UoP Gamejam 2017
Another year and another blog post about the UoP Gamejam, seems like its a once a year blog. This year @LeeAnnPicknett and myself wor...
Another year and another blog post about the UoP Gamejam, seems like its a once a year blog.
This year @LeeAnnPicknett and myself worked on a side scrolling platforming game in the vein of old SNES and Sega platformers but using current gaming technology. We decided on day one we wanted to have very simple controls allowing us to use some USB SNES controllers as our input in keeping with classic gameplay. We chose UE4 as it was the engine I was most comfortable in and the ease of use of Blueprint scripting means that; even though I'm not a strong programmer, I would be able to get the gameplay and functionality implemented.
The gameplay was to remain simple, the players would move in a 2D space and must avoid enemies and pits of death to reach the goal. Over the course of the levels the players could jump, double jump and dash to break walls and destroy enemies. We also wanted the ability for a second person to drop into the game and join their friend in reaching the end of the level as I have always found that 2 player games are always more interesting and engaging when players are demoing games at the end of the week.
For the week LeeAnn was focusing on the artwork while I implemented the gameplay and functionality using UE4's Blueprint Scripting. However over the course of the week I did also complete some of the artwork including the level assets for levels 1 and 3 and the walking Beetle Enemy. LeeAnn modeled the player characters, painted the textures and finally animated them for use in the game.
By Wednesday the game was mostly feature complete which left LeeAnn working on additional models and textures for the Savannah and Jungle levels as I added a new 2 player Race mode, constructed the levels and implemented the UI and menu systems.
When it came to demoing the game we found a few pits in the race mode which the players were unable to get out of, breaking the game but the game was mostly a success. There were a few changes which we would have liked to integrate such as: adding sound effects, more stages, re-spawning on player death, more enemy variety, a boss battle, enhancing the visuals throughout the levels and collectibles. However for the 9-5 week we had I believe we did very well and achieved something we are proud of.
People seemed to enjoy the game and had fun racing their friends. I believe the addition of a 2 player mode made the game drastically more enjoyable and entertaining for the players.
Overall I believe that this is the best UoP gamejam I have participated in, my game was the most feature complete and fun that I have ever created. Additionally the quality of every other entry in the event was so much higher than it has ever been before. This was a fantastic event and I will happily be returning in a year to participate again.
The Enemy beetle the player needs to stomp on, dash into or avoid.
Below is a link to download the game and the blurb from the Itch.io page:
Created for the University of Portsmouth Gamejam 2017 this game is a platformer/racing game. Over the course of a 5 day week teams created games within the University of Portsmouth based on any or all of three randomly selected Wikipedia articles.
Take control of a genetically engineered beetle as you travel across 4 levels jumping on bugs and avoiding the poisonous flying beetles. You can go it alone or bring a friend to travel through the levels. Or take on each other in the split screen race more and see who is the fastest Beetle Buddy.
This version of the game removes the pits from the original Gamejam version which were inescapable and caused the game to be broken.
The game is available on itch.io
The game is available on itch.io
About the University of Portsmouth Gamejam
The UoP Gamejam (http://gamejam.port.ac.uk/) takes place every year and has 4 days (Monday to Thursday) of 9am-5pm work before a few hours on Friday morning to finish up and package games before every team demos their games to the other participants and industry judges.
Game created by @MarcCook_ and @LeeAnnPicknett.
Music from OpenGameArt by:
