Game Direction

This game was developed for a 72-hour game jam, with the theme of "Summon". With a team of multiple artists, UI designers, audio engineers, two developers, and one github repo, keeping the team on track in a results-oriented manner was my priority. I was one of the main gameplay programmers handling the central gameplay loop, that being a rhythm-based clicker. Think Guitar Hero laden with fantasy flavoring, where each note you hit leads you closer to summoning deities from the astral ocean in the central arena. From the get-go, there were ideas flying around from each of our participants, and eventually we settled on this sort of casual fishing, rhythm-based, mage game. Once this was decided, a Design Document was quickly whipped up, and used to delegate different tasks to different folks. With a variety of art and a focus on visuals, it was important to get all of our different artists categorized as character art, enemy design, environment art, and UI design. This allowed all artists to be working in tandem to ensure all the basics we need for prototyping got completed, and extra time at the end could be dedicated to more variety if able. I worked out the main gameplay programming in GDScript, then passed along the game controlling function to Mitchell Hogle, who worked in C# to handle victory states, progression, etc. With my extra time here, I then turned my attention to overhauling the menu system. We had some unused art assets with a  floating eyeball, which I thought would make a fun interactive bit of motion to the menu screen, with the ball tracking your mouse cursor around the screen. There also was an effect I added where all the art assets in the game rain down behind the menu screen, creating a real showcase of the great work our artists were able to summon up.

Overall, this project was a real demonstration of how larger teams can be managed efficiently to remain on track, to focus their energy on a shared goal where everyone feels heard, valued, and proud of their work.