Week one of Parasite was about putting in place our core systems—movement, enemy AI, sound. This week was more design focused, with our designer working on various iterations of the prototype level. These are already proving quite fun, and the designs have clarified some of the issues that fuelled my concerns about the physics-driven movement. Or rather, the prototype level has clarified by understanding of the game’s design. Parasite is about swinging and flowing through environments that are tailor made to the tentacle mechanic; it’s less a Carrion-style reverse horror game than it is a physics puzzle box. It helps to know what you’re making!
Author: Tim
Magical Spell Masters Devlog Week 2 – Special Events
Week one of making our Magical Spell Masters prototype saw us coming to abrupt terms with flaws in the concept. The central mechanic was predicated on a player being able to spell any word, and the cleverness was in figuring out which words were the right ones. In practice this is difficult, and it certainly isn’t very fun. So we quickly pivoted to something more like a deck builder.
Parasite Devlog Week 1 – Better With Tentacles
As part of my current studies, I’m required to work with a team to develop two game prototypes. One is called Magical Spell Masters. The other—this one—is Parasite.
From a programming perspective, it requires a tricky compromise between platforming precision and physics-driven shenanigans.
Magical Spell Masters Devlog Week 1 – The Best-Laid Plans
As part of my current studies, I’m required to work with a team to develop two game prototypes. One is called Parasite. The other—this one—is Magical Spell Masters.
It’s one of those ideas that sounded great in my head, but didn’t take much time to prove itself flawed.
Get Struct – Designing for Designers
A recent VR project I worked on (a gallery shooter named Too Many Bunnies) required me to develop a simple interface to allow designers to easily customize and iterate upon the game’s very simple AI. Its simplicity left me free to focus on an aspects of programming I’d not really needed to think much about before: the interface of my systems.