Pterodactyl Ptrials (Unity Game Jam Benilde 2012)
Pterodactyl Ptrials is an endless runner set in prehistoric times. The player controls a pterodactyl that must evade treacherous dinos and flaming meteors to survive.
I made this game back in October 2012 with my friends Johnry and Jeremy. It was during the Smart DevNet Unity Game Jam. It was my first ever game jam and it was an extremely formative event for me.
It was a few weeks into our GMPROG1 class. We were just introduced to Unity and were given a few exercises to get the lay of the engine. I remember the first time I tried making a variable in a script public, and Unity made it easily editable in the Inspector. Mind. Blown. The engine was super fun to play with and by the end of the first meeting, I was able to create a cannon that shot a cannonball that had gravity applied to it.
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| I was so excited, I posted this screenshot |
The game jam was cool because there was only a limited number of slots. I was very anxious to prove myself back then and so I was always talking to people and telling them how excited I was for it. I even talked to our professors and chairperson, just to ensure my slot to join. Eventually, the list of participants was released and my name was on it! The rest of the slots were filled in by my other classmates as well as people from the Smart DevNet side, who stayed with us at the event venue.
I joined the jam with my friends Johnry Bautista and Jeremy Plana. Johnry and I were the programmers and Jeremy was the artist. Although the event was held in the Alienware Lab of CSB, nobody was allowed to use the machines. Our group only had one working laptop and the keyboard was broken, so we had to borrow a USB keyboard from one of our friends. Because of this, we named our group "Team Taking Turns" since we had to take turns programming and making the art.
The theme of the game jam was "Primitives". We chose to go with a Dinosaur theme, setting our game in Prehistoric Times. We designed the game as an endless runner, with obstacles coming in from the right side and the player must dodge and shoot to survive. The player would control a Pterodactyl and use arrow keys and the space bar to navigate the level.
This was the first time I worked very closely with an artist. I think it was a great experience and I learned a lot from Plana. Since we only had one computer, I could look over his shoulder and direct him. Adjusting the things I ask from his based on the demands of the game at the moment. Asking him for multiple enemy types, separate animations, adjusting the scale of some assets. At the time, Jeremy was just starting out as an artist, but he was very competent and really listened to constructive criticism.
I placed repeating mountain patterns moving from the right side to the left, with larger mountain ranges in the background moving slower than those in the foreground. This parallax movement simulated the illusion of motion and depth. The sprites were also very simple, only having 2 sprites per animation such as the flapping of wings, as well as different states like death or shooting a fireball. There was also a score system which had a number iterating every frame and updating a score display, saving the score for the end to display to the player.
I ran into a problem during programming. I wanted to communicate between 2 game objects. All I knew was how to make an object move and work, but not how to access a variable from another object. I asked around and eventually one of the Marshals came over to our table and helped me out. He taught me about using GetComponent, and how to communicate between scripts. He even gave me an example, and how to properly use it.
I will never forget that. Communicating between scripts is the foundation for developing more complex gameplay systems. It's the core of all the vital interactions in all of the games that I have ever made. Whenever I use the GetComponent function, I remember that moment in Unity Game Jam. When someone took the time to teach me something, and my whole world opened up before me. Sure he was just doing his job, but passing down information and techniques is one of the most important things a community needs. I will always admire him, and he is one of the only people I would call my senpai.
In the end, we got 2nd Place! We won a cellphone, which we decided to give to Plana since he created all of the art and we felt like he did the most important work. I worked with Plana and Johnry on a lot of projects afterwards, with Team UnliRice. Our next project was the GameOn Award-nominated "Shoot Me Not!!", for another post.
Although we didn't get 1st, I always look fondly upon Pterodactyl Ptrials. It was my first game jam, and I always remember it because of how little I knew about the Unity Engine when starting out and how much I knew afterwards. It was the first time I ever joined a competition about game development, and it was a surreal experience. I was surrounded by people that LOVED game development as much as I did. So much creativity was flowing everywhere and people were excited and sleepless and passionate. I felt like I belonged.
Because of how much I loved Unity Game Jam, I have joined every game jam since. Any that I could be a part of. As of this writing, I have joined Unity Game Jam, GGJ2013, GGJ2014, GGJ2015, and I even became the Head Mentor for UnityGameJam2015. Coming full circle to give back to the community.
I guess I'll end this post by saying: "JOIN GAME JAM 2016!! I'LL SEE YOU THERE!!"
I joined the jam with my friends Johnry Bautista and Jeremy Plana. Johnry and I were the programmers and Jeremy was the artist. Although the event was held in the Alienware Lab of CSB, nobody was allowed to use the machines. Our group only had one working laptop and the keyboard was broken, so we had to borrow a USB keyboard from one of our friends. Because of this, we named our group "Team Taking Turns" since we had to take turns programming and making the art.
The theme of the game jam was "Primitives". We chose to go with a Dinosaur theme, setting our game in Prehistoric Times. We designed the game as an endless runner, with obstacles coming in from the right side and the player must dodge and shoot to survive. The player would control a Pterodactyl and use arrow keys and the space bar to navigate the level.
This was the first time I worked very closely with an artist. I think it was a great experience and I learned a lot from Plana. Since we only had one computer, I could look over his shoulder and direct him. Adjusting the things I ask from his based on the demands of the game at the moment. Asking him for multiple enemy types, separate animations, adjusting the scale of some assets. At the time, Jeremy was just starting out as an artist, but he was very competent and really listened to constructive criticism.
I placed repeating mountain patterns moving from the right side to the left, with larger mountain ranges in the background moving slower than those in the foreground. This parallax movement simulated the illusion of motion and depth. The sprites were also very simple, only having 2 sprites per animation such as the flapping of wings, as well as different states like death or shooting a fireball. There was also a score system which had a number iterating every frame and updating a score display, saving the score for the end to display to the player.
I ran into a problem during programming. I wanted to communicate between 2 game objects. All I knew was how to make an object move and work, but not how to access a variable from another object. I asked around and eventually one of the Marshals came over to our table and helped me out. He taught me about using GetComponent, and how to communicate between scripts. He even gave me an example, and how to properly use it.
I will never forget that. Communicating between scripts is the foundation for developing more complex gameplay systems. It's the core of all the vital interactions in all of the games that I have ever made. Whenever I use the GetComponent function, I remember that moment in Unity Game Jam. When someone took the time to teach me something, and my whole world opened up before me. Sure he was just doing his job, but passing down information and techniques is one of the most important things a community needs. I will always admire him, and he is one of the only people I would call my senpai.
In the end, we got 2nd Place! We won a cellphone, which we decided to give to Plana since he created all of the art and we felt like he did the most important work. I worked with Plana and Johnry on a lot of projects afterwards, with Team UnliRice. Our next project was the GameOn Award-nominated "Shoot Me Not!!", for another post.
Although we didn't get 1st, I always look fondly upon Pterodactyl Ptrials. It was my first game jam, and I always remember it because of how little I knew about the Unity Engine when starting out and how much I knew afterwards. It was the first time I ever joined a competition about game development, and it was a surreal experience. I was surrounded by people that LOVED game development as much as I did. So much creativity was flowing everywhere and people were excited and sleepless and passionate. I felt like I belonged.
Because of how much I loved Unity Game Jam, I have joined every game jam since. Any that I could be a part of. As of this writing, I have joined Unity Game Jam, GGJ2013, GGJ2014, GGJ2015, and I even became the Head Mentor for UnityGameJam2015. Coming full circle to give back to the community.
I guess I'll end this post by saying: "JOIN GAME JAM 2016!! I'LL SEE YOU THERE!!"
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