Drown'Em (+ Drown'Em VR)
An original Physics Based Puzzle Game
TEAM SIZE
DURATION
PLATFORM
TECHNOLOGIES
2 PROGRAMMERS & 3 DESIGNERS + HELP OF 2 SOUND DESIGNERS
3 WEEKS
WINDOWS, HTC Vive
Unity3D, C#
WHAT WAS THE POINT ?
This is the first project of the 3rd year of Game Programming at ISART Digital. The first project we actually get to work in groups with students from another course in the school: The Designers. The point of the project was to give us an approach at how to work with designers. We had to create tools for them and build from what they asked us. We also took part in all of the discussions regarding the game, of course, and we didn't simply apply without asking questions. They took care of the level design while we provided tools to help them tweak and tailor everything the way they wanted. We had to come up with a playable and polished prototyped of a mandatory game idea.
WHAT I ENDED UP DOING...
I worked on a lot of parts of the game. Since we were only 2 programmers, we split the workload and both touched a bit of everything. Regardless of that, we both had some parts we tended to be more focused on. I for one, focused on GUI and data. I took care of the level and level packs system, as well as all the GUI for menus and level selections. I created tools for designers to use. I worked on the players and its movements, the camera, and many small things here and there depending on the needs. Both programmers ended up working closely with the designers to provide solutions to their needs and build the game.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM IT !
Working with designers has its pros and cons. Having clear documents of what we want for the game as well as not having to worry too much about integration and tuning is very nice in my opinion as it is not my favorite thing to do. On the other hand, having to constantly go through every idea and analyze if it's doable in the programmation part is a lot of work. We had a great communication, and we learned a lot more about what designers and programmers can and cannot do in a game developpement. It was a great opportunity, and we are pleased with the results.
Road to Virtual Reality!
Enjoy a little video of me playing our level in the HTC Vive.
WHAT HAPPENED
Upon completion of the Alpha version of the initial game, we realized we were really ahead of schedule. The concept of the game was fun and we thought it could be a great idea to handle the stick with your own hands instead of being reduced to just the given controls. So we thought about VR. Luckily for us, the school has an HTC Vive that we could borrow. The decision was made, we decided to implement VR. We initially thought about just adding some more levels using VR, but after a few test runs and prototypes, we realized we needed to exploit the HTC Vive's potential. We needed some sort of a map we could explore. The whole point of VR was to look around and find things. After some hard work, we came up with a whole "Boss Level" implemented for VR.
WHAT I LEARNED
It was a great experience for us to use a VR system. It was the first time for almost everyone except 1 of the designers. We learned tons of stuff about VR. I worked on the Diegetic UI and the controls.