It’s been awhile since my last post, so first let’s do some house cleaning. A few new projects have appeared on the front page including SurvivedBy and Finnegan McGinnegan in Well Wishes. Take a look at those pages after this post to see some cool games I’ve worked on in the last several months. I’ve worked on more than just those, but those are the most notable and best to include on the portfolio in my opinion.
Now, onto the main event. To catch you up even more, I started working on a small 2D platformer prototype last year called JumpShot. JumpShot was just a quick ‘jammed’ prototype where I was using a pre-made tileset to refine some core platformer mechanics including Jump, Wall Kick, and Double Jump. After adding those mechanics I thought another cool mechanic would be ‘Fly’, so I added a temporary Dash mechanic that allows the player to fly around and smash into breakable walls. Following that, I built the rough start to a shooting mechanic, several platform types, hazards, and then set the project down to work on something else (as I, unfortunately, tend to do).
Over the next several months I went on to build a number of different little games, take part in different jams, and hop from project to project to project. It’s been a little of a negative spiral for me, starting a project that I’m very excited about, developing a prototype of the core mechanics, and then moving on to start another new project because I lose interest in the developed prototype. But something about JumpShot has always been different. JumpShot has always just felt great; the jumping is very satisfying and the combination of jumping, wall kicking, running, and dashing has a 2D ‘parkour’ feel to it. I kept coming back to it, doing nothing but hopping and flying around and thinking ‘this feels so good!’. So when I told myself to look at my previous prototypes to see which had the potential to be finished, I considered two: Well Wishes and JumpShot.
I actually branched off with Well Wishes and started updating the code for that game to be the project I took to completion because it already contained a bunch of art and the player mechanics were relatively complete. However, I quickly realized that game wasn’t as satisfying to me to play and I had a hard time imagining how to extend it into a full experience. I played through Duke Dashington, the great pixel game that inspired Well Wishes and I saw how that mechanic could be built upon, but as a designer I was struggling from the start to see how I could take that formula and build it in my own unique way. This primarily stemmed from the thought that the control scheme is rather limited in Well Wishes/Duke Dashington. The player gets some control over the character’s movement, but is pretty restricted overall compared to a lot of other games, which limit the interactions the player can have with the environment. While I originally found that to be one of the best parts of this type of game (limited scope, simple core mechanics) it immediately limited me as someone who is a fledgling designer.
So I went back to the drawing board and looked at the other prototype I considered, JumpShot. Back when I started JumpShot, the idea was to make it into this game concept I’ve had for years with this huge story and moving cutscenes and great music, etc. The last few games I’ve made though I’ve really tried to cut down on ‘over-implementation’ and focus on simpler ideas in attempts to cut down on the scope of my games, in the hopes I finally finish more than I start. Taking a second look at JumpShot with the mindset of trying to keep things simple I thought of my favorite NES game, Ducktales, and what the structure of that game was. It was a simple hub world with a selection that allowed you to play any level in any order wrapped with simple story at the start and end. Taking that into consideration, I thought a simple hub-based platformer where you can play any level in any order would not only simplify my ‘grand platformer’ thoughts but also reduce the scope and get me to completion.
My goal is to take this prototype and make a five level game following some of the structure of Ducktales. You can see above, my original test map is about 1/4-1/3 of the size of a Ducktales map so I think I’ve already been on the right track, it’s just a matter of doing it repeatedly and getting it done. I started this game by planning out a few simple things: 1) What is the basic plot, and 2) what are the themes to each level? For the plot, I wanted something simple similar to early Nintendo games where the plot was generally lighthearted and somewhat goofy. An example of this is Super Mario Bros. where the plot is ‘Big boss kidnaps Princess and Player has to save her’. For my game, my general plot is more like what I imagine a NES-game sequel would have: ‘Big boss turns Princess into a creature and Player has to find items to create the potion that saves her’. It’s a little more complicated than the Mario Bros. plot but in my opinion it also has that sense of goofiness and magical wackiness.
The core pillars for this game:
- A grand sense of exploration and adventure
- Simple levels with interesting puzzles
- A fun narrative style
- Cute, colorful pixel art graphics
I’m still working on the level ideas by trying to align my level types (like Beach, Forest, Sewers, etc) with what the enemies would be doing in that area. Mark Brown (Game Maker’s Toolkit) has a great video on how Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze has little stories in the levels that explain what the enemies are doing there and how it fits thematically with the overall plot of the game. While I don’t think my levels will even remotely hit the same mark, it has already helped with a few level plans and will be a way to tighten up the randomness of the levels.
Going forward I’m planning on providing more long form updates here on the blog rather than short bursts of posts on Twitter (I’ll still share the blog links on Twitter). Next up my plan is to start greyboxing the map hub level, continuing to work on my level theme plans, and potentially start working on some first pass artwork. I’m using HacknPlan to help track what I’m working on so as I think up new work items I’m trying to log them in there and keep an idea of what my sprint work is and what my milestones are.
The first milestone goals:
- Two fully playable levels (greyboxed)
- Solidified design ‘ground layer’ including defining the story and level outlines
- Refining the movement mechanics from the initial prototype
These should be easily achievable goals that will help refine aspects of the entire game, as well as get me familiar with the repetition of creating levels and level content in an iterative manner. The design aspects should give me a solid foundation for moving forward and helping me plan the work for the rest of the game a little better.
— Matt