SavTap - Save Tapirs

The Project

The storyline is as such: In Taman Negara, Malaysia, there lived a Baby Tapir and its mother. While enjoying their meal, the mother gets captured by a poacher. Determined to rescue, the baby should collect five powerful orbs that can break the cage behind which his mother is locked. Threat 1: Jump over the snares planted by the poacher to obtain the first orb. Threat 2: Leap over the speeding vehicles to obtain the second orb. Threat 3: Tackle the forest flames and avoid the lookout poachers to obtain the third orb. Threat 4: Cross the flooded forest and avoid the predators swimming underneath the water. Threat 5: Jump on the lumberjacks' heads to prevent them from deforesting their habitat. My game also includes 3 accessibility features: 1) It has an incorporated bilingual translation system which caters to both an English and Malay audience - Bahasa Melayu added to ensure that the native people can also understand the Malayan Tapir's threats. 2) A joystick is implemented for mobile-friendliness. 3) Colour-blind friendliness is ensured through contrasting colours and borders. There is a short animation of my innovative solution to the Malayan Tapir's major threat, roadkill - a smart Tapir crossing sign, enacted at the end of the game.

View this project in Scratch

Team Comments

Motivated by SDG 15, Life on Land, and desiring to play a role in Tapir safekeeping, SavTap is designed to address, educate, and raise global awareness regarding the threats leading to the endangerment of the Malayan Tapir. It also includes my unique solution to Tapir roadkill, its major threat.

It was difficult to ensure that SavTap's colours were differentiable for colour-blind users as well. Using a colour-blind emulator, I managed to add borders and contrasting colours. Implementing several animated sprites had lagged the game. The bug was fixed by using Scratch custom blocks.

If I had more time, I would link the users to Malayan Tapir Conservatory programs all over the world to encourage global participation in saving the Tapirs. Moreover, I would add VR and AR compatibility to my game in order to enhance its realism.