Development

First Concepts

We wanted to make the game a mix of platforms and free falling. We were inspired by Doodle Jump and Jetpack Joyride. 

Asset + Level Design

For our assets and level design, we wanted to keep everything consistent with the space theme. Alexia designed the levels and some of their assets, and Caitlin designed the player sprite. We spent a lot of time focused on the visual design of the game, however, this held us back from investing time into the technical side of development. Although we had a nice visual design, it was definitely a learning experience falling behind on the code and functionality of the game. This also can be seen in the “bird” sprite, as it was a last-minute insert from a previously made game. 

An important mechanic we wanted to include in our platformer was a parachute ability. This was one of the first mechanics decided upon, since our theme revolved around a “falling” type of gameplay. Since our game was both platforming and falling, it was also important that the parachute only came out at the appropriate time. For this, we made a conditional that would only deploy the parachute if the player was off of the ground. 

Another mechanic important for gameplay was unlocking doors. This added a very subtle puzzle mechanic to our game, and increased difficulty/involvement for the player. In order to progress in the levels, the player would be encouraged to explore-- for the unlock button or correct path. 

The enemy mechanic we included were little aliens, cows, and satellites. The enemy AI was to simply move back and forth, creating an obstacle for the player to overcome. We wanted the enemies to have little involvement with the player besides acting as a barrier. This was intended to balance the player’s abilities with those of the enemy, since the player is unable to attack. 

What Went Right

The animations for our sprite were easy to make and implement in the game. The only available animations we had time for were the player running and idle movement. Coding the parachute to visibly come out, as well as changing the sprite to the correct one, was also successful. We used the animator for all sprite changes. 

The visual and design aesthetic of our game was successful. We were able to work together on the art well, and produce cohesive assets that made our game look more polished and complete. This was not only important for deepening the gameplay experience, but also making sure we stayed with our original plan/theme in mind. The mechanics for our game were also successful as well. The parachute worked well, and was achieved by manipulating the drag component of the rigidbody. One technicality that we wished we could figure out was if the “drag” modifier was angular or linear. This did not affect gameplay, but would be resourceful information to reference later. 

What Went Wrong

One area we had problems with was level difficulty. As the levels were supposed to get progressively more difficult, our initial concepts proved troublesome to execute. For example, the parachute mechanic was fun, but overall the level was too difficult because the player was unable to see below them. This can also be seen in the difficulty of the first level, as opposed to the last level being easier. The last level also had some problems in terms of its difficulty because we didn’t feel like it was the hardest level. The last level’s mechanic was difficult to tweak because of the random direction mechanic on the cows.

After playtesting, we received a lot of feedback from our peers about the game feeling incomplete without any sound. This is something that we unfortunately left out due to not having enough time. Lastly, we had issues with keeping our UI cohesive because of the very different level layouts.

Future Development

For our future development, we would like to add 8 or 16 bit music to complement the pixel art aesthetic for the game. We would like to adjust the difficulty of the levels to be appropriate for the game, as well as a steady increase in difficulty. This would make the game function smoother, and allow the player to learn as they go, rather than finding the game frustrating. This could be achieved by balancing the player abilities with the enemy abilities further, or adjusting the camera to display more of the upcoming map/platforms.