Excavator Simulator

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. The 3D scan of the excavator chair wasn’t perfectly accurate, which made it hard to get the joystick mounts to fit just right. On top of that, the joysticks sometimes felt stiff or unresponsive during gameplay, and the plastic mounts we used early on weren’t strong enough for long-term use.
• Resolve gameplay resistance issues with existing industrial analog 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 schedule 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.