More than a Feeling -- Week Ending 17 Dec

As they say, there comes a point when the best documentation of a game is the game itself, so I'll keep this brief. This team was amazing. Derek nailed it on the design and engineering, and our clients were clearly impressed with our prototype. Jorge laid the foundation for visually piecing the game together, and he made the interface a piece of cake to navigate. Christine's art charmed the pants off everyone, and its cute, simple style brought the game to life. All their work combined for an experience that players can really feel--beyond what has been experienced before. It has been a pleasure collaborating and personally interacting with each of them.

See you next semester!

- Troy

Squirming to the Finish Line -- Week Ending 10 Dec

The team is hard at work, and another week of fantastic progress has been made. By the time you see this post, the game will be functional and playable, though not quite ready for presentation to our client. There are still measures of polish and a few features that we'd like to add by that point, so we're continuing at full speed until it's complete.

This week, Derek created and tuned the "fighting" mechanics and procedures that players will utilize as they pin down and struggle against the bugs' squirms. Further, he implemented a scoring system that not only tracks points but also gives players visual cues as to their successes or failures when battling bugs.

 Jorge engineered the necessary systems for collision detections and for behaviors of the different visual aspects of the game. Further, because of his efforts, we're ready to import and make functional the animations that Christine will finish up over the next few days.

Speaking of Christine, she knocked out the stage backgrounds this week. With a porch and a kitchen in place, players will get a sense of progression through the game--a sense that the critters truly are an invading menace, and that something must be done to stop them! (It might not be quite so dramatic  since it is all very cute, but stick with us here.)

Finally, Troy worked on the music and sound effects. Thanks to Edvard Grieg, Richard Wagner, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for letting him shamelessly steal their compositions and chiptune them so that they sound like they fit in a retro video game. Troy apologizes if that is blasphemous in any way--they just convey the perfect feeling for the game.

As usual, enjoy some of the latest art, and check back next week for the final update and the official release trailer!

- Troy

Staying on Course -- Week Ending 3 Dec

Things are running pretty much according to plan with The Pest Controllers. We've spent a great deal of time figuring out the ins and outs of our new controller technology, working with the placement and movement of the enemy critters, and crafting stylized art. Thanks to Derek, Jorge, and Christine, the prototype should be in fine shape by the time we present in a couple weeks.

For the time being, we're still testing the code we've cooked up to govern controller input and skin-stretch output, so we don't have anything playable. However, you can feast your eyes on more of Christine's art to tide you over till next week. By then, players will be able to feel the squirms of and retaliate against the invading bug armies!

- Troy