In the Fall of 2008, I worked on an experimental game design team with a focus on rapid prototyping. Over the course of a semester, we were able to make four games, with each game taking roughly three weeks to create. With only one design week, one development week, and one week for postmortem, we were able to create some very unique games that, while not entirely complete, were very playable and could easily be expanded upon in the future. Each of these games was created using GameMaker, and they are listed below in order of creation.
Web O Flies (Download)
- Role: Gameplay Designer, 2D artist(sprites)
- Duties: Bug sprites, Attack and Smoke Effects, Lizard
- Team: Jess Loeb, Chris Parsons, Richard Hough, Michael Spanier, Antony Berzack, Ankur Agarwal, Peter Clain, Sarah Brown
Web O Flies is an entirely mouse-controlled game that puts the player in the role of a lizard trapped in a spider web. As a helpless lizard, the player has no way to attack the spider directly, and he must rely on the bugs trapped in the web to aid him in defeating the spider. By collecting dewdrops, avoiding the spider, and successfully navigating the web, the player can revive different insects with varying abilities to help him. Points are awarded for time and the remaining number of lives.
Airship Fedora (Download)
- Role: Gameplay Designer, 2D artist(sprites)
- Duties: Enemies, Obstacles, Doorways, Background objects, Character concept
- Team: Jess Loeb, Chris Parsons, Richard Hough, Michael Spanier, Antony Berzack, Ankur Agarwal, Peter Clain, Sarah Brown
Airship Fedora is an odd game because it has nothing to do with airships or fedoras. It is a puzzle game that relies on the use of differently colored blocks with different movement patterns. As a snowman/peanut character, the player can store up to five blocks in his stomach and use them to navigate the level, making sure to avoid dangerous obstacles and enemies. Blocks exit the character in the same order they are consumed, so one must be careful to manage this carefully. The goal in each level is to reach the door at the end, and if the player is successful, they are rewarded with a brief rock tune.
Out of Phase (Download)
- Role: Gameplay Designer, 2D artist(sprites)
- Duties: Enemies, Main characters (still sprites only), Concept art, Miscellaneous
- Team: Jess Loeb, Chris Parsons, Richard Hough, Michael Spanier, Antony Berzack, Ankur Agarwal, Peter Clain, Sarah Brown, Chelsea Howe
Out of Phase is a platform game that relies heavily on phase shifting. Similar to Airship Fedora, the goal in the game is to reach the door at the end of each level, but to do this, the player must shift between two characters -- a powerful wizard and an agile gypsy. The wizard can only jump once, but he can also freeze enemies with spells. The gypsy can double jump and wall-cling, but she also has no attacks. Managing both characters is key to reaching the end of each level, as the enemies shift along with your character, too. For example, the frogs may wander around aimlessly for the wizard, but when the gypsy shows up, they pull out their wizard hats and start firing spells!
Necromaster(Download)
- Role: Gameplay Designer, 2D artist(sprites)
- Duties: Character, Spells, Cursor, Souls and Pentagram
- Team: Jess Loeb, Chris Parsons, Richard Hough, Michael Spanier, Antony Berzack, Ankur Agarwal, Peter Clain, Sarah Brown
Necromaster is a wave-based defense game that puts the player in the role of a necromancer defending his pentagram. As a necromancer, the player must collect souls in order to cast spells, and as the spells become more powerful, more souls are required to cast them. Each spell has its own unique shape, and drawing the appropriate shape with the mouse will call forth the appropriate spell. The necromancer also has two phases, attack phase and soul phase, and balancing these phases is key to gathering souls without leaving one's self vulnerable.