Mechdog (2016)
Release Date: 03/08/2016
Time on Project: 9/2015 - 03/2016
My Role: Solo Developer
Skills Utilized: Mobile Game Design, Procedural Generation
MechDog is an Endless Runner project that is my first Android release. You take control of MechDog, a dog in mechanical battle suit that races across the desert to escape his pursuers who you have stolen the mech suit from.
Game Feel
In MechDog, there are several ways to move vertically. Associating unique flair to each action lets the player easily recognize that the game is responding to their different decisions.
JUMP
The suit has the ability to launch itself into the air allowing the wearer to leap over hazards without losing speed. The jump emits a smoke plume when launching MechDog off the ground.
THRUST
When in the air, the suit can use its arm thrusters to keep the suit from losing altitude. The thrust ignites a blue flame, eventually emitting black smoke when nearing it's max use.
BOUNCE
When in the air, the suit can reverse its arm thrusters to thrust itself down to avoid above-ground hazards and damage enemies directly below. The enemy bounce causes a massive explosion that throws MechDog into the air.
All games fundamentally involve a player providing input. To enhance the game feel, Mechdog’s feedback is designed to be strong and impactful, even when the player's input is minimal. The intent of the feedback is to create an immersive experience that keeps players engaged and invested in their actions.
Dungeon Generation
The level generator reacts to the player: when enough points are scored, a dungeon is summoned that offers higher scoring opportunities. More skillful players can create these dungeons more often. With more game systems responding to the player's efforts, the game creates a more immersive experience.
The dungeon meter adds an intermediate goal for every player’s run. This goal is nestled between the immediate goal of points and the long term goal of a best score.
Dungeons have narrow spaces and dangerous traps to contrast with the open freeform areas. Each dungeon is created following these steps:
Abstract
First, it creates an abstract path that starts from the bottom left and works its way to the right boundary. The dimensions of the bounds are designer-defined.
Blueprint
The pattern path is then replaced with connected of rooms.
Structure
For each room type, there is a series of of room templates that range in difficulty. The generator picks increasingly difficult rooms to vary the dungeon and create a rising challenge. Even with only four different room designs per type, the dungeons that are generated appear unique from each other.
