The Dam Warrior is a two-player arcade game inspired by Road Warrior. The members of Do You Even State Machine (Team 17) aspired to create a game reminiscent of the over-the-top auditory and visual aesthetic of George Miller’s vision in order to both entertain and educate users about the drought. The game consists of two players working together to complete three stages: each stage fulfills another requirement and helps allocate water to the people of California. This alleviates the struggles of the several key cities, whose inhabitants are dying of thirst in the post-apocalyptic wasteland brought on by the drought.
While the game is idle, an LED pattern scrolls across the top, letting potential players know that the game is read. To begin, one player must press the green button labeled “Start”. This triggers the beginning of the game, which is accompanied by a sound clip of Immortan Joe, the tyrant from Fury Road, and gameplay music (the guitar and drums of the Doof Warrior). The players only have 60 seconds to save the state; as soon as the game begins a countdown starts, illustrated by the 12 LEDs across the top.
Stage One: The players must mash two buttons each to fill the dam. The dam’s water level is illustrated by 12 blue LEDs on the main display panel which light up in sequence. If the players are not able to press the buttons enough times before Stage One is over, they lose the game. The button events are read and tracked to detect when the dam is full.
Stage Two: Upon completion of Stage One, player two must pull the lever on the right side of the machine and hold it down. This causes an LED corresponding to one of six major California cities to light up. Player one must move a knob to point to the selected city, and player two must move the lever up to allocate to the water to that city. The players must repeat this process (lever down, select city, lever up) for each city with no mistakes and before Stage Two times out to progress to Stage Three, otherwise they lose. The lever events are detected by a coin sensor inside the machine and the city selected is read by a potentiometer attached to the knob.
Stage Three: Should the players successfully complete Stage Two, a hatch in the middle of the game pops open to reveal a large red button which flashes to indicate that it must be pressed. Upon pressing this button, the game is won and the players hear a clip of Immortan Joe proclaiming his satisfaction. The players have saved California, and the Dam Warrior rides off into the sunset. The hatch is operated with a servo motor and the button event initiates the win protocol, which causes audio feedback as well as visual feedback in the form of the LEDs on the display panel flashing in a “win” pattern.
While the game is idle, an LED pattern scrolls across the top, letting potential players know that the game is read. To begin, one player must press the green button labeled “Start”. This triggers the beginning of the game, which is accompanied by a sound clip of Immortan Joe, the tyrant from Fury Road, and gameplay music (the guitar and drums of the Doof Warrior). The players only have 60 seconds to save the state; as soon as the game begins a countdown starts, illustrated by the 12 LEDs across the top.
Stage One: The players must mash two buttons each to fill the dam. The dam’s water level is illustrated by 12 blue LEDs on the main display panel which light up in sequence. If the players are not able to press the buttons enough times before Stage One is over, they lose the game. The button events are read and tracked to detect when the dam is full.
Stage Two: Upon completion of Stage One, player two must pull the lever on the right side of the machine and hold it down. This causes an LED corresponding to one of six major California cities to light up. Player one must move a knob to point to the selected city, and player two must move the lever up to allocate to the water to that city. The players must repeat this process (lever down, select city, lever up) for each city with no mistakes and before Stage Two times out to progress to Stage Three, otherwise they lose. The lever events are detected by a coin sensor inside the machine and the city selected is read by a potentiometer attached to the knob.
Stage Three: Should the players successfully complete Stage Two, a hatch in the middle of the game pops open to reveal a large red button which flashes to indicate that it must be pressed. Upon pressing this button, the game is won and the players hear a clip of Immortan Joe proclaiming his satisfaction. The players have saved California, and the Dam Warrior rides off into the sunset. The hatch is operated with a servo motor and the button event initiates the win protocol, which causes audio feedback as well as visual feedback in the form of the LEDs on the display panel flashing in a “win” pattern.