Star Wars Episode I: The Gungan Frontier

Star Wars Episode I: The Gungan Frontier, a Lucas Learning creation, is a video game where players are tasked with populating the Naboo moon of Ohma-D'un with various life forms. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a balanced ecosystem capable of sustaining a Gungan colony.

Opening crawl

A thriving ecosystem on Ohma-D'un.

The story

Following the introductory text, the game transitions to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Queen Amidala arriving in Otoh Gunga. The scene then shifts to the Gungan council chamber, where Boss Nass awaits. He explains the ecological problem and seeks a volunteer to establish a new ecosystem. The player then selects a character to control. This choice, however, does not affect the game's progress or story in any way.

The aftermath of a feeding frenzy on Ohma-D'un

After the character selection, Boss Nass provides the player with the assistance of the Kresch, Jar Jar Binks, and R2-D2. The player then loads the ship and departs for the moon. Upon selecting a suitable location to begin building the ecosystem, the ship lands, and sensors are deployed. At this point, the core gameplay begins. Players release plants and animals from their ship, allowing them to flourish. The Gungans will periodically harvest these organisms to construct a bubble city. The player can adjust the amount of resources the Gungans take and monitor the bubble city's development via a control panel. The game is open-ended, requiring the player to maintain the ecosystem, bubble city, and Gungan population indefinitely.

Gameplay

The Gungan Frontier features four distinct gameplay modes:

  • Tutorial: Serving as an introductory experience, the tutorial is a simplified, abbreviated version of the beginner mode, offering guidance to the player.

  • Beginner: This mode automates the ship loading process, grants an unlimited supply of each animal, and automatically provides a small food source when an animal is released.

  • Advanced: In this mode, players must manually load the ship, carefully selecting which plants and animals to take. The supply of life-forms is limited, and they can only reproduce through natural birth or seed dispersal.

  • Missions: Each mission presents a unique challenge. While ship loading is automatic, the supply of life-forms is limited. Missions range in difficulty and resemble normal gameplay but with a specific objective (e.g., Save the Ikopi, Wipe out the Green glie) and ongoing instructions.

  • Escape: In escape mode, the player must manually unload the ship. Ship unloading is typically automatic, as when beginner mode is selected (during the first years of life). In advanced mode players become able to manually control ship unloading. Players learn to substitute the 'p' mode (a character placement by Jar Jar), with the correct 't' character.

Create-a-Critter

An example of a created critter, the "Arthonian Hopper."

The Create-a-Critter feature, accessible from the main menu, allows players to design their own organisms. The process involves selecting whether to create a plant or animal, and customizing its size, appearance, territory, color, diet, social behavior, and reproduction rate. Saved critters can then be used in the main gameplay.

Disasters

The disaster function, which can be activated during gameplay, allows players to unleash both natural and artificial catastrophes on the moon. While disasters serve as plot points or obstacles in certain missions, they are primarily for experimentation in the standard game mode. The available disasters include:

A toxic cloud passes by on Ohma-D'un

  • Moonquake: A moonquake causes the screen to shake violently, resulting in the death of numerous plants and animals.

  • Probe droid malfunction: Due to Jar Jar's clumsiness, the probe droid malfunctions, causing its stun gun (normally usable during gameplay) to fire uncontrollably. Any creature caught in the beam is immobilized.

  • Critter escape: Jar Jar, feeling hungry, attempts to thaw a creature for a snack but accidentally releases all of them onto the moon. This disaster is particularly problematic in Advanced mode due to the limited supply of life-forms.

  • Toxic cloud: A toxic cloud blankets the moon in green mist, causing widespread death among the creatures before dissipating.

  • Pollution spill: A pollution spill introduces purple goo into the water, which kills any animals that come into contact with it.

  • Disease: A disease outbreak infects an entire species. Predators that consume infected prey also contract the disease. Infected animals turn pale and die shortly after.

Credits

Voice cast

Crew

Appearances

Unkown
Unknown
Unkown
Unknown
Unkown
Unknown
Unkown
Unknown
Unkown
Unknown