Solo Project: F-Gravity

December 23, 2012Download, DigiPen, Solo ProjectBernard HwangComment

Genre: Puzzle

Summary:
This project was the last of three assignments created for James Portnow’s (of Extra Credits) DigiPen class. For the final assignment, I was tasked with creating a puzzle game.

My Role:

Solo Project

Development Time: 1 month

Publish Date: 12-16-12

Post-Mortem:
The turn-based puzzle genre is one of the easier genres to playtest for. There are exact measurables such as turns taken and time spent per turn; and even the intangibles such as fun factor, thanks to how each puzzle’s start and end are clearly defined, are easily defined by the player. This is is why it was a shame that F-Gravity was not playtested to reveal it’s glaring issues. Technical issues aside, F-Gravity fails to create a proper interest curve. The difficulty is present when it is not needed, early on when the player is unclear of the game’s mechanics; and too low when it is needed the most, when players are reusing the same thought patterns used to solve the previous puzzle.

Solo Project: Gather

November 16, 2012Download, DigiPen, Solo ProjectBernard HwangComment

Download Gather (Windows)

Genre: Top-Down Shooter

Summary:
This project is the second of three assignments created for James Portnow’s (of Extra Credits) DigiPen class. This project is an arena-based top-down shooter. Originally starting out as a Game Jam game, Gather is the fully realized version.

I always tend to look back on unfinished projects or unattempted concepts when put under the pressure of creating something fast. There is some sort of cathartic feeling after completing a half-completed thought.

My Role:

Solo Project

Development Time: 1 month

Publish Date: 11-11-12

Post-Mortem:
A novel mechanic requires copious testing. While the visual aesthetics and feedback was there, the interest curve is not there, the character is sluggish, the player isn’t taught how to be successful at the game. These facts would come up with rigorous testing.

Again I tried novel mechanics, but a game will never turn out well simply by implementing my thoughts. This could have been a great piece with more attention given to the player’s needs.

Solo Project: PrototypeMan

October 16, 2012Download, DigiPen, Solo ProjectBernard HwangComment

Download Prototype Man (Windows)

Genre: Platformer

Summary:
This project is the first of three assignments handed down to me by James Portnow of Extra Credits, in his DigiPen class. In this assignment, I explored which mechanics and aesthetics worked to create a 2d platformer.

My Role:

Solo Project

Development Time: 1 month

Publish Date: 10-06-12

Post-Mortem:
There were many obstacles that got in the way of player exploring the central mechanic. Death should not have been the only way for the player to learn. There are plenty of other ways to teach and give a player space to practice a mechanic other than the through the threat of demise. Using an extreme such as player death shined a light on a problem I suffer as a designer: I get trapped trying to accomplish the big picture.

I need to become cognizant of what each moment of my game is doing to my player. There are a number of exciting set pieces and challenges, but most of them are bogged down by too much traversal, being too far from a spawn point, finicky controls.