A Planet on Fire
Interactively learn about wildfire suppression tactics.
Master fire fighting methods and play through challenging scenarios to test your skills. A transformational wildfirefighting simulation and my BA-thesis project.
Game Design
The core challenge: convert real wildfire suppression tactics into game mechanics that are both educational and engaging.
- Level design — vehicle-based combat arenas built around fire behavior
- Level sequence — scenarios with a steady increase in difficulty and complexity
- Vehicle design — fire trucks and tools that map to real-world firefighting roles
Game Art
All 3D assets created solo:
- Vehicles & tools — trucks, hoses, suppression gear
- Environments — forests, terrain, weather states
- Texturing — PBR pipeline in Unreal
Research
The game is grounded in real-world firefighting practice:
- Fire mechanics — how wildfires actually spread and behave
- Wildfire fighting — established tactics from professional crews
- Risks and factors — wind, fuel, terrain, and how they interact
Inspiration
Drawn from established frameworks in the field:
- Transformational Framework — applying serious-game design to real-world skills
- Environmental Game Design — where mechanics emerge from simulating a system
- Tactics — encoding procedural knowledge into player-actionable decisions
Background
“A Planet on Fire” is a continuation of “Planet on Fire”, a smaller game I built in 2020 as an application project for the Cologne Game Lab. I wanted to recreate the original with all the new tools and methods I'd picked up during my studies — and turn it into a full BA thesis project.
“Planet on Fire” (the 2020 original): The fire is spreading — rescue as many trees as possible before they all burn up. Suppress fires on a planetary map. 3rd person vehicle game, 2020, Unreal Engine 4.23.
