nicholaspatqut

[nicholaspatqut]

Assessment 3 Post-Mortem

Assessment 3 has been submitted! Really happy with the final product and proud to have worked with my group members.

Here is a link to some gameplay: https://youtu.be/GqtTgI-D_es.

This assignment was a good introduction in delivering a product collaboratively, especially remotely. Figuring out how we should collaboratively contribute to the project was interesting, and the same with our final solution. We initially planned to use GitHub to edit our versions online, but hardware and software limitations meant that we couldn't use that. We ended up hosting our game folder on a private Google Drive and using the Discord channel we would simply just announce when one of us had downloaded the file in order to implement, fix, or improve something. Once that person finished, they would just upload it as the current version in the Google Drive and move the previous version into the Previous Versions folder.

Experiencing the group dynamic was interesting, fun, and substantial and an overall good experience, not just because I got along well with the people in my group, but also because it was a solid emulation of a strike team in the games development industry.

All in all, this unit was a blast, and I enjoyed the iterative process of this assessment, the design of the second assessment, and the group dynamics of the final assessment.

[nicholaspatqut]

Assessment 3 Development Post

For Assessment 3, my group and I have been developing a game called "Highway to Hell". The game is a platformer where the player traverses down a level, using platforms, collecting coins and runestones, and trying to reach the portal at the end. The game will have three levels but at the moment we have only fleshed out the first level. We have added the first enemy, called 'Grim':

Grim starts chasing the player after they collect a few coins, and chases faster per every coin the player collects. Grim provides the player a ramping challenge for those that want to obtain all the collectible.

At the end of the level there's a portal that the player uses to go to the next level:

All three levels contain three runestones:

and when the player has collected all 9 of the runestones, they can open a portal to the final boss fight with Satan.

My group and I have been successful in organising an effective and efficient system iin regards to workload split and how we collaboratively work on the GDevelop file, which has made developing 'Highway to Hell' very fun and involved for everyone.

For now, we need to implement more enemies, powerups, and varying level design and length for the second and third level, and then finally work on the final boss battle.

Cheers for reading.

[nicholaspatqut]

Road Reconstructor Post Mortem

A post-dev reflection of my racing game, "Road Reconstructor".

Time Consumption and Management

For this game, I found that most of the time spent in development was attributed to iterative changes, implementations, and tweaks in accordance to play testers' feedback. The initial game (prior to playtesting) was quite simple and quick to implement all the target features. For the management of this game, I used two management tools: firstly, Trello was used as the project management tool for implementations for the game, which proved far better than the Microsoft To Do software used for my previous projects. Secondly, I used Google Docs for the playtesting which proved messy and not superbly functional. For my next projects I will have to find better software to facilitate playtesters' feedback in a uniform way.

GDevelop Comments

As mentioned in my "Road Reconstructor" development post, I found that during development, I had finally explored a majority of GDevelop's features and can firmly say I know my way around GDevelop's editor and other menus.

Possible Changes and Improvements

Some possible improvements could include having more levels that are longer and have more enemy variety (for example, instead of just the incoming traffic being cars, there could be motorbikes and trucks that behave differently than cars to provide a more interesting and varied experience for the player. Secondly, the games art could probably be improved as most of the sprites were edited using the Piskel sprite editor (the built-in editor in GDevelop), which caused some aliasing issues.

Cheers for reading.

[nicholaspatqut]

Road Reconstructor Development and Play Test Update (Racing Game)

Implementations

Added lives counter on the top left of the screen which is reduced every time the player collides with incoming traffic (once collided the player receives a few seconds of invulnerability indicated by the player sprite blinking in and out of transparency)

Score counter added underneath the lives in which score can be earned by dodging incoming traffic, dodging/traversing obstacles with the correct vehicle, and finishing levels.

Introductory level/tutorial providing the player with information on how the game works, its controls, and how to finish the level and win the game.

Playtesting and Feedback

After playtesting, I have found that there are two core problems that need to be addressed: firstly, the core game loop needs another element or layer in order to keep players hooked, and secondly that the games sprites and backgrounds need to be overhauled as the current ones (and to be fair were mainly placeholders) are not the prettiest.

To address these problems, I have decided that I will add three new main features. Firstly, a weapon system that uses projectiles that the player can upgrade as they collect score points after every level, but also weapons for incoming traffic as the player progresses to some of the later, and harder, levels. Secondly, a boss fight at the end of the game that provides a different and more difficult experience for the player, and thirdly, new sprites for the player, traffic, and backgrounds to accommodate this new theme.

Comments on Gdevelop

I don't really have any other comments for Gdevelop for this post, other than that I think I have gotten a solid understanding of the editor in whole compared to my previous projects. Other than Gdevelop, I think I have experienced a key moment in game design after brainstorming features after receiving feedback from playtesting. It was easy for me to see just how drastically the theme and gameplay the game changed after creating solutions for the problems that the play testers brought up, and it was super fun to think of ways to address those problems and will probably be even more fun to implement it.

[nicholaspatqut]

Asteroids Game Post-mortem

A post-dev reflection of my "Asteroids"-style game, "Belt Sander", developed in GDevelop5.

Time Consumption and Management

For this project, most of my time was spent on actual gameplay implementation and tweaking, such as the different types of asteroids and the way they spawn and are destroyed. Although it took a while hitting the sweet spot for the three different asteroid type's individual spawn rates, the process of tweaking values and finding innovative ways to implement the feature was very fun and satisfying. For the time management side of things, I used Microsoft To Do for this project as a PM tool. Even though Microsoft To Do is barely project management software, it was super helpful to have all my separate tasks ordered and listed to my liking, making the process of development far clearer than my previous project, where I didn't use any sort of project management tool at all.

GDevelop Comments

Whilst I've previously commented on GDevelop's lack of scripts and tedious events and actions, I feel like, for this project, it proved very useful and even versatile for this scale of game. After finishing this project it became quite clear to me just what GDevelop is both capable of and what is was built for: smaller scale, fun, compact games playable on the web.

Possible Changes and Improvements

There are two main areas where I think Belt Sander could be improved:

Visual Theme and Sprite-work, and

General game concept

Belt Sander's visual theme and sprites are quite lack luster, appearing to be more low quality than retro-esque and visually appealing lo-fi graphics. This could easily be improved with a visual overhaul of the player sprites, asteroid sprites, UI elements, background, and menu and end screens.

I think that the main concept of Belt Sander, that you play as a ship armed with only a sand gun, while goofy and funny, is a little dull. I feel that if the gameplay mechanic of piling sands on asteroids and destroying them made up for this fact, it wouldn't be a big deal, but because the main shooting mechanic is predicated on the main concept of the game, I think the game falls short. For my next project I will carefully brainstorm different concepts before impulsively landing on a funny concept based on a pun title.

Cheers for reading.

[nicholaspatqut]

Platforming Game Post-mortem

A reflection on my platforming game, "Tadpole Trail".

Time Consumption and Management

After developing Tadpole Trail, I found that most of my time was spent in the menus of the events and actions tab (this will be covered further in the next section). The second most labourious thing was sprite collation/creation, mostly due to me being not the greatest pixel artist as well as very picky when choosing royalty free sprites. Overall, I feel this project would have been much better off had I used a project management software, such as Trello or ClickUp, as during the project I was all over the place with ideas and what should be implemented and their priorities, as well as where I am up to in my implementation. Using a PM software would have made it much more clear of what I had to implement next, as well as each aspect of the game's priority for the prototype.

GDevelop: Comments and the Process

GDevelop was very fun to work with for this project, despite several challenges I had and limitations I believe it to have. Due to the lack of a general script writing feature, I personally found it more tedious to search through the menus and click through the three or four menus needed to implement, for example, a simple comparative statement. Other than this, however, the GDevelop environment and UI were easy enough to use and understand, and it obviously makes sense that the program would have these challenges mentioned above as it is designed to make rather simple games.

Possible Changes and Improvements

I think the main change I would need to make is to dial in on a both immersive and engaging game loop and player-reward system for my game. In retrospect, I think I designed the game initially from something that I wished to see, rather than something that potential players would want to play. Now looking back, I wish I had implemented a player-centric approach to my development of Tadpole Trails, as I believe that would have made the game much for fun for people playing it.

Cheers for reading,

Nic.

[nicholaspatqut]

Racing Game Elevator Pitch

Game Title - Road Reconstructor

For my endless racing game, I've decided to call it "Road Reconstructor", as one of the main game mechanics is the player being able to reconstruct their vehicle into either a motorcycle, a truck, or a jet ski.

Elevator Pitch

Road Reconstructor is an innovative take on the endless runner genre, taking the form of a racing styled game. In Road Reconstructor, the player plays as a sentient, transforming vehicle called R-3CON, who is being chased by United States Secret Agents in order to research his technology and origin. In order to escape the agents, the player can change between three forms, motorcycle, truck, or jet ski in order to adapt to the level's environment

Images

Control Diagram

Selling Points

Exciting endless runner experience with puzzle-like twist

Jovial theme enjoyed by all age groups

Simple to learn, but challenging to master

[nicholaspatqut]

Belt Sander Development and Play Test Update (Asteroids Game)

Implementations

Firstly, I added a Lives feature, so the Player starts with 10 lives and every time they collide with an asteroid, they lose a life.

Secondly, I added a point-keeping system, where the Player gains 2000, 1000, or 500 points for shooting large, medium, or small asteroids, respectively.

Thirdly, I added a Level Timer which is used as a core game mechanic, displayed on the screen to show the player they have a certain amount of time to both survive the level, and earn as many points as they can under the time limit. Once the player has survived for however long the time limit is (60 seconds in this prototype), they get shown a victory screen.

There are a few implementations I would like to add, these include:

Endless mode, where the player tries to score as many points as they can with 10 lives.

Different difficulties based on player lives amount, asteroid spawn rate, and player fire rate.

Different weapons/powerups, i.e. shotgun weapon that has large spray, sniper weapon that pierces asteroids, movespeed powerup, invulnerability powerup etc.

Lastly, new sprites and background would really make the game stand out, as well as more stylised UI and a title screen.

Playtesting and Feedback

I had two people playtest Belt Sander, and their feedback was both helpful and informative.

From their feedback, it came to my attention that, since I had no title screen or tutorial, once they booted up the game, they were unsure of both the controls and objective of the game. The Points and Level Time UI element provided a vague sense of objective, but without a storyline, cutscene, or mission brief, the players were left in the dark. Furthermore, one of the players mentioned that the level was quite linear, as straight off the bat asteroids spawn at a specific rate and seem to keep that spawn rate the whole level.

Improvements:

A title-screen with a mini-tutorial and controls would prove to be very useful for players in orientating themselves and knowing how to move their ship once they start playing.

Ramping asteroid spawn rate, possibly with different spawn rates for the small, medium, and large sizes of asteroids (by the end of the level mostly large asteroids etc.)

Comments on GDevelop

After developing this prototype, I found difficulties implementing otherwise simple things, like variables. It was challenging when I began to delve into timers and variables corresponding to them as well as to text objects (such as Level Time). It took me a while to grasp the syntax they have, as well as which events to use for which thing. By the end of the prototype, I found that I had become more used to the program, but I still think it is severely limited as a game development software due to its event and action system, as opposed to scripts. Saying this, I still found it fun to learn and to implement ideas into my game.

Thanks for reading!

[nicholaspatqut]

Asteroids Game Elevator Pitch

Game Title - Belt Sander

For my asteroids-style game, I've decided to call it "Belt Sander", a play on words with Asteroid Belt, and the games main combat mechanic: shooting sand at incoming asteroids.

Elevator Pitch

Belt Sander is an action-packed asteroids-styled game where the player flies through an asteroid belt in a space ship equipped with only one weapon: a sand gun. In this top down homage to the classic 1979 Asteroids, players will experience space-warfare in a way never explored before, as they face inanimate asteroids face-to-face and having to carefully choose between evading asteroids and sanding asteroids.

Inspiration Images:

Control Diagram

Selling Points

Exciting movement between asteroids

Satisfying shooting mechanic (sand stacks up on larger asteroids and they then explode)

Score-based points system

Retro-twist; refreshing take on a nostalgic game

[nicholaspatqut]

Development Update

Quick update for my platformer game that I've decided to call "Tadpole Trail".

I've made some progress on the initial level and have started to work on implementing the air dash mechanic. Whilst doing so, I've come across some difficulty regarding the way GDevelop handles angles, especially when considering the default player controller. I think I'll need to create my own variables for my player (Frida the Frog) in order to more easily manipulate the player's movements. Additionally I need to implement the first level's tadpole (which functions as the level's goal and once collected, the player moves onto the next level.)

(Chosen sprite for Frida the Frog).

[nicholaspatqut]

Elevator Pitch for Platformer Game

For my IGB220 GDevelop game, I had to consider several things about what my platformer would be. The things I had to decide on were: theme, gameplay, scope, and story.

Theme

For the theme I decided to use a happy, almost "cutesy" atmosphere and characters for the game as I wanted a broad age demographic that could enjoy the game. I aim for the main character to be a frog traversing through a wet, amphibious habitat, which lends to a happy theme as well as tying into the gameplay (more on that soon).

Gameplay

As a platformer, my game needs to have solid mobility mechanics, especially jumping. I aim to include jumping, air-dashing, and crouching as mobility options in my platformer. The main gameplay loop will be for the player to traverse the level's platforms using the mobility options available, defeating/avoiding enemies, and collecting items to aid their adventure to reach the end of the level.

Scope

Due to the nature of this assignment's time constraints, the game's scope has to be carefully considered. I aim and expect to complete 4 full levels matching the theme and containing the previously elaborated gameplay features. I think this is a certainly feasible scope for this project and I'll do my best to complete it to a degree of quality.

Story

I decided that, for this project, the story does not need to be elaborate and should instead function as underlying motivation and cohesive agent for each level's goal, as well as the whole game's goal. I've decided that the story for my game revolves around Frida the Frog's adventure to catch her tadpoles who have recently grown legs because of her children's inclination to adventure the pond and surrounding environment.

Elevator Pitch

Tadpole Trail is a wholesome action-adventure platformer game where the player navigates through amphibious environments as Frida the Frog in order to recover her tadpoles who have recently sprouted legs. In Tadpole Trail, the player will use varied movement and attack options to traverse levels filled with obstacles, enemies, and power ups.

Concept Art/Inspiration:

In my next post I will explore GDevelop and begin adding features mentioned above.

Cheers!

[nicholaspatqut]

About Me

Hello viewers of this blog. I am Nicholas P, a student at QUT studying a Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments (Majoring in Game Design). This blog aims to reflect and update on progress of a game development project using GDevelop. (Actually About Me)

My interests in game development began when I quite young, probably around 10/11 when I was first introduced to it via Scratch by my friend. Me and my mate would use Scratch to make fun, low poly RPG-type games, bullet-hell games, animations, and comedic skits. Since then I've used GameMaker Studio, Unity, and now GDevelop 5.

My aims and objectives for this unit is to put in as much effort as possible in order to not only create a well-written, regularly updated blog, but also a good GDevelop prototype/game.

Thanks for reading folks.