Collider (Global Game Jam 2015)
In January 2015, I joined Global Game Jam 2015.
I arrived with no team in mind, I didn't really know who I wanted to work with so I just went as a solo entry. I was initially invited to join my old CAPSTN1 group, but I declined because I saw that they already had an idea they wanted to work on.
On the day of the event, I was standing in line when my Academic Advisor noticed me.
"Vinny, anak! Why are you joining?!" she said to me, "You should be MENTORING!!"
"I'm done teaching, Doc." I told her, "I wanna win."
Big words. I always love hyping myself for Game Jam. It's such a fun event, and of course everybody wants to win! I guess I'm just way more vocal than others about it.
While in line, I ran into my friends Josh and James. They were in the same thesis group, and I was their classmate in the previous term, during GMETHIC. They invited me to join their group, since one of their members pulled out at the last minute. I decided to give it a shot.
The theme of the Game Jam was "What do we do now?" The three of us came up with different concepts and eventually decided on a floating object game where the player must rebuild Earth after it explodes from a stray button press.
Initial design for Collider was a Katamari-inspired "Collect Debris" game. Players would float around the screen, pushing objects towards the middle area, which was the "Core" of the Earth. Debris would build up and fill in the separate Layers of the Earth. Players also had to rotate the planet to make sure debris does not build up too much on one side.
James and I took turns programming different elements of the game, from menu functionality to colliders and other things. Working with him was actually very refreshing because of the way James codes, which is very easy to read and revise. We even practiced pair-programming, with one of us watching the other as they type. This really helped me understand what it is that he was doing and how he went about doing it.
Since we were only three, we kept our art-style very minimal. We used planets and a space background, using gravity and physics to animate our gameplay elements. Josh also acted as the Primary ARTEEST, designing our logo as well as other art needs.
Throughout the game jam, I alternated between working on the game and playing board games with my good friend Brennan Lasala. He brought Eldritch Horror, a LENGTHY game about working together to defeat various Lovecraftian monsters. Each play session lasted AT LEAST 2 HOURS, and I played THREE total. Hahahaha that's 6 hours out of the 48 hour Game Jam. I honestly had a lot of fun playing Eldritch Horror. I got to bond with many of the people in the course, lowerclassmen, upperclassmen, and even alumni. During that last game, we were like generals planning the next phases of our plan to ensure victory.
Back to the project, we shifted design to be a multiplayer game. Players must collide with debris left behind and grow into a larger heavenly body. Debris was color-coordinated and players had to pick up debris corresponding to the color of their planetoid. We called the game Collider, since you could collide with the other player and push them away. It also hinted at the core mechanic, which is to collide with objects.
I tried to keep my code as simple as possible, I was already reading up on good coding practices and I wanted the codes to be readable and easy to revise. Because of my previous experience with Game Jams, I wanted to keep the scope very small. Feasibility and coherence of the idea is very important during Game Jams. Collider was simple, that is true, but proper execution is what we focused on when producing it.
In the end, we won 3rd Place! The judges really loved the game: it was cohesive, the game was very clear, and it was easy to pick up and play with your friends.
I'm also very proud to say that my kohais all placed! One of them won First for a First-Person Puzzle Platformer, and the others tied for Second; one group made a multiplayer circular Pong and the other made a top-down Stealth/Infiltration game. While my group tied with my friend, Christian's group for their mobile puzzle game.
Collider is very memorable for me because it sowed the seeds that would eventually grow into my CAPSTN2 project, TESSELATE.
I arrived with no team in mind, I didn't really know who I wanted to work with so I just went as a solo entry. I was initially invited to join my old CAPSTN1 group, but I declined because I saw that they already had an idea they wanted to work on.
On the day of the event, I was standing in line when my Academic Advisor noticed me.
"Vinny, anak! Why are you joining?!" she said to me, "You should be MENTORING!!"
"I'm done teaching, Doc." I told her, "I wanna win."
Big words. I always love hyping myself for Game Jam. It's such a fun event, and of course everybody wants to win! I guess I'm just way more vocal than others about it.
While in line, I ran into my friends Josh and James. They were in the same thesis group, and I was their classmate in the previous term, during GMETHIC. They invited me to join their group, since one of their members pulled out at the last minute. I decided to give it a shot.
The theme of the Game Jam was "What do we do now?" The three of us came up with different concepts and eventually decided on a floating object game where the player must rebuild Earth after it explodes from a stray button press.
Initial design for Collider was a Katamari-inspired "Collect Debris" game. Players would float around the screen, pushing objects towards the middle area, which was the "Core" of the Earth. Debris would build up and fill in the separate Layers of the Earth. Players also had to rotate the planet to make sure debris does not build up too much on one side.
James and I took turns programming different elements of the game, from menu functionality to colliders and other things. Working with him was actually very refreshing because of the way James codes, which is very easy to read and revise. We even practiced pair-programming, with one of us watching the other as they type. This really helped me understand what it is that he was doing and how he went about doing it.
Since we were only three, we kept our art-style very minimal. We used planets and a space background, using gravity and physics to animate our gameplay elements. Josh also acted as the Primary ARTEEST, designing our logo as well as other art needs.
Throughout the game jam, I alternated between working on the game and playing board games with my good friend Brennan Lasala. He brought Eldritch Horror, a LENGTHY game about working together to defeat various Lovecraftian monsters. Each play session lasted AT LEAST 2 HOURS, and I played THREE total. Hahahaha that's 6 hours out of the 48 hour Game Jam. I honestly had a lot of fun playing Eldritch Horror. I got to bond with many of the people in the course, lowerclassmen, upperclassmen, and even alumni. During that last game, we were like generals planning the next phases of our plan to ensure victory.
Back to the project, we shifted design to be a multiplayer game. Players must collide with debris left behind and grow into a larger heavenly body. Debris was color-coordinated and players had to pick up debris corresponding to the color of their planetoid. We called the game Collider, since you could collide with the other player and push them away. It also hinted at the core mechanic, which is to collide with objects.
I tried to keep my code as simple as possible, I was already reading up on good coding practices and I wanted the codes to be readable and easy to revise. Because of my previous experience with Game Jams, I wanted to keep the scope very small. Feasibility and coherence of the idea is very important during Game Jams. Collider was simple, that is true, but proper execution is what we focused on when producing it.
In the end, we won 3rd Place! The judges really loved the game: it was cohesive, the game was very clear, and it was easy to pick up and play with your friends.
I'm also very proud to say that my kohais all placed! One of them won First for a First-Person Puzzle Platformer, and the others tied for Second; one group made a multiplayer circular Pong and the other made a top-down Stealth/Infiltration game. While my group tied with my friend, Christian's group for their mobile puzzle game.
Collider is very memorable for me because it sowed the seeds that would eventually grow into my CAPSTN2 project, TESSELATE.
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