players press and hold to operate the sand gun to polish the pots. The red area indicates areas not yet polished, while the white area indicates areas already sprayed.
Get Blurry
As the game progresses, the more sandblasting you do, the more sand will stick to your goggles, causing your vision to become increasingly blurry.
Wipe Goggles
Therefore, you need to occasionally wipe your goggles with your hand to maintain a clear field of vision.
Hold Your Breath
While sandblasting, sand particles disperse in the air but settle after a while. Press and hold the space bar to hold your breath for 3 seconds to avoid inhaling excessive dust, but take a deep breath afterward. Coordinate breath-holding with sandblasting to avoid dusty air.
Health Decrease
Over time, excessive inhalation of sand particles leads to a decrease in health points. A cough icon will reflect three different health conditions. When the health points (heart) are depleted, the game ends, and the player dies.
Game End
However, the game only has one bad ending. No matter how hard you sandblast and hold your breath, you will inevitably contract silicosis and die.
Visual Development & Polishing
Read the diagram as text
A realistic painting of two men in conversation, one holding a red chess knight; a red arrow; then a minimal black-and-white illustration of a girl wrapped in a white coat, chin in her hands, wearing red socks, with a steaming cup drawn above her head.
Style Iteration
The subject of sandblasters is full of irony in my imagination. I initially aimed for a realistic art style but realized the need to depict elements like coughing and shaking. While sound and screen effects could convey these, I wanted to enhance the visuals. Comics came to mind, as they allow viewers to “hear” sounds through visual effects. Therefore, I shifted to a comic/illustration style.
Additionally, the softer illustration style contrasts with the “cruel” reality I wish to portray, making the theme more profound.
Minimalistic Visuals
The game boasts minimalist visuals that are both charming and effective. Its simplicity not only enhances the aesthetic appeal but also ensures that players can focus solely on the gameplay without distractions. The clean and uncluttered graphics make it easy for players to navigate through the game environment.
Focus on Red Elements
One of the game’s unique features is its emphasis on red elements, which serve as the primary focus for players. By highlighting these elements, the game streamlines the player’s objectives, making it clear where their attention should be directed. This design choice enhances the overall gameplay experience by eliminating confusion and providing a clear sense of direction.
Read the diagram as text
The game art split into separate pieces (background, pass-rate rings, goal panel, heart, cough bubbles and bursts, the sand-gun hand, red and white pots, the conveyor belt and the wiping hand) above three finished game scenes.
Game Development
Development Challenge
The visual effect of sandblasting was difficult to achieve, which bothered me, and I tried several ways to achieve this visual effect.
Approach 1: Sprite Mask
In the beginning, I tried to achieve this effect using the Sprite Mask in Unity. When the player presses the sandblast button, a Mask that forms a sandblast shape is instantiated.
The approach has several drawbacks:
- The mask of the generated sandblasting shape is not continuous and does not conform to the visual effect of sandblasting in reality.
- A large number of GameObjects are generated, which will occupy the computer’s memory and reduce the FPS of the game.
Approach 2: Plugin - Scratch Card
I ended up using the Scratch Card plugin in the Unity Asset Store to fix the problem, which worked perfectly after I spent a short time learning how to use it. Spray paint becomes visually smoother, and it doesn’t take up a lot of memory.
Program Structure
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Two tree diagrams of the game’s scripts. Top: Player Controller (C# Script) connects to Action, with Sand blast (Plugin) and Clean goggles (Animation), and to Hp (Value), then an If check >Threshold value, then Feedback, which branches into Cough Bubble (Prefabs), Cough Sound (Audiosource) and Camera Shake (Cinemachine). Bottom: Game Manager connects to UI Updater, with Goal (Text) and Time (Text), then an If check >count time?, Yes leading to Game Over; to Conveyor, then an If check Finished?, No leading to Stop and Yes to Move (both Transform); and to Sand Generator (C# Script).
Cough Effect
To simulate the cough more realistically, I made the camera shake with Unity’s Cinemachine Package. When the cough occurs, the camera shakes up and down.
Gaussian Blur
In addition to the screen vibrating when the cough occurred, I also used a shader to create a Gaussian blur effect. I applied the lerp function to adjust the blur size value.
Formula
Mathf.Lerp(Blursize)
Code Sample
Gameplay Screenshots
End-game Animation
I created an end-game animation for this single-ending game: It symbolizes the sandblasting worker’s death from illness, turning into dust. A belated patent certificate drifts down, signaling the end of outdated production methods. While I’ve heard of scientific research improving chemical adhesion processes for pot surface coatings, can the countless workers enduring harsh working conditions really wait for that day of process improvement?
Players’ Feedback
At the end of the game, I was initially frustrated, wondering why I died despite sandblasting and holding my breath so hard (bad ending). After playing a few more rounds, I realized Chengyang’s intention was to make players aware of the tragic and futile efforts of sandblasting workers. I was deeply moved and saddened by the fate of the workers. People should pay more attention to the working environment and health of workers, improve production processes with scientific methods, or at least strengthen protection for sandblasting workers. Great game!
Jesse, 18