Game Designer (rhsojitra@gmail.com)
Contributions to the project:
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Game Design + Scripting:
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Created the core mechanics and implemented features, game systems and some of the additional mechanics for the game, taking them from prototypes to polish.
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Worked on analyzing and polishing the game feel to ensure a satisfying play experience along with the character animator.
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Created modular scripts that simplified the project’s backend and made the production efficient.
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Created interfaces and components for interactive objects, essentially making them drag-and-drop so that other team members could place them in the scene and easily tweak important parameters, saving time.
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Level Design:
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Created the tutorial level for the game where the player can learn all the controls and mechanics, making the experience in the main level smoother.
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Iterated on the tutorial level based on playtest feedback to make sure players understood and were able to correctly learn the mechanics.
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Production:
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Worked as a co-producer, ensuring efficient communication with the client, keeping them regularly updated on the progress while also managing the scope of the project
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Ensured the team was on the same page with the vision of the project.
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Worked with the other producer to arrange playtests and decide the project's timeline.
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Gameplay Video:
Our team had 14 weeks to complete this project as a part of our semester. The prompt we had been given was to create a game about extreme pogosticking. We worked with Xpogo-a company consisting of real-life pogoers who define the sport of extreme pogosticking.
We started with the ideation and came up with game systems by analyzing some similar games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Rollerdrome.
I began creating different prototypes for the core mechanic and we playtest for 3-4 weeks iterating each week. Finally, at the half-point of the semester, we finalized the movement mechanic as well as the art style.
After that, we had 7 weeks left to finish the project, so, we scoped our level, narrative, and gameplay accordingly and tried to finish our gameplay loop in 2 weeks and then focused on iterating and polishing the game.
Overview:
Details:
Prototypes
Polish
Playtests
Screenshots
Major Learnings and Iterations
Haptics
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Pogosticking differs from skating and other extreme sports in that it is something that depends on rhythm momentum rather than speed momentum to keep the player in a flow state.
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I figure that keeping the player in this constant bouncing rhythm would mean that they need to feel the bounce everytime the pogostick hits the ground.
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So, I worked on creating several rumbles (vibration haptics for controllers) that trigger when the player jumps, varying in intensity with the height of the player i.e. a normal jump is less intense since it repeats every time, a low boost-jump is more intense and a high boost-jump is more intense and plays for a longer duration.
Haptics Iteration
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Initially, the rumble on the controller played at the end of the jumping animation of the character which did convey the rhythm successfully.
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However, the vibration at the end did not match the game feel.
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Usually, haptics in games are used to convey strength or power and in this case, having the vibration at the end felt a little delayed since the arduous part of pogosticking where the player gets the most feedback is when the pogo reaches all the way down and then blasts up again.
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So, I tested different positions in the animation montage for the haptics to trigger and found that if I kept it around the 52% complete mark of the montage, it created a satisfying feeling as that is when the pogostick starts coming back up (which was also confirmed by the playtesters).
Movement Tutorial
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When playing the tutorial level to learn the mechanics, players were not able to figure out the movement of the character.
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The primary reason for this was that pogosticks required the player to be on an angle when bouncing off the ground to change directions.
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However, players who play normal games have the habit of moving the joystick when they are mid-air to propel their character in a direction. But this does not work with pogosticks.
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To solve this, I tried adding a sound effect and also the rumble that I mentioned previously so that the moment that the pogostick hits the ground becomes a noticeable moment for the players and they would be able to notice it.
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However, after conducting playtests, I found that players were still not able to understand the mechanic.
Solution
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Since adding haptic and audio feedback did not work, I figure that the solution can be found with the help of level design.
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So, I added scattered some props in the tutorial level for players to jump on but they don't block the player's way.
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However, the most important thing I added was a zig-zag bridge which required the players to move left and right consecutively to successfully cross the bridge. If they fell down, they can get back up with an elevator platform and try again.
Result
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After adding the bridge, most players figured out the movement mechanics when they had to move left and right on the bridge to stay on top of it.
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Players who did not figure it out, usually fell down and came back up and got the mechanic after 2-3 tries.
