the3man

[the3man]

Zombie Survivors Playtesting

For playtesting we decided to use the initial prototype rather than iterations as small changes were being made and we thought it would be better to get feedback from the initial prototype and idea first. The feedback is as follows:

Bugs:

Player doesn't die when health drops to 0.

Zombies unable to be hit by weapons.

Items and inventory have no use but are a good idea to be implemented.

There is no how to play sections so the player has to guess what they are doing.

The map has no boundary so some players can leave the main game area.

Zombie spawns are very fast very early providing a difficult experience from the start.

Option for keyboard controls could be more accessable.

Player should change direction based on where they are facing.

Weapon fire rate could use some adjusting.

[the3man]

Group Development Progress

I formed a group with other students and we all sent in our one sheet and one pages and discussed which game we would rather move forward with. For our group we decided to use my prototype to continue develpoing, Zombie Survivors. Once we decided which to start with we started discussing ideas and roles for each person in the group to take, I took on the role as the designer as this game was originally my idea, so I was able to post all my plans for future development and ideas for us to add, and give a brief explanation to the main decisions and inspirations I had for the game. While I was working on this the other group memebers began working on fixing the current game build fixing all the bug currently within the game and fixing up and making new assets for the game. Overall we have moved fast in beggining development for the game and began to make new iterations for the game.

[the3man]

Further protoype progress

I decided to continue developing the asteroids prototype to make a more developed game. Changes I made were in the core theme, as mentioned in earlier posts the theme of the game is a zombie apocalypse where the player has to survive. For the one page and one sheet i decieded to use a bloodied not for the background to mimic that of a not left behind of another survivor whos fate is unkown. I decided to use a standard font to make the text more readable for more people and added the core features for the one page to give a glimpse into the game without looking more into it. As for the games sprites i decided to use simple pixel graphics to keep it somewhat light hearted aswell as being able to create more simple sprites myself.

[the3man]

Racing Post Mortem

While working on the prototype for this game I used sprites that were provided to start with the base of the game. To further improve the game I would add a spritesheet that includes a wasteland type envirnoment and vehicles to fit the combat racing theme. The current main goal for the game is to survive as long as you can to get as big a score as possible by passing as many obstacles as possible. To add my own spin on the game I began to create a weapon system that worked similar to the asteroids game, where the player is able to destroy other objects to gain more score and make it easier for the player to survive, however i ran into some issues with the projectile fire rate, I couldnt find an acceptable fire rate tha wouldnt make the game too easy or not noticable. I played around with multiple types of 'life' systems, I initially tried a single hit system wherer if the player is hitonce they die, with a life system where they get 3 lives and are reset if they die, the other system that i prefered was a damage system that worked in the same way as lives, being hit 3 times in cuccession will cause the player to die and have to fully reset. To give players mor options I also added various other controls systems, one was using wasd control scheme and mouse controls slongside the standard arrow keys, to give the playe rmor options to feel comfortable while playing my game.

To further improve upon the game I would add enemies that would fight back to add more use for the weapon system and i would also add more obstacles to add more variety, these would come in the form of broken cars, roadblocks, rocks, etc., to more match the wasteland theme.

[the3man]

Racing Development Post

While developing my racing game it brought some new challenges, such as active rotation, endless level with generated obstacles along the way. Through this game development i have been able to add varois different obstacles in the form of other cars along the road for the player to avoid.

While developing this game I ran into some issues, the first problem with the development was in the player movement, I found that the player side to side movement was very stiff where the player rather than turining it would more slide across the screen while the car would sowly angle toward that direction, while the movment is working it isnt quiet as smooth as i anticipated which lead to a less immersive experience. While this is a more cosmetic issue it effects the player experience by hindering the way the player interacts with the world. Another issue i had was with the interaction with the other cars, I initially had it setup similar to the asteroids where the player would take damage and die on collision, while this was occuring the game it wouldn't stop or slow the players movement like I intended, I believe this has something to do with the conflicting controls when the player is holding the movement keys while in collision with an object it would act as if the player was still moving.

For future development i plan to add more kinds of obstacles and add a score system for each obstacle passed without hitting them. I alos plan to search for assests that better match my pitch and to add a combat systemto add another player to the game.

[the3man]

Racing Pitch

"Combat Racer" is the ultimate adrenaline-pumping survival race that throws you into the heart of an intense racing sport where people will use any tatic in order to win. Battle other racers in order to be the best and win the grand title. With intense action, smooth graphics, and an range of upgrades and items, it's a battle for first and become the ultimate Racing Champion. Can you stay alive long enough to reach the end and finish in first?

[the3man]

Asteroids Postmortem

While working on the prototype I used basic spritesthat were included with the asteroids asset pack, including a player ship capable of rotating to face any direcion. While this is a simple asset is provided for a simple base that can be improved upon. If I were to improve upon it I would incorporate custom sprites, eith made by me or downloaded fro the asset store to be able to fit the zombie apocalypse theme. For the prototype, were various asteroids to avoid or destroy, being the main goal of the game., where colliding with the asteroids would cause the player to lose lives and restart. I carefully balanced difficulty so the player didnt get too overwhelmed with a large number of asteroids moving faster than the player, each asteroid has a different move speed and spawn rate to balance the game. I also noticed while creating the prototype that the game was very one dimensional, where its just to survive and nothing really changes, so I decided to add a score per asteroid destroyed, where the larger asteroid would give the lowest points, being the easiest to hit, and the smaller giving the most, this would allow the player to feel some sort of challenge and to be able to compete with friends to be able to see who can get the highest score and stay alive the longest. To ensure controls were easy for all users, I implemented simple mouse follow controls for movement, and the basic left click for shoot, to both follow common shooter games having shoot on left click and aim using the mouse movement and to make it so the game is playable with one hand.

To improve upon the game further, I decided to design some powerups, such as multi shot, fire rate up, spread shot, etc., and possible enemies, such as normal zombie, tank zombie, fast zombie, split zombie (killing it creates 2 new normal zombies where it died), to add more depth to the game. To extend the overall gameplay experience. This would provide players alot more gameplay while still keeping the core mechanics from the orignial asteroids concept and prototype, also allowing players to compete with each other and themselves for a highscore.

[the3man]

Asteroids Development.

While developing my asteroids game I learnt more of what G develop has to offer, such as the random function, allowing for various scenarios, in this case to add challenge. By using G develop, I was able to add various gameplay features such as enemies and smooth movement mechanics basic weapon sysetm and enemy spawning mechanics. With the ablilty to destroy asteroids by shooting them to achieve a high scrore.

However, some problems I encountered when creating my asteroids were in the player shooting and enemy collisions, for the player it was cause by an exra action that i had added when trying to customise the shooting experience, when the player started shooting, while shooting the player would shoot a large burst of bullets at once with a big delay before being able to shoot again, while good for the burst fire the delay was too large to fit so this idea was put on hold to be able to refine for later iterations. While making the enemy and player interaction the player seemingly didnt collide with the asteroids as there was no feedback when colliding, namley the health wouldnt drop on collision, this was caused due to my lack of knowledge around GDevelop , when creating the variables that handled the players health and enemy collision, rather than it being a scene variable I had used a golbal accidentally, which caused issues since the lives counter used a scene object and variable to setup rather than a global, since this was a simple issue it was a simple fix, change the variables to all match, in my case i chose to do scene variable so in the case that i make multiple levels each variable wont interfer with each other. Images below: first image of livesnot dropping on collision, seccond of shooting in bursts with large delay.

For future development I plan to change the layout and sprites to match my pitch, zombie survivor. By using this as a base there are already 3 types of enemies that can be included with different damage and health, I also have a player setup with lives, which i would change to be more representative of health rather than lives, and a weapon that can be changed as i please..

[the3man]

Asteroids pitch

"Zombie Survivors" is the ultimate adrenaline-pumping wave survival game that throws you into the heart of a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Battle hordes of relentless zombies and strategize your way to survival. With intense action, pixel graphics, and an array of weapons and defenses, it's a race against time to outsmart the undead and become the ultimate Zombie Survivor. Can you stay alive long enough to reclaim the world from the terifying undead?

[the3man]

Platformer Postmortem

The insights gained from Tracy Fullerton's "Game Design Workshop " greatly influenced my platformer prototype." Specific chapters, such as 2, 3, 4, and 8, guided me in shaping my design choices and conceptualizing the gameplay elements. This foundation was crucial as I worked on creating a functional prototype.

While working on the prototype I used basic animations that were included with the platformer asset pack, including a player avatar capable of facing left and right, as well as a jumping animation. These visuals enhanced the player's engagement. However, if I were to improve upon them I would incorporate custom animations to be able to work better with the proposed pitch. I also noticed while creating the prototype that there wasn't much incentive so I decided to add Coins, they also allowed the player to feel a sense of accomplishment. The inclusion of an enemy introduced a challenge. Upon colliding with the enemy the player would 'die' and the level would restart. I carefully balanced difficulty to cater to novice players without sacrificing gameplay depth. To ensure controls were easy for all users, I implemented both Left/Right and A/D keys for movement, keeping within common PC gaming conventions.

To improve upon the game further, I would have designed a larger level with multiple enemies and resources. to extend the overall gameplay experience. I would also add movement objects like ladders and various power-ups that could have introduced new dimensions to gameplay and offered players diverse strategies for navigating the environment. Because I didn't have a specific indicator to level end and a coin count, I would have added a clear indicator of level completion and a counter with feedback for when all coins are collected. This would ensure that players understood when they had successfully finished a level and collected every coin.

[the3man]

Development Post

While developing my platformer I learnt that G develop allows for a wide range of actions to help make gameplay unique while also keeping it fairly simple. By using G develop, I was able to add various gameplay features such as enemies and smooth movement mechanics with simple level design. With the ablilty to kill enemies by jumping on them like mario, to progress through the levels.

However, some problems I encountered when creating my platformer were in the player movement and enemy mechanics, for the player it was cause by a smaller setting in the animations, when the player started moving they would fall through any platform and out of the level, this setting was enabled by default so when making future changes to the player or adding enemies and/or npcs with similar animations I would have to make sure they are disabled, this also affected the player and enemy interaction as with this setting enabled no collision occurred so the player could not be hit. In order to make the level ingrained I also have begun to experiment with gravity so while exploring the level the player may have an enemy drop onto of them, however this is still a work on progress as enemies fall through the floor.

For future development I plan to add coins (for a points system), simple level changes to add a goal to each level and to add some variation and more gameplay to the game.

[the3man]

Elevator Pitch

Volcano Escape is a fast paced action platformer where the player must battle their way out of the volcano that is on the brink of erupting, after they had been trapped by an Evil inc. It will not be easy, the longer the player takes the closer the lava gets to them but they cant just run the whole way they must fight the members of the Evil inc. along the way. The player must jump around the evnvironment to find the fastest path possible. As the player defeats enemies they will be able to pick up items that will make it easier to fight back and escape.

[the3man]

Introduction

I'm Ethan and I an aspiring game developer, currently studying games and interactive environments at QUT majoring in software technologies, minor in game design. I play alot of FPS but my favourite game genre is the roguelike genre, like Risk of rain amd dead cells.