von Last sprint
The game comes along very nicely. We implemented the shopping list, which has a look inspired by an old spell book, and the mechanic of collecting the items on the list.
Based on that spell book aesthetic we also designed the menu, like the tutorial and the credit screens.
A friend of Seraphine was so kind to make us a piece of music for our level, which has a very spooky halloween-y feel and it really fits our game. We further added some textures to our levels, specifically to the walls and shelves. And we modified some effects and post processing.
With the core gameplay loop implemented and the win- and lose-conditions working, we needed some feedback for completing the level. So for both, positive and negative outcome, short cutscenes were added.
With all that we can proudly say that our little game prototype is finished and ready to pitch. And we like to take this opportunity to reflect on a few things that went well and some that went not so well:
– Our pitch/presentation of our game didn’t exactly go as we planned. Our slightly humorous parts weren’t received as hoped. Most likely due to our way of presenting because none of us can really speak that well in front of an audience and we were all kinda nervous.
– Also our presentation was too long. So we had to cut a few things out we still wanted to talk about.
– Our game walks a slim path between chaotic and unplayable. The balance in the controls really has to be carefully adjusted to be fun and still clunky. For that we would have needed to let other players play test the game which we didn’t do and the controls turned out a bit too difficult.
+ Yet we consider our pitch a great success. From the feedback we got, we learned that we successfully sold our idea. A game like this has a place in today’s market and could potentially be commercialized.
+ From the feedback we were confirmed that the general experience is also great. Especially the art direction and gameplay, A game like this with its cartoony visuals and wacky mechanics could really be a fun game.
+ We as a team worked incredibly well together. Everyone had their speciality. Seraphine with her art assets were amazing and super quick. Andy programmed all that stuff like it was nothing. Also we all had some different ideas in the beginning but then quickly settled on an idea that everyone approved.
Here are some final comments from the team:
Andy: „What I liked about the project the most is how well this team worked together and how the game ended up looking. My favorite moment was when the game ran really poorly due to how many physics objects there were and I found a way to optimize the code to get it to work (only objects that really needed to move simulate physics)“
Seraphine: “I enjoyed working as a team with my other team members because I could create a world, make some 3D models and animations, and they could just implement it how I imagined it. They were good at what they were doing and that was a really cool experience. The moments I especially enjoyed were to work on imagining the story behind the game, trying to create a witchy world, make the 3D models, and finally work on animations for the menu, tutorials and credits page. It turned out really nice and I’m happy with our work.”
I can only agree. It was a really cool experience working with my team. We found a common ground with our little Chaos Witch and her wacky world. It really went well and everyone had a good time.
Happy Halloween
Andy, Seraphine, Maurus
