Prototype 2 Has Begun -- Week Ending 24 Sep

Within a week of completing our first prototype, we have already banded together in new teams and started work on the second of four game projects for this semester. Let me introduce you to the new hotness...

The Team
- Team/Developer Name: Team Repel
- Members
     - Ashley McMillan
          - Job: Artist
          - Status: Girl Power!
          - Skills: Charming toons and polished fairy tales
     - Kamron Egan
          - Job: Engineer
          - Status: Superhuman
          - Skills: Handling more work than should be humanly possible
     - Chris Bright
          - Job: Engineer
          - Status: Spread Shot
          - Skills: XNA master
     - Troy Johnson
          - Job: Producer
          - Status: Comfy Chair
          - Skills: Sticky-noting

The Prototype (or, what we hope turns into the beginning of a legitimate game)
- Title: Prince Alarming's Repelzel (Repelzul?) Rescue (We still haven't determined how we plan on spelling the captive princess's name.)
- Status: Alarmingly Charming
- Skills: Teaching freshman mechanical engineering concepts (We hope this turns out to be true.)

This time, our game is meant to be used to teach freshman mechanical engineering concepts. Perhaps it could be used for in-class exercises, perhaps as homework, perhaps simply as a practice tool. Whatever its eventual use, it must be complex enough to actually teach while still being as fun and engaging as a video game is expected to be.

We were able to pitch our concept to a ME faculty member during the week: Prince Alarming is trying to rescue Princess Repelzel by launching himself from a catapult into her tower window (apparently her hair isn't long enough, after all). Of course, she's not that easy to win over, so she requires him to collect goodies and treats of monetary value during his flight. If he doesn't have enough cash when he reaches her, she tosses him back out so he can try again. Unfortunately, Alarming isn't quite smart enough to figure out the engineering and physics behind his catapult, so he employs his best friend, Sir Wingman, to do the calculations and set-up for each launch (players essentially take the role of Wingman).

With that premise, we now have plenty of work to do--figuring out the best type of catapult to implement into the game; setting up a market and upgrade system; and creating beautiful, goofy art to tie it all together.

Check back often for updates on the progress of our educational game. Hey, you might even learn a thing or two.

- Troy

We Did It! -- Week Ending 17 Sep

We have officially completed our first prototyping phase, and, therefore, we have wrapped up development on Clean-up Crusaders!

We presented the prototype on Wednesday, and everything went relatively smoothly (all things considered, of course). The latest build was definitely the closest to our original vision for the game, and all the gameplay features required for it to stand out were present. In particular, the verticality and aerial gameplay shone (albeit with occasional camera issues), and the trash-collection-time-boost mechanic hit right on target. Though the art was not representative of our ultimate goal, it was certainly satisfactory, and it generally gelled with the feel of the game.

Now that it's complete, The Lords of Awesome are going to enjoy a light reprieve until next week's game project begins. While you wait for that, here's a brief gameplay video for you. Enjoy!

- Troy

Almost There! -- Week Ending 10 Sep

The mechanics are scripted, the level is laid out, and 95% of the assets are in their proper places. From here on out, it's simply a matter of testing, tweaking, and polishing.

Oh, and the prototype/game now has an official name! Are you ready for this?

Clean-up Crusaders! (However, it is still a YOU Can Save the World! video game--we don't wanna lose the franchise power.)

Sounds just like a cheesy clone platformer aimed at elementary school children in the '90s, right? That's because it pretty much follows that mold. Our goal is for it to be nostalgic for some, educational for others, and genuinely interesting and fun for all. Though it might seem to follow an older style in certain aspects, we've implemented some creative platforming elements and end-of-level rankings to add replayability. (I just realized that I might have already told you some of that. Well, it's probably even better than the point it was last time I mentioned those features.)

We're just about ready to start preparing the official presentation for this coming Wednesday, so here's a final preview, art assets in place before the project is officially complete:

- Troy

Making Our Way Merrily Along -- Week Ending 3 Sep

Our team has reached the end of our second week together (though, only the end of our first designated sprint week), and things are progressing smoothly.

We've got most of the key features of our game running, and our prototype level is constructed. Besides the platforming obstacles (pits, beach balls, etc.), one of the core mechanics of our game is collecting trash strewn around the levels. By cleaning up the environment, the player adds time to the timer at the top of the screen, essentially extending the player's life. All the standard garbage pickups are working, along with those that are dropped by careless beachgoers. The latter then function as ammo pickups so that the player can throw informational flyers at those same beachgoers. At least one other enemy will be present in the prototype by the end of this week, and we're excited to see how it affects the flow of the level and challenges the player to try different strategies.

Though much of the temporary art is still in the current build, most of the final art assets have been created, and things are starting to look really neat. For a preview of some of those assets, check out the September 5th entry of the producer's blog at http://producersperspective.blogspot.com.

More info on this project will be coming steadily, so keep in touch. In the meantime, take a look at a couple more screenshots from the most recent playable build of YOU Can Save the World!: Environmentalist (still a working title, but who knows if we'll ever come up with something that sounds less presumptuous?)!

- Troy