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One Pager - SlipStream

Slipstream

            An action aerial shooter, it controls like the classic Asteroids. You control one small fighter plane. Like Asteroids, you can turn freely as it moves forward, keeping all momentum from its thrust. Each level is a large 2D map that pans north, south, east, or west when the ship approaches the appropriate edge of the screen. While the ship maneuvers like asteroids, unlike asteroids, the ship cannot fire. It has no weapons whatsoever. The only way the ship can damage enemies is it’s engine thrust. When you hit the throttle game, the ship has a long engine trail, its length proportional to the how high the throttle is held.  Things hit by the trail are damaged. To damage objects requires maneuvering so that objects are behind the ship when the throttle is hit, or by “whipping” the trail around at the enemy. Constantly turning the ship while at high throttle can act as a defensive maneuver. Do to the “momentum” nature of the ship, when at high speed it is hard to slow down or change direction, but it is also possible to “drift”.

            Using only this offensive tool, you must navigate a large, open map. Each map has several main and secondary objectives that must be completed. Score is given by enemies destroyed, the time the level is completed in, and lives left. Power ups such as speed, shields, and enhancements to the engine trail are scattered around the map. When all main objectives are complete, you move on to the next level.

            2 player co-op is also available.

One Pager - Reflect X

Reflect-X

In this iPhone/Android/iPad game, you’re character in the center of a circular arena. You are surrounded by 12 “laser turrets” placed equal around you in a ring. These turrets fire lasers at you in the center. The only defense you have against these incoming threats are two reflective shield that orbit around your character.

The direction these shields face is influenced by your touch. Using multi touch, each shield faces a direction dependent on the location of your finger relative to the center. Since you have 2 shields, you can block projectiles coming from two directions at once. Each turret emits a warning light before firing,  giving you a heads up of where to defend.

Early levels will only use 4 of the 12 turrets, and as the player progresses, more turrets will be used. The frequency of these turrets firing will also increase. Each level is completed by simply surviving for the duration of the time limit. The turrets fire in a rhythm that matches the music.

One Pager - Kinect Courier

Courier

            This is a Kinect game for the Xbox 360. It’s a game on rails where your character must deliver a package from point A to point B along a level filled with enemies firing weapon at you. All movement is controlled automatically; all the player has to do is move his upper body in front of the Kinect, in order to avoid incoming projectiles.

            The game has your character running through multiple environments, each with different themed enemies and obstacles. An urban level has many long jumps across skyscrapers and enemies such as helicopters and snipers. A Jungle level has tribal themed enemies and obstacles like spears and animals. These work with levels in icy regions, volcanic regions, or even flying levels.

            “Boss” battles involve the camera moving from behind the character, to moving to the side of the character, as if viewing the character in profile. The player must also turn to the side relative to the Kinect. In these segments , the character is running in a large circle around the boss. Dodging moves from the boss may result in the boss accidently attacking itself, or “swatting” at switches around the ring can attack the boss. Getting hurt slows you down and reduces your HP. Losing all HP sends you back to your last checkpoint. Levels are also timed, and have shortcuts that are triggered by hitting triggers with your hands.

One Pager - Coat Check

Coat Check

May I take your coat?

            In this iPhone/android game, you are an employee working at the coat check counter. The The playfield is has big square area with coat hooks. Coats are given to you from the bottom right of the screen. Using a flicking motion of the finger, you fling coats up toward the hooks. The coat then falls from gravity, and it catches on one of the many hooks.           You are given coats of different colors and types. Placing 4 coats of the same color or type adjacent to each other in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line causes the coats to disappear. It’s very much like Bejeweled. Coats stack up in a queue as the player takes time hanging up a coat. If too many coats are in queue, the game ends. 

-The flicking action and gravity put a unique twist on the classic match-up puzzle game.

-The premise is designed to be quirky and fun. The idea of a game base on the coat check people is bizarre in itself.

-Each level in the game is a different background, music, and overall theme. The idea is that the character is “moving up” in the coat check business. Starting off at some Bennigans like restaurant, and eventually checking in coats at the Sydney Opera House.

-Leader boards, competitive, and co-operative multiplayer is included.

Platform: iPhone/Android

Rated E

The Five Compelling Factors

Second by second (the feel)

• Tossing up coats to match them up and keep from losing the game

Minute by minute (challenges)

• Getting a high score and building huge combo chains.

Hour by hour (discovery)

• New Levels and themes as you progress.

Day by day (multiplayer)

• Compete or co-operate in score attack multiplayer.

Week by week (community)

• Beat the best on the leaderboard.

Full Moon Run

Full Moon run is an Action "Racer" in which you controlled a rampaging werewolf as it speeds along the moonlit landscape destroying everything in it's path. The game was scored based on time it took to complete as well as objects destroyed, with a multiplier given when multiple objects are destroyed within a a certain amount of time from each other. The player moved as three tiers of speed, which took time to accelerate to. The obstacle were tiered as well, and if the player hits an object tiered higher than it's current speed, the player stops completely and takes damage. The player could turn normally but could also "drift" which turned faster in order to access secret paths and for advanced manuvers.

This game was very design intensive. We decided early on that there will be only one level, and the goal was to make it long, detailed, and given the score system, replayable. The level was divided into sections with different themes. A farm, a forest, a cave, a mountain pass, and finally a populated village. We wanted each section to feel like it had a increased difficulty. The farm was the intro section. The Player is given plenty of space to build up speed, and there are no obstacles that can slow the player down.

Level design for this game involved a lot of trial and error, reiterating and tweaking turns until a polished final design was agreed on. Trying to get a level to feel smooth for our racing werewolf "performance". The forest is a branching section of track that has many options for going through it, some obvious, some less so, some fast, some slow but with many chances for points and power ups.

The cave was when things ramped up in difficulty. Very high tier obstacles are placed but the paths are very wide, and avoiding them is very easy if you feel you cannot hit them.

Katarn

Katarn was one of my earliest projects and still one I'm very proud of. Not the prettiest game but it was more a showcase of mechanics. The idea was having a character who was frail and had little offensive power, but could attack primarily by redirecting other's attacks. And making a Star Wars game was fun in itself.

The game is intended to feel more tactical and more like a puzzle than an action game. Note the third section in the video. The sniper keeps the room locked down and can kill the player easily if he is exposed. The grenadier on the left would be fairly easy to take down with a slash, but the player will still be pinned by the sniper. The grunt soldier on the right would be easy to take down as well, and it triggers the grenadier to throw a grenade at you. You can then redirect the grenade at the sniper to destroy him, and proceed to clear the rest of the room without fear of instant death.