Awesome Game

Well as a team we are very proud of the game that we have produced. The programming and art have come together very well to make a professional looking, fun game. Through in class and out of class testing and comments we have changed a lot of things and added a lot of things to modify this game to be the best we can produce in the allotted time. This week is our last sprint so the focus now is POLISH.

On the art side we are trying to add refinement to the game without putting any work on the programmers. Since the cutoff has happened the changes only come in texturing and small programming situations that Damean and Kelly handle themselves.

For programming most of the mechanics are done, the variables and speeds set to player tested preferences, and now the issue is the jump. So far the jump has come a long way and looks really good but with the slam down system it now has - it has become unnecessary to use the sword. The problem can either be solved through:
1.creating a more diverse gameplay - which would only be an possible after finals
2.creating limitations on the power slam
3.creating mass amounts of enemies so that even with the new mechanic it still becomes very difficult.

TEAM FATTY!!!

Ok we need to play a bit of catch of on our game blog here. There has been leaps and bounds in this game and we have a very close to finished product waiting to show anyone who wants to play.

We have taken alot of the advice and concerns from our recent playtest in mind and are working out those bugs. Most of the concerns were around; SFX, Impact or Effect animations for each character, showing the enemies on the ladder, a graph system to show were you and the enemy are, shorter tower, jump action, and maybe a tutorial page. We have already completed all those concerns more or less. The only ones that are not complete are the enemy on the ladders - which is built just not implemented, as well as the tutorial screen which is just a matter of a screen shot and a tap command to continue.

Although all these concerns are addressed there are still many things that we as a group are working on to polish the game more and more for those tiny details that matter.

Gettin A lot done

Ok this week has a lot of work. The programmers are changing the control scheme to work out some problems that are occurring with the controller and to create an easier implementing of the animations. They also have a lot of other things on there plate and they are pumping out work like a well oiled machine. Artist are kick'n it up a bit. This week they are working on particle systems for blood, background animations, a lot of character animations, more color work, and UI design. We still have a lot of work and truly not that much time so we all hope this new drive as a team continues.

A Team Again

So far the production of the game has been pretty smooth. The programmers have been working like crazy to make the mechanics fun and fully functional - and they have been doing a great job at it as well. On the art side it has been a bit slow to start but the group has come together again today and got ourselves back on track. The programmers have much of the game already built and are ready to start working with some art assets , so this week will be a big production from the art side. We want a lot of time for refinement so we will all be create the assets and working with them from there to make animations/characters look really great.

Back and Ready

Ok over the break the team got a lot of things done the artists came up with some good animations, finished character concepts and outlines, and some GUI art and programming basics. Programmers were at this thing all during the break working on kinks and better gameplay. Tomorrow we all hope to present a fun game that will bet out all other projects and allow us to continue with further development of this game. A lot of work has been put in, and there is a lot of passion behind having a really fantastic finished product for the end of the semester and hopefully for future public production.

Still Working

Well this last week we were all workin like a dog. We broke down our plans on the scrum system and gave each individual an assignment to have accomplished by today. The artist broke into individual assignments of character design, level design, and title splash screens. The programmers are struggling a little between options for the physics - whether to program them themselves or use rigid bodies which would make collisions easier. So far we have a moving character in a single level, a menu screen, a splash screen and our concept characters. What we are doing now is continuing with the programming and coming up with matching color pallet and a set of sprites for the first playable. We still have a lot of work but we are very confident that we can have something great for the first playable deadline.

All Caught Up

Well this last week we caught up to the rest of the class. It was a little hard for us to decide which game to produce in the end, but in the end for the sake of time we took on our initial love "Fat Knight". The game would provide easy programming (easy as far as programming goes) and some really fun art & animation to produce for the game. The simplicity of the game also allows us to go for many of the items on our wish list for the game as well as have a really well polished product in the end. As a group we decided that meeting in class twice a week wasn't enough to make sure we were all on the same page. As a result, this week we will begin planning out of class separate and joined meeting with artist and programmers to ensure that we are working on the same game and not our own visions of it. Right now we have a small first playable which is just a sphere that can increase and decrease speed with some collision walls, and some ideas for art which I will add to this post. I will update you more on what is to come at the end of the week.

Rampart Rampage!

This weeks game as you can see is Castle Rampage. It is a very innovative game about transformer castles. You as the main character start as a smaller castle transformer. You must travel between lands fighting small villages and taking what you can from them to make yourself stronger. At the same time you must avoid the slow moving "BOSS" castle that is in constant pursuit. Also while you continue to get bigger you slow down as well which makes your contact with the boss inevitable. This game will be a real time top down fighter. It isn't 100% decided whether we want to do 3D or 2D characters with a 2D background. The game will offer both QuickPlay and Story Mode options. The controls consist of a choosing your weapons systems before the level then once you are in the character view sliding on the screen will direct your character where to walk - taping on the enemy will initiate the attack-then there will be option for skill selection at the top that can be tapped to change the form of attack. We all really love this game and can't wait to explain it more to the class, and can't wait to move onto the next step in development.

Escape to the Rampart Concept

Hello,
    This week we had an idea for a pretty cool game. We wanted to jump over our tendency to write violent games to see if we could create a really fun mechanic for  a game. This game is a puzzle solving side scroller. Our 'X' is "Experience when Lemmings meets Mario". After looking over some other proposals on the internet most had an 'X' that referenced what type of game it was and what it could be compared to so we thought it might be effective. The point of this game is get through levels to escape from the enemy castle. It is called "Escape to the Rampart" because you must reach the rampart to jump off and escape. For each level you are giving a set of objects (trampoline - ladder - catapult - mattress - fan). You place the objects on the screen by dragging them from the bottom tool bar to where you want before they are set you can rotate the object as you want as well. Once all the items are placed you will start the simulation, but, with control of the character. The control over the character is limited to simple jump controls and possible timing control of catapult release. As a player you must figure out how to place these object to reach the end of the level. The game will offer multiple levels, funny gameplay (with mouth SFX and music), simple controls, quick gameplay and intimate control over gameplay. We think this game has a lot to offer and could really be a successful game.

Fat Knight Concept

Tomorrow we will pitch our game "Fat Knight". As a group we are all very excited about this project and hope to produce it in the future. We worked well this weekend as a team to come up with several options as far as concept characters and one pagers for the pitch. At the top is the winner for tomorrow. "Fat Knight" will be much different than our previous game. This week we came up with a sidescroller rampart defense game. The point of the game is that enemy troops are continuously putting up ladders to get on the rampart. Your job is to roll your body by tilting and slashing at the enemy with your sword with a slashing control much like Fruit Ninja. You are the lone Knight defending two parts of the tower from having the soldiers break down the door and lower the gate. There is a lot of comedy in our idea with funny poses, power-ups, attacks, and optional gore. To start when you loose one door you loose. In further development we would like to feature more options like loose both doors and survival mode. Again we all love this idea and are excited to share it with the class.

One-Page Concept

Here's the quick one-page concept we put together.

First One-Page Concept

Today we met as a group and brainstormed around the different ideas we had come up with over the weekend.

As we moved along, we tossed ideas that did not work, and ended up combining a few of the ideas from different genres. We now have a more concrete idea for what we want to do with this game. We will update with the specifics when we have our one-page concept finished.