Description

Prototype Phase

We started by prototyping several different ideas. Our starting point was a racing game where players would compete by racing on office chairs using unconventional controls; we then carried that idea into a maze game where players navigate around a maze to collect coins using the same unconventional control scheme. This second build received mixed feedback, with many testers not finding it engaging and more so frustrating. Taking that feedback, we instead decided to look at what worked and realized that a lot of players did enjoy that fact the game had different controls, just not the fact they had to be used to precisely navigate a maze. Because of this, we changed the focus to lean more into the controls and removed standard navigation; instead, taking the game in the direction of a endless runner, where you play as a car speeding down the highway while avoiding oncoming obstacles.

Our team spent a lot of time fleshing out our vision for the game through the Project Charter, where we settled on the aim and goals for our assignments, how we would accomplish said goals, and the inspiration that led us to make our design decisions going forward. Our Milestone Reports were the opposite of our Project Charter; instead of cataloguing our goals and aim for how we were going to do it, our milestone report focused on the work we accomplished during said period of time and what our plans were going forward based on what we had accomplished and learned.  The project would shape up quickly into one we took pride in, and we would try at great lengths to polish the project by providing more depth to the gameplay beyond the standard tropes that most Endless Runners stay in by having the game have free momentum based movement rather than lane based movement like much of its contemporaries. 

Video Showcase - Final Build

The final build of the game had many of the features we had set out to create in our initial Project Charter. The game went through many rounds of testing to reach this state; these were done to tighten up the game, solidify an art direction and polish the controls, each playtest more valuable then the last. My role would be mainly seen in coordinating these efforts; scheduling and leading the meetings and trying to keep balance between working on the game while also meeting the milestone deliverables required for the project. In the end, our goals were hit without much comprise, and the team came away from the project quite positive that we had created a game to test our fundamentals in the craft.