Construction Training Fund (CTF) approached Sentient to revitalise their existing physical Excavator Simulator, which was no longer operational. Their vision: to create an engaging experience that could spark interest in construction careers at SkillsWest Expo 2025—specifically among high school students (Years 9–12).
The original game concept was a 90-second soil-loading challenge, where players would operate an excavator to fill a truck and receive a score based on tonnage moved.
CHALLENGE:
- Pivot from the original game concept, CTF made a strategic shift toward a demolition-focused game. This required Sentient to rapidly adjust the game design, conduct additional research, and solve new hardware integration challenges
- Work within a tight budget and expo timeline constraints
- Develop a simulation game that strikes a balance between semi-realistic demolition experience, educational value, and engaging user experience.
- We faced a few tricky challenges when adapting off-the-shelf joysticks and pedals to fit the simulator.
- Resolve gameplay resistance issues with existing industrial analogue joysticks and pedals to a computer, enabling compatibility with the Unity game engine.
- Design robust, low-maintenance hardware mounting solutions
SOLUTION:
- Unity-based game development using a deconstruction plugin
- Built customised joysticks and pedals control configurations
- Fine-tuned physics settings to achieve a semi-realistic demolition experience
- Collaborative iteration with CTF’s industry training advisors to validate controls and scenario realism
- On-site set up and internal testing with the simulator in our office
- Reused the customer’s 3D assets to maximise efficiency
- Two retrofit options tested in parallel:
- Retrofitting consumer-grade joysticks and pedals
- Connecting the game with the customer’s existing industrial joysticks and pedals—providing a comparative proof of concept for robustness and gameplay quality.
OUTCOME:
Sentient delivered the game and hardware one week ahead of the scheduled with a solution that was
- Intuitive, fun to play and expo ready
- A great example of cross-team collaboration resulting in productive client game review meetings
- Showcased how dormant hardware can be repurposed with custom content
- Aligned with real demolition workflows for educational impact
“The Demolition simulator was a really cool project to work on. We had this simulator sit in our storeroom for quite a few years and we decided to utilise the shell of the simulator and have a new game built. It’s been a hit at the expo, there’s always been a crowd around this simulator”
—Vanessa Marmino – Construction Futures Centre Manager
The simulator was a major success at SkillsWest Expo 2025, with high student engagement and strong feedback from both educators and industry observers.
