ellyroseburrowes-blog

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Egg animations for each playable character!

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Scrambling Eggs, platforms ideas!

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Assignment 3 - Playtesting

Begining Playtesting / Results

As the weeks continued, we began playtesting with a small number of naive testers. They all enjoyed the simplistic aspects of our game but wanted more game time. The controls were easy to learn, and they could playthrough the levels with a little bit of difficulty. Because of the lack of challenge, we decided to incorporate different enemy types and create harder to reach objectives.

Adding music within our game helped create a more immersive experience. Our play testers requested this several times and we are also looking into adding more sound effects for items. We also want to achieve a good level of balance between difficulty within Scrambling Eggs. We want the game to be difficult enough for a challenge, while still being simple for newer players.

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Assignment 3 - Platformer

Development Progress - Part 1

This week we got into groups for our next piece of assessment. I decided to present my game idea, Scrambling Eggs to the group and see if anyone wanted to come onboard to help develop it further. I was lucky enough to get a handful of people to help and I’m really excited to start working on it more.

We started by creating a simple platformer shell that included basic game mechanics and level layouts. I created art for different playable characters and collectables and our third member started working our games documentation aspects.

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Rainbow Racing - Reference Art

Reference Pictures + mood board + Controls system.

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Racing - Elevator Pitch

Game 3: Racing Game

Title: Rainbow Racing

Elevator Pitch: Ride the rainbow through the sky dodging clouds to get to the pot of gold! Race against the clock as you drive through a colourful, creative world up in the clouds.

Selling points: Unique game concept, fun, creative, challenging, competitive with quirky elements. Eg, flying cars and rainbow racing tracks.

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Reading Reflections - Week 3

Reading Reflections – Week 3:

Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition – by Tracy Fullerton.

Chapter 3 Working with formal elements + Chapter 4: Working with dramatic elements + Chapter 5: Working with system dynamics

Arcade style games and simplistic systems will always focus on having a visually appealing start menu or in game UI. When creating the asteroid game, I wanted it to look aesthetically pleasing for the player and easy to understand.

To create a highly engaging ‘single player vs game’ concept, I decided to include different movement on each side of the screen. The player will need to focus while collecting each animal to make sure they don’t miss the net as it flies back and forth. The UI will be simple, with instructions on how to move displayed throughout gameplay.

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Asteriods - Post-mortem

Game 2: Post-Mortem:

Readings Completed:

Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition – by Tracy Fullerton.

Chapter 10: Functionality, Completeness and Balance

With my first game, Scrambling Eggs, I didn’t put enough time into the planning stages, and It left me with a lot of questions to answer throughout development. With Zoo Space, I found it a lot easier to learn from those first mistakes and take my time with planning out its gameplay. I referred to the readings that related to playtesting and always reread my elevator pitch, so I knew what I originally wanted to make.

In the future, I would like to conduct several more playtests with different people. It being coronavirus, I didn’t feel too comfortable leaving my house or bringing new people into playtest and I feel like I lost crucial feedback because of it. With Zoo Space, I also didn’t create an initial paper prototype like I did with my first game and it made it harder to develop.

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Asteroids - Development

Game 2: Development:

This game was harder to create and program. Creating and implementing the asteroids was interesting and proved to be more difficult that I originally thought. I found following guides online and time in the workshops to be helpful. Most of my questions could easily be answered and I fumbled my way through the rest of ZOO SPACE development quite easily.

Playtesting my asteroid game was exciting. I was proud with what I created, and I was eager to show my roommates what I’ve achieved. Early feedback I got was they wanted more detail on the in-game assets. It being a zoo game, they wanted more animals within space, and I thought that was really fair. They also made comments about the lack of sound within my game and I wanted to incorporate theme music.

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SPACE ZOO! - Reference Art

Reference Pictures + mood board + Controls system.

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Asteroids - Elevator Pitch

Game 2: Elevator Pitch:

Title: SPACE ZOO!

Elevator Pitch: A animal shipment heading to mars has exploded in space! Take each animal and return them safely to mars. Shoot out our new, animal-safe-space-nets to safely capture each one, but don’t miss! We are on a very small budget, so our fuel supply is limited, and we only have one net left… But you got this! Help us save the animals and create the best-space zoo ever.

Unique Selling Points: Quirky, fun game idea and concepts. Custom assets and monkeys.

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Platformer - Post-mortem

Scrambling Eggs:

Since this was my first time ever using G-Develop, I was really excited to start. Programming has never been a strong point of mine and once I found out it was a lot easier to use, I was happy. Following along the steps in tutorials / workshops, I found it easy to create a base platformer game. In the future, I would love to spend more time developing my initial concepts and playing around with different choices rather then just going with my first idea. I would like to add more detail into my planning so I can better structure my gameplay and level designs.

After playtesting my first game, I noticed through feedback that the current challenge levels aren’t high enough and my game was too easy to complete. If I have time, I would love to continue to develop this game further and add more difficultly to it. Different type of enemies, more complicated levels and stronger bosses. I want more engagement throughout gameplay.

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Reading Reflections - Week 2

Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition – by Tracy Fullerton.

Chapter 7: Prototyping + Chapter 8: Digital Prototyping

Prototyping:

I’ve found that prototyping normally focuses on the core game mechanics and trying to get those feeling nice for the player. An exception happens when the developer wants not only mechanics tested but wants opinions on different aesthetics or visuals. I want feedback throughout all my prototypes to be centered around both game mechanics and art. Being early in development, I haven’t created too many assets yet the player can playtest, however, using paper prototypes will give me reasonable feedback I can use moving forward.

My first paper prototype allowed me to show early drafts of level designs and character designs. I got positive feedback on both of those and my roommates loved the simplicity of it. They found the current ideas fun but didn’t find anything too difficult. After I gathered my notes, I created a simple storyboard to show future visual designs and some game mechanics.

Visualizing Core Gameplay:

I want the game to feel progressive and satisfying to the player. Each level will gradually get more difficult and the final will be a boss. I created a simple flowchart to demonstrate what I want to achieve in each level and what I want the player to understand. I want it to be simple but effective and fun. Although the game might not be too great to replay, I want its initial experience to be one to remember.

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Platformer Development

Game 1: Development:

What player am I appealing to?

I want each part of my game to consider everyone and include aspects that can appeal to a lot of people. Although it won’t suit everyone, if whoever is playing can find joy in some aspect, I will be happy with the result. Right now, its style is more suited to a casual gamer who enjoys cartoony visuals. The rules and mechanics are simple and develop throughout the levels. I don’t want the player to struggle to understand the mechanics as it would take away from the overall enjoyment. I want them to focus more on the visuals and the story.

Prototype Creative Process:

I want to create a custom platformer that is based entirely within a kitchen. I want it too to look like the player is running across a countertop, weaving in between different utensils and obstacles. I started sketching ideas for my players character, an egg but adding a personality to it. Giving it little stumpy legs and big cute eyes. The colour palette will mostly focus on warm, creamy tones to match the kind of kitchen I have here at home. (Its my main source of inspiration.)

I want to show the background moving along with the player; therefore, it will need to change and incorporate different objects. For example, I want to use a fridge, cupboards maybe even a pantry slightly blurred out, so the environment has more depth. The UI elements will be quite small and only show the other eggs the player has collected, and time left to escape. I want the feeling of excitement and stress for the player, so adding in a countdown will definitely spice things up.

My custom assets include: Egg, collectable egg friends, frying pan enemies, salt and pepper shaker enemies, spatula boss, kitchen-like background, UI elements, Countertop floor and Shelf platforms.

Rules and Controls:

Again, the rules and controls are really simplistic and straight forward. I want the player to focus more on the art and the story, rather then get caught up in difficult mechanics. The games playtime won’t be too long, and the level times will also be rather short depending on their difficulty. There will be no health system, however, if the player takes damage, they will notice their egg character start cracking. Once fully cracked, the game will end, and the player will need to start again.

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Scrambling Eggs - Concept Art

Storyboards + Control System.

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Platformer - Elevator Pitch

Game 1: Elevator Pitch – First Draft:

Out of the heat and straight into the frying pan! Welcome to ... SCRAMBLING EGGS! Play as an excitable egg on the run from the frightening frying pan. Jump through bright, colourful levels, solve puzzles and try not to get scrambled! As you play, collect your friends for points and dodge enemies to survive. Watch out though! Miss a jump or get smacked by a spatula and you’ll find yourself respawning at the beginning of the level. One crack and its straight back! Players will find themselves excited and stressed. Survive this kitchen nightmare, rejoin your carton of characters and live to roll another day in … SCRAMBLING EGGS!

Selling Points:

A cute, quirky art style and incredible puns all rolled into one.

Developing my Ideas:

I came up with the simple idea of eggs when I was eating breakfast I thought it would be really fun to use something as simple as an egg and give it a personality. It being my first idea, I stuck to it and I began researching characters and ideas to base my concepts around. With the idea of an egg, the enemies were pretty easy to come up with. An evil frying pan, the nasty twins – Salt and Pepper, and of course the Spatula of death! I had way too much fun with these.

Focusing on this really fun, quirky storyline I wanted to create a world to match it. Using my own kitchen as inspiration, I started taking notes of how it looked. The cupboards, the stove top, even the sink could all be useful within my game.

Player Experience Goals:

After thinking about eggs with personalities, I started considering what kind of player experience that would be and if it would be enjoyable. I’d love to develop a game where the player has a rush of excitement and thrill while they fumble through its universe. I want the player to get attached to the characters and push themselves through the games difficult levels so they can enjoy the ending. I want the feeling of satisfaction for everyone.

First draft: Out of the heat and straight into the frying pan! Welcome to ... SCRAMBLING EGGS! Play as an excitable egg on the run from the frightening frying pan. Jump through bright, colourful levels, solve puzzles and try not to get scrambled!

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Reading Reflections - Week 1

A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition – by Tracy Fullerton.

Chapter 1: The Role of the Game Designer + Chapter 2: The Structure of Games

A Playcentric Approach

Playtesting my game at every potential point will be crucial in figuring out the next best course of action throughout development. I’ve never used G-Develop before so I feel like any extra feedback, I can get will greatly help me in my game’s growth. I want my game to focus on the story side as well so by using the Playcentric approach, it will help me create a better story and improve on what I already have. I want the players to help me make something really special.

My Playtesting Plan

I want to have as many playtesting sessions as I can, while still leaving time for myself and my other subjects! I live with three girls now and they all loved my ideas so far, I think it would be beneficial to have each of them playtest my platformer. I will explain the basic controls and take notes throughout play. I will ask simple questions at the end and record how much they enjoyed the prototype so far / what they would change. Hopefully my roommates don’t get too sick of me by the end!