Development of free-roam adventure game: cultural exposure and language in Japan / Mohammad Farhan Rosemadi

Learning a second or third language is a crucial aspect in communication that is quite often overlooked, especially when communicating with foreigners. The Japanese language happens to take manners during a conversation quite seriously and quite often new learners of the language may forget to apply them in some appropriate situations; especially when talking to an elder or an employer for example. There are a lot of reading materials that may aid learners for this as well for them to learn about the language. Yet, for some learners, the books are ineffective and quite often ignore manners and the cultural aspect of the languages and favour formality and the correct use of grammar. This project aims to provide an adequate source for learning the Japanese language through a more interactive platform, complete with the inclusion of the cultural aspects and the appropriate level of mannerisms in certain situations within it. This project is designed as a free-roam adventure game where players would explore the game’s environment, stimulating the urge to learn through communicating with the non-playable characters (NPCs) within it as well as learning about Japanese culture. It was proposed that the game would be developed as a free-roaming adventure game with elements of visual novels, done in 2D for simplicity and ease of implementing assets into the game. The game is developed using Game Maker Studio 1.4 which is suitable to develop a game in a 2D environment. The significance of this project is the exposure of Japanese culture and mannerisms to enhance their language learning experience. A pre-test was made to ensure the game runs as intended along with the implementation of suggestions considered from the test. As a result, the development of a free-roaming adventure game with the inclusion of the Japanese language and culture was successful.