Figure 1.1
This image shows the "One and One Story" game which I got inspiration from for my first game idea.
Figure 1.2
This image shows the "Pretentious game" game which I also got inspiration from for my first game idea.
Figure 1.3
This image shows the "Agent P rebel spy" game which I got inspiration from for my second game idea.
Figure 1.4
Starting Process - Brainstorming Phase
When we were given this assignment to complete, we started with assigning roles to each other so that we are clear of what we must do. Since the start, it was decided that I would be in charge of the designing of the games, for example – the game idea, the level designs and the story line as I am more confident in that aspect as compared to the programming aspect. At the beginning, my partner actually proposed a game we can work on which mainly involves the maneuvering of the player by shooting out air from the rear. However, although the idea was indeed interesting, I felt that it will be hard to develop the game further as the movements are somewhat restricted for the player. Moreover, it will be difficult to come up with ways to let the player have more freedom in their movements if we were to start on it. In addition to these factors, I thought that the mechanics used for this game will be very limited as not much elements can be incorporated into the game. Therefore, we decided to try out another game idea.
First Idea
As I was in charge of coming up with a game design, I wanted to have a puzzle-story based game. With the fact that I prefer games which require the players to think and at the same time be immersed into the game, I was really excited about creating a game based around that. Therefore, the first idea I came up with was to have to player solve a simple movement puzzle per level. After each level, the game will reveal the story line but by bit and as the player completes more and more levels, the story line will become clearer and clearer to him. I got this inspiration from the game “One and One Story” which was a game I played on Kongregate. (Refer to Figure 1.1) (Learn more information about it in my “Workshops 1” tab – workshop 1)
One and One Story Brief Description
This game centers around the movement of the player. The player is given the choice of changing between 2 characters and move them appropriately for them to meet without dying. During the playing of the levels, the story line is shown bit by bit and being revealed more and more. As a type of player who likes immersion in a game, I was really looking forward to developing this type of game as not only does the game operate on a deep story line, it is also important to have a simple puzzle for the player to solve in order to complete the level. Therefore, I felt that I want this sort of balance in a game as it will make the game play much more interesting and enjoyable.
Other than the game which I mentioned above, there are a few other games which uses the same mechanics and are also a puzzle-story based games. (Refer to figure 1.2) Thus, I thought that developing the game with this structure in mind would be a good idea. Moreover, I am more adaptable in changing the story line to fit the game if there were any changes and so I thought that we could go ahead with this idea. However, despite my partner saying that we could give this idea a try, it seems that he was more interested in making a game whereby a level is huge with a large map, and requires many player movements rather than just a fixed level with a small map. Furthermore, my partner stated that not much mechanics is involved as only the moving of the player is required. This was therefore, to him, not as exciting and not something he wants to work on. Another factor was that my partner is not really a gamer who enjoys a story-based game. Due to this, it was inevitable that we have different views and thus, I decided that we should change our idea so that the game is less story-based but more towards puzzle solving as it seems my partner is also interested in making a puzzle-based game, just like me. That was when I realized the importance of understanding the fact that a game that I make, may be enjoyable to some but boring to others and thus, I should always consider my target audience to ensure that I make the type of game that will cater to my target audience specifically. In this case, as it is important that the making of the game is also enjoyable for the programmer, I had decided to change my game idea so that my partner will be more interested in wanting to make the game.
Second Idea
The second idea that I came up with after scrapping the puzzle-story based game was to create a game which is more puzzle and adventure based with a large map. What I had in mind was to have the player be able to defeat enemies while venturing through a huge map and getting to the final “door” to be transported to the next level. There are actually many games which are structured by having the player evade or defeat the enemies and move through the map to get to the final destination. Therefore, I thought that it will be more suitable for us to develop on as both the level design and the programming aspect of the mechanics will be detrimental to ensure there is a balance that will allow the players to enjoy the game. In order to show my partner the kind of game I am describing, I showed the game “Agent P Rebel Spy” to him. (Refer to figure 1.3) However, while he was playing the game, he felt that the mechanics were not really well developed and he felt that there is not much the player can do and is thus not as interesting to him. Despite this, I felt that the way the game places tips at regular intervals to teach the player about the controls is actually a good mechanic to make use of so that the player can learn while playing and thus stated my reasoning. After doing so, both of us felt that we should keep this idea so that we can implement it in our final game. Although it was still uncertain whether we should start off with this game concept, my partner thought that we can still work with this kind of game structure and thus I started to expand on it with my own ideas instead of using that same game design and idea.
Random game ideas (Refer to Figure 1.4)
Since I thought it will be hard to come up with a suitable game that will satisfy both my partner and I, I first jotted down the game ideas and mechanics that may prove to be useful if we were to finally decide on a suitable game to develop on. These ideas that I came up with was to ensure there is variety in my game that will make the players be impressed and surprised at the components. In addition, by having more components involved in the game, it allows us developers to have more ways to improve and branch out the game to make it more exciting.
Weapons:
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Shotgun (regular weapon to shoot monster)
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Grenade Launcher (cause recoil → only used to blow up some materials [wood])
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Staff (Round tip to press button to unlock)
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Taser (Operate Power line)
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Shield (Only lasts for 5 seconds)
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Gum Shooter (Player can stick onto it and use it to get up tall walls)
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Bow & String (Shoot arrow using string attached to arrow. Players can use it to climb over some obstacles)
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Firecrackers (Distraction)
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Inflatable ball shooter (2 bullets → cannot be used on spikes/ electric stuff/ sharp stuffs)
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Cowboy rope (throw and catch animals→ then ride on them)
Levels
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Dark levels (only have glow around player)
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UV / Heat sensor
Random Stuffs that we can work on
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Put in wind to act as more air resistance and restrict movement
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Limiting of weapon number for each round/ at one time (2)
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Clues will be dropped along the way to find out what can be encountered
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In contrast to 2nd point, let players have option to trade weapons at end of each round.
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Each round have this coin things that they have to collect so as to get the weapon (end of each round → to buy)
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Have to discard if more than 3
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Discarded weapons cannot be taken back (weapons can only be bought with the money collected from the levels)
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At the end, we went with the shotgun as the main weapon that we will definitely be using and thus my partner started on programming that weapon first while I continued working on the game idea.
I felt that coming up with a game idea is not actually the harder process and instead, it is being able to clearly define the mechanics with their own individual functions and the interactions between the mechanics that I am going to implement in my game that is harder. Furthermore, during the process of coming up with a game idea, it is actually important to be clear of who my target audience is. Whether I am targeting players who are motivated by mastery or by immersion etc, is something that I must consider before coming up with a game idea. Without knowledge of who I am supposed to cater my game to, it will be inevitable that I may not be able to come up with a game that will satisfy these players.
This image shows the latest idea in Google Docs
Figure 2.1
This image shows the scribbling down of my ideas
Figure 2.2
Starting on Latest Idea
Since at this time, my partner is very interested in making weapons, and has even started on the making of a shotgun, I decided to come up with a game that has to make use of weapons to complete. The idea that I came up with was a puzzle oriented game whereby the use of the weapons will be used to solve the puzzles. (Refer to Figure 2.1 & Figure 2.2)
The idea that I came up with requires the game to have a total of 5 weapons.
The weapons are:
- Shotgun
- Rod
- Compressed air shooter
- Inflatable ball shooter
- Rope.
With these weapons, I decided to have the player know when to use which weapons to get to the final destination. The reason i finalized my idea to using these weapons out of those above was that I thought these will have more uses and will also function much more compatibly with each other. Next, I decided to have 3 levels that will be compatible with the story line.
The story line that I came up with was:
Unbeknownst to the humans on Earth, there is another foreign entity living not too far from them. Humans are not the only ones evolving with technological advancements! On what seems like any other normal day, the sky looks darker than ever. Not a single cloud could be seen. The air felt stale and lifeless as an airship suddenly revealed itself. A huge frenzy broke out with shrieks and shouts as humans scurried around trying to find someplace safe. Their cries were however not responded with mercy but instead turned into screams as one by one, they were grabbed by a gigantic robotic hand and thrown into the airship. A deafening silence engulfed the Earth, with only howls and barks, as not a single human was alive and untouched. All has been captured by what we call, The Neighbors.
With this story line, I planned to have the 3 levels follow the story line so that after each level, the player understands what is going on. This is what I have planned for the levels:
Level 1 – Player will recall his memories (something like a tutorial level)
Level 2 – Player will try to find and rescue her but realize it is too late
Level 3 – Player has a final fight with the boss while being consumed by rage
The reason I planned to have the levels be carried out this way is so as to ensure the pace is not too fast for the players and moreover, it will enable the player to immersed into the story even while playing the levels in the game.
In addition, to justify the reason for the player not being targeted by the Neighbors although all the humans were captured, as stated in the story line, I came up with a separate backstory for the main character.
The main character’s backstory is:
Getting into an accident when he was 15, he lost both his arm and leg. Lucky for him, he was able to replace these lacking features by having a prosthetic arm and leg. Not having an actual arm and leg, the aliens (neighbor) considered him to be useless as he is an “incomplete human” which they are unable to experiment on. He was captured along with his childhood friend and aims to get her back from the aliens (neighbor) and escape together.
At first, he will have lost his memories due to the impact of the fall and gradually recover it after passing the first level. He then attempts to rescue his childhood friend after recovering his memories. When he found out that it was too late, he went on to challenge the boss, consumed by rage.
After sharing my idea with my partner, he thought that it is not that bad an idea and so I proceeded to expanding my game idea. In order to satisfy both my partner and I, I decided to come up with this idea. That is because the story also plays an important part and the immersion that the player can experience satisfies me. Meanwhile, my partner who is more concerned about the mechanics and experience has a wide field to develop his mechanics for. Thus, I thought that this will be a good game to start on.
Figure 3.1
Figure 3.2
This image shows the finalization of my idea
Figure 3.3
Figure 3.4
Figure 3.5
Figure 3.6
Figure 3.7
Figure 3.8
Process of making current game
Expansion on idea
In order to ensure the weapons have uses other than just solving puzzles, I decided to have aliens which will act as the enemies that can be killed by some of the weapons. Thus, I decided to have 3 types of enemies with different characteristics. (Refer to Figure 3.1)
The characteristics of the 3 different types of enemies are as follows:
1st Enemy (Alien 1)
Design: Looks a bit robotic and alien like
What it can do: Shoot at player using machine gun
How to kill: Can only be defeated by shotgun
2nd Enemy (Alien 2)
Design: Looks like a goblin. Small and has a strong armour
What it can do: Player lose health when touched by this alien
How to kill: Cannot be defeated by any weapons
3rd Enemy (Alien 3)
Design: Looks like an animal (dog perhaps)
What it can do: Player can use rope to catch and ride on it. While player is riding this alien, he will not be harmed even when passing through the other aliens. The player cannot use any weapons when riding this alien.
How to kill: Cannot be defeated by any weapons
Extra function: If player is riding on this alien, the movement speed increases and the jumping distance becomes higher
Other than the development of the enemies, I thought more about the properties of the weapons and how it can be used to ensure each weapon has unique functions and used for different puzzles. (Refer to Figure 3.2)
The following are the properties of the weapons and how it can be used:
Shotgun
Properties: Increases movement speed and jumping distance
How it can be used: Effective against Alien 1 (Can kill Alien 1)
Compressed Air Shooter
Properties: Decreases speed and decreases jumping distance
How it can be used: Not an offensive weapon but rather, a weapon used to get to higher ground
Design: Looks like a rod and shoots out air from the back
Rod
Properties: Has an aiming system with dotted lines for guidance during shooting
How it can be used: Not an offense weapon and is only used to press the buttons
Inflatable Ball Shooter
Properties: Also has the aiming system and ball will be thrown upon button click and slowly expand.
How it can be used: Not an offense weapon. Used as an extra "stepping block".
Design: Looks like a watch
Rope
Properties: Also has the aiming system
How it can be used: Not an offense weapon. Used to catch Alien 3
Level design development for idea
After confirming all the above properties that will be used in our game, I went on to developing the levels for this game. It was very hard for me to come up with the appropriate puzzles and thus, I drew the design down on paper first before doing it on GameMaker. Although it was easy to develop the first part of the level, it became more difficult to develop the other parts of the level. With the most important factor being the puzzles that are required in the levels, it was hard for to think up more puzzles for the player to solve. However, I still managed to design the first 2 levels of the game. (Refer to Figure 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 & 3.8)
In order to fit the storyline, I decided to have the level designed like in a large spaceship. Moreover, due to the fact that the main character was “thrown into the dump”, I wanted him to start out in a small space with high walls to act as the “dump”. After deciding on this, I also thought about what kind of weapons will be used to solve the given puzzle.
It was a hard process for me to design these levels as I had to think of the properties of the weapons and how to ensure the players are able to figure out what to do. I had to make sure the solution is straightforward but yet also flexible whereby even if the player were to make the wrong decision at the early part of the game, he can still proceed on with the weapons he currently has. I felt that it was the most difficult part during the making of the levels and thus, it was a very tedious process to me.
Further expanding of idea
After designing the levels, I realized that our game needs to have more restrictions on the player. That is to say, the number of weapons the player can have at once has to be limited. That was when I decided to have the player only allowed 2 weapons at any one given time. This way, it ensures that the player do not have infinite ways to solve the puzzles and must instead carry out his actions systematically with the weapons provided to get to the final destination. At first, I thought that we should start the level with 2 given weapons so that the player will only have these 2 weapons to choose from to complete the puzzles. However, I felt that it limits the puzzles I can make and also that by doing so, it does not require much thinking for the player which defeats the purpose of the game and what I am trying to achieve. Therefore, I went with the idea of having different weapons at different intervals whereby the player will decide which weapon is the better choice to solve the given puzzle before picking it up.
Figure 4.1
This image shows "No time to explain" game which is my inspiration for the new idea
This image shows the ideas in Google Docs
Figure 4.2
Changing of game idea
Changing of idea
During one of our lessons, as I was explaining my game in more detail to my partner, my partner suggested an idea to me. He had finished making the shotgun and after getting his friends to play a bit of the game, his friend suggested to make it a game whereby the movement is based on the recoil of the guns. Honestly, I have considered that idea but I felt that it will be something hard to continue developing as the movements are too limited. However, my partner still wants to continue with this game idea as he felt that my current game idea is too complicated and we would not have enough time to complete it despite the fact that I have already came up with the needed mechanics and the level designs. Therefore, since my partner decided on this game idea, I showed him a game that I played before which is “No time to explain” that requires the player to use the laser to propel himself forward in some instances like going over a wall that cannot be done by only jumping (Figure 4.1) . After watching a short playthrough of the game, he thought that he wanted to make this kind of game as he thought it was like a new concept. Therefore, I once again readjusted my story line and also change the level designs so as to match what he wants.
New idea
In order to match the game mechanics that our new game has, I decided to make changes to the story line and also think of ways to make the game play more interesting. As our teacher suggested for us to use a ridiculous story line, I thought of making a story line that would be realistic yet ridiculous at the same time. Taking the advice of having the player collect donuts at the end of the levels that was given by my teacher, I came up with another story line and also another game design.
My new storyline was:
Louie is a bread shuttler for a notorious group of bullies. He was tasked to get donuts/bread for the bullies during recess. While going to the different stalls to get the bread, he found out the last bread was sold out to someone else and proceeded to chase him. I mean, what else can be worse than getting beaten by the bullies for not buying the bread back?
After coming up with the story line, I also thought about how the levels will play out accordingly to the story line. The following is what I came up with:
Level 1 – Tutorial level to collect bread 1
Level 2 – Tutorial level to collect bread 2
Level 3 – Tutorial level to collect last bread. However, bread is bought by someone else.
Level 4 – Boss fight. Get back bread from that person.
By incorporating the story line into the levels, I thought that it will be more appropriate for the players to enjoy their experience.
At that time, I was confused as to what kind of game we should change to in order to fit in our decided mechanics of using the gun recoil for the player's movement to work.
I came up with a few ideas (Refer to Figure 4.2):
1st idea - Puzzle game revolving more around the many use of weapons and its different purposes
2nd idea - Puzzle game that focuses more on game properties (acceleration etc)
However, I thought of another idea which will make the game more interesting and at the same time, cater to story oriented players too. Therefore, I came up with the idea of having RPG elements in a platformer game. Although it does sound ridiculous, I thought that it can still work if we tried it out.
Therefore, this idea was what I decided on:
Current idea - Puzzle game + RPG (Pokemon) elements whereby there is a conversation. Since the setting will be in the school, maybe can have the main character go out and buy the bread. (Many canteens). There will be a total of three canteens to buy the bread from and the character has to go to the canteen before he can buy the food. So he has to collect the money while playing the levels and then after reaching the shop, there will be a mini game where he has to win to get the food. Then the levels will keep going on until at level 3, the final place, he realize last bread taken so he runs after the guy. Then it becomes a boss fight.
With this idea, it will make the game play more interesting as honestly, I think it is something new. Moreover, I did not play any or even heard about this kind of games being developed before. Therefore, I thought this will be a suitable idea to develop as for one, the concept is interesting and secondly, the concept is something new which is what my partner wants.
However, despite myself thinking that it was an alright idea that we can expand on, my partner thought that we will not have enough time. Due to the fact that we changed our idea with only 1 to 2 weeks left to the deadline, he stated that we can’t afford to have too many components in our game that has to be further developed. Although what he pointed out does indeed make sense, I felt that it will still be an idea worth trying even with it being incomplete. What I aimed was to have at least the first level complete and expand slowly later on. This is so that our base will be strong and even with the limited time, we can still develop something that will want people to continue playing. In spite of this, my partner decided to scrape this idea and wanted to just focus on a simple platformer game with the guns as the main mechanics of the game. Thus, I tried to think of another game idea that may be equally interesting.
Figure 5.1
Figure 5.2
Figure 5.3
Figure 5.3
Working on New Idea
Confirmation of new game mechanics
While discussing more about how to effectively make the movement using the guns a very detrimental part of the game, we thought of breaking the player’s legs to limit his movements. That way, it ensures that the player will use the gun to move instead of using WASD to move his legs. Following the confirmation of this, I came up with another story line. (Refer to Figure 5.1)
My new story line is:
Loui is a stickman trapped in the world drawn by a young child who is trying to practice his art. This young child started with the drawing of a stickman with a gun in a simple background with a few “obstacles”. Due to the young child’s carelessness of leaving the drawing in front of a mirror, the stickman came to life after the drawing was being shone on by the light which was reflected from the mirror. In order to escape from this drawing, he tries to travel to the end of the drawing (Bottom right corner of the drawing). While beginning his journey, he came face to face with a tall wall and was unable to get across. He ended up blowing off his legs so that he will be light enough to get over the wall. The stickman then continues to travel to the end of the drawing to escape it. While on his journey, he starts to get even more hungry and tries to find food to make him last to the end of the drawing.
After reading this story line, my partner thought that it was not ridiculous enough and wanted something that does not make sense. Therefore, I once again came up with another story line which will be more ridiculous. (Refer to Figure 5.2)
My new story line is:
Loui always had an addiction for donuts and even invaded a factory of donuts to satisfy his obsession with donuts. However, the factory finally ran out of donuts!! Loui sets out on a journey to find more donuts due to his incredible addiction to them. However, he was not the only one who has this addiction! There are many others who was also out seeking for more donuts. Loui armed himself with guns as he was determined to shoot anyone who comes between him and his donuts.
(Boss fight: His donut was stolen away right before his very eyes. Consumed by rage, Loui chased after him in hopes of getting his stolen donut back.)
[Main takeaway of this game: Never mess with another person’s food]
After reading this story line, my partner thought it was alright but needed some tweaks. However, we were still more concerned about the designing and perfecting the game rather than the story line and thus, we focused more on the other components and decided to get back to the story line after our level design and mechanics are polished nicely.
Making of level design
As my partner has already finished making the shotgun and the machine gun, I attempted to create the levels that can be used for the game. We have not programmed the saw and thus, I used the acid to act as the saw, which explains the acids that are floating around. (Refer to Figure 5.3 for the levels)
After creating these levels, I play tested them many times to ensure that it can be completed. Moreover, as I want the player to be able to use only one weapon each level, I had to ensure that my level can be completed with only a weapon in hand. For example, the first level that I came up with can be completed by only using the shotgun. By ensuring that the levels can be completed with the use of only one weapon, we can limit the player to one weapon and let them focus on how to maneuvere strategically, only having one way to clear the level.
At first, my partner thought the levels I came up with was alright but later on, he decided that we should change the level to have a big map and not make the level too congested. I also thought that it will be better to have a bigger map as a lot of movement and getting from one platform to the next is required which thus made me feel that what he suggested does indeed make sense. Therefore, I changed my level designs to fit a bigger map and have it puzzle based whereby the choice of gun is important.
New level designs
These level designs are made with the fact that the player can only possess 2 weapons in mind. Therefore, I must ensure that my levels can be played even with these limited weapons. Moreover, I had to ensure that the level is not too hard or too easy to complete. This caused me to play test my levels multiple times to ensure that it can be completed. Furthermore, as I am constantly playing this game, it was quite easy for me to complete the game. Thus, I thought about the importance to take into account how difficult will it be for players who just started playing the game. With this thought in mind, I tried to make the levels easier yet at the same time, a little challenging so that avid gamers do not clear it as easily.
I made the levels with this design in mind:
Level 1 – Player can only use the assault rifle with spinning saws and acid
Level 2 – Player can only use assault rifle and the level will be full of enemies
Level 3 – A mixture of enemies, spinning saws and acid with the player having the shotgun and assault rifle as the weapons
After the making of the levels, I tried to refine it by adding signs where texts will pop up to aid the player throughout the level. This way, it will be more engaging and the player will know what he/she is supposed to do.
Expanding on New Idea + Some Coding
Adding in more components
As the base of our game was more or less already stable, my partner decided to create another weapon which is the grenade launcher and thus I had to design another level that will require the use of the grenade launcher. Therefore, I was in charge of coding the wood to make it function as it was supposed to. Another thing that we added was the spikes which will go up at regular timings which also acts as a trap for the player.
Programming parts of the game
Start Menu
Due to me focusing more of my time on thinking about the game ideas and more, I did not touch on much of the programming. Therefore, I tried to do the start menu. I searched up on tutorials and also cross referenced to other sites to get the start menu that I want. Although I did not really have a start menu design I have in mind, after looking through the tutorials, I decided to try it out and make changes after words. This was what I came up with, whereby the options on the start menu will be transitioned and then positioned to the centre of the screen for the players to choose from. The options in the start menu are actually made using an array and is actually a text and not codes. After using it as text in the array, I later found out how to program the text to make the options work accordingly.
Pause Menu
After working on the start menu, I proceeded to try out the pause menu too. Although I finished part of it, my partner was the one who finished the other part of it to make it work correctly as I had already sent him the file with the incomplete pause menu since I was still working on it.
Wood
Other than the start and pause menu, I also did the coding for the Wood whereby it destroys itself when it is in range of the explosion impact. Another coding I had to carry out was to make the bullet stick onto the Wood if the bullet were to ever touch it. This will thus make the bullet as a sticky bullet which sticks onto the wood to explode which is what we were aiming for. Although I referred to some of my partner's code, I was able to understand them and make changes where appropriate to get the properties that I want. Therefore, I was learning while referring to his codes. Something else I learnt was that I found out how useful inheriting from the parent object is. This is something very new I learnt which to me, is something impressive as although it is simple, it is extremely useful in many situations. That is because, at first I am unsure of what I can do to make the wood into a wall too as I already have a wall object and by using the inheritance, i managed to make it work without much changes in my coding.
Enemy Design + Movement
After coding all the above, my partner and I thought that we should improve the design of our enemies and thus I proceeded to draw out a simple sprite. The animation was very little with only the legs moving without any change in the direction the enemy is looking at as I imaged the enemy to be walking similarly to a crab and thus always facing forward. After drawing up the sprite, I started coding on its movement. I cross referenced to a few sites whereby people stated their problems and got the bit and pieces of codes from there. Making the enemy move is actually an easy thing to do but the hard thing is to ensure that an enemy only walks on the area that it is supposed to. Therefore ensuring that it does not fall if it reaches the end of the platform but instead will turn back and head the opposite direction. I referred to one of the tutorials on YouTube which makes use of a system whereby the object can detect when he is going to reach the edge. After reaching the edge, the code is then set to negative which is making the object go in the opposite direction. At first, my codes could not work as it was different from the codes that were on the tutorial due to having many other codes. That was when I remembered the use of the inheritance function from my coding of the wood and thus used the same method. After implementing the required code after the inheritance, I managed to make it work and ensure that the enemy will only walk until the edge of the platform and go in the opposite direction instead of dropping down.
Other Codings
At the start, since my partner and I did not have a game that we agreed on yet, both of us were still exploring the software. I had actually tried learning how to use GameMaker Studio 1.4 after O'Levels and thus had an idea of what I had to do. At that time, I followed the tutorials of a YouTuber called "HeartBeast" which taught the many basic functions of GameMaker Studio. Since I did not have much exposure to programming at that point in time, I was quite unsure of what is going on and why certain codes has to be written that way. However, after having some programming language, I was then able to understand why certain steps were carried out and the purpose certain codes serves. Therefore, I continued searching and watching tutorials for GameMaker Studio 2 on how to create a simple platformer game. Due to this, I actually gained some knowledge regarding the movement of the character and how to add in the events which will be detrimental during the game play. I also learned about how to create walls and how the collisions actually work.
Other than initially learning how to code the basics, as I still remembered how to create sprites, how to create objects, rooms, events all those, there was not much problems for me at the start. However, as my partner did quite a lot of coding on his own, there were many codes I had to understand before being able to use. I felt that although I was not the one who came up with the code, I am still learning while reading through my partner's codes and understanding them. Luckily, my partner had comments in his code which makes it easier to understand what he was coding for. When there is a code that I don't understand, I would search it online and find out why it is used in this manner which is a good learning experience for me. For some of the coding which my partner did, he would explain to me what he is trying to achieve and get me to understand why he made the code that way which is a great help to me as programming is like an open field. There are many ways one can approach a problem or get the output that he wants. Therefore, with my partner kindly explaining his code to me, it made me realize that "Oh, it can be done this way too" which is an interesting exposure as it is sometimes something I never thought of.
Finalizing & Refining Game Idea
Introduction Video
After ensuring that everything was implemented correctly, we started to run through the game a few more times to make sure there are no errors that we overlooked. We also played through the levels to ensure that it is not too hard for people to play. Upon successfully playing through and finding out there are no bugs or problems with our game, we started to refine it to make it better.
My partner started to make the introduction video that will be played at the start of the game while I provided the script.
The script that I came up with was the following:
Loui always had an addiction for donuts. After always eating the same old “normal” donuts, he thought: the taste is becoming dull… But with his undying addiction for donuts, he had to do something to satisfy his desire! He sets out on a journey in hopes of finding the ultimate donut.
After sending the script to my partner as him tweaking it to suit his taste, a video was made as an introduction video that will follow according to the story line. I felt that by doing this video and adding it into the game, it makes the game much more complete as there is a story line that we are following and also allows the players to know what exactly is going on.
Level Design
While my partner was making the introduction video, I was play testing the final level of our game to ensure that it is not too hard and can be completed. Although I found out that it was too hard to complete towards the end of the level and thought of changing it, I decided to stick with it as I thought that since it was the final part the player has to overcome before officially completing the game, it was alright for that last part to be hard for the player to cross. Therefore, I stuck with my original design and after play testing all my levels again to ensure it is not too hard to play, I started working on the aesthetic aspect of it. I added in the props for all the levels except the tutorial level so as to make the background look nicer and less plain for the players. By providing a good looking background, it is more pleasing to the eye which will thus make the user experience much more enjoyable.
After adding in the props to make the levels visually appealing, I also added in the signs. My partner and I decided to have the signs be what the villain is trying to say and to fix the position at which Loui will think of certain things. For example, after passing a certain area, Loui will think to himself about "..." while the signs convey words from the Villain. Therefore, I decided to make the signs signs sarcastic and misleading so that it will throw the player off. However, the fact that the signs are misleading is obvious which thus will not affect too much of the game play. So I proceeded to add in the signs at regular intervals and also Loui's thoughts. After doing so, I played through the levels again to ensure that the signs are in the correct places and that everything is working perfectly fine. I made some tweaks here and there and finally decided to finalize all the level designs.
Credits - Final Scene - Victory
When the introduction video is added into the game, we tried to look through and see if there is anything else that we missed. I realized that our Credits were not inside and thus, I started to work on the Credits room. I took inspiration from some of my partner's code and changed the code to fit what I had in mind. Due to referring to my partner's code and having to understand his code before I can make the right changes to fit what I want, I was able to learn the properties of the code and what purpose it serves. Because of that, it was easier for me when I was doing the Victory Room for players who have completed the game and it did not take much time as I know which codes and parts to change to suit what I want to achieve.
Another component that we thought we had to add in was the "Final Scene". Due to the fact that we added the introduction scene, it will not make sense to not give a proper closure to the game. Therefore, my partner and I discussed about what to do for the final scene and how we are supposed to carry it out. At the start, we thought of just coming up with the script first to give an idea of how it will play up.
This is what I came up with:
Scene: Loui is transported through the portal (Like warping)
Loui sees the back of the stealer
Loui: Hey you! Return the donut to me! I saw it first
Stealer turns around
Stealer: Well I took it first
Loui: Give it back to me now! I want it!!!
Stealer: No way! Just go away! Shoo Shoo
Stealer moves hand in a shoo shoo motion (Uk like when u shoo cats away)
Stealer uses the hand with the donut to shoo
Stealer accidentally let go of the donut and it flew in front of loui
Loui looks at the donut and immediately grabs it
Loui: Ok bye! :)
Loui goes back through that portal
After sending the story line to my partner, he thought that we should justify why the stealer wanted to steal the donut in the first place and thus, he suggested giving the reason that the stealer was lonely and wanted someone to play with him which led him to stealing the donut. At the end, because he felt guilty, he gave the donut back to Loui. After his suggestion I tried to add more to the script whereby the stealer is actually a donut collector then he let Loui stay at his house (Since 2 of my signs hinted that he has a donut collection). And he agreed with it, making us proceed with that plan.
However, we realize that we do not have enough time to do the animation for it like what I had in mind and thus, I discussed and gave 2 options to my partner whereby we either create a scene where the 2 characters (Loui and Villain) will have a conversation with a dialogue box to show the conversation or to record another video as the final scene. At that point in time, we thought that there is not enough time to create a good quality video and thus, instead of adding in a low quality video to the end, we thought of using the dialogues to show a proper closure to our game. We discussed together about the script and what we can put inside. So we decided to follow accordingly to what we have discussed early and use that script to be carried out as a conversation instead of an animation. However, I realized that my script requires some sort of animation and would not make sense to be used as a conversation. That was when I thought of the idea that since our game story line was ridiculous enough, and we do not have much time left, let us make a ridiculous final scene too. So on the spot, I thought of the script where after warping through the last portal, he meets the stealer and calls him to stop and tell him to hand over the donut. But the stealer will not give back the donut and will instead bring it back with him into his mansion where Loui will have to chase after him again to get the donut. This will then lead to having to wait for Stick 2.0 to see the end of it. After proposing this idea, my partner thought it was a great idea and thus we quickly started to make the room that will carry out this conversation. While making the "scene" we discussed the lines for both Loui and the Villain which did not take us long and we managed to complete it nicely without much problems. After that, I did the Victory Room that the players will be led to after they have completed the game and thus, we finished the essential parts for it. What was left was the background design of the room whereby the final scene will take place and thus, I quickly decorated the room to make it nicer.
Final Refining before Submission
After completing it nicely, we checked through everything again to make sure the final room does lead to the final scene and everything runs smoothly without the player being able to move. We also made sure that the player is brought to the victory page after completing the final scene. Everything was working perfectly and since we had time, I suggested that we could do something additional. Since the final scene is where Loui has legs even though he has already shot it off, I thought of making Loui with no legs fall and collide with his legs and merge the legs into himself which thus cause him to have legs at the end. Although the idea is ridiculous, my partner and I still went ahead with it as it is very comical and funny. Therefore, we proceeded to make that happen. Although there were some issues at first where 2 Loui will appear and the checkpoint not being saved, we managed to make it work in the end which thus produced our smooth transaction and made us satisfied with our final scene.
I made some changes to the fonts in the credits and the victory page as the final touches to refine the game further. After the changes were done, my partner and I once again checked through ALL the controls and the components in our game and ensured that everything is running smoothly before we deemed it as our final result and exported it.