We, the One

At the beginning of the spring 2019 semester, I participated in the Global Game Jam. This is an international event where game developers across the globe create games within a time limit of 3 days. The theme for this year was “Home,” and we are encouraged to create a game that fits within the theme. The project was a 2D, side-scrolling shooter, where the player must reach their home, while dodging the enemy attacks. To satisfy an extra challenge set by the event organizer, my team also chose to create the game using primitives shapes for the models and minimalist graphics.

The idea started with how, in real life, friends could make one’s life better. At the beginning of the game, the player starts alone and weak. Enemies are able to shoot the player from a distance, and each of them could only be killed by getting very close. As the main character moves to the right, they are able to gain “friend” orbs that would circle around and shoot the enemies. We implemented adaptive music and post-processing would also transition into a more colorful tone to reflect this progression. When the player reaches the end, the orbs that they have collected would be displayed in the main menu. This change would encourage people to replay the game again to collect every “friend” orbs.

The game was built with the Unity game engine, Blender 3D editor, and FMOD adaptive sound system. My main contribution to the project is programming and working with the engine. While I wasn’t familiar with Unity, I was able to collaborate with my teammates to prototype and program the enemies. The time pressure has allowed me to learn a lot about Unity, and after participating in this event, I could quickly turn a game idea into a simple prototype.

The submission is hosted at the Global Game Jam page.