Developing a fully functional video game in Ten weeks
Albertus's Potion Quest
Game Design Project
During this term-based game design project, we embarked on the exhilarating journey of designing a game within a tight ten-week timeframe. Our team faced unique challenges, notably the divide in expertise among our members. While the two of us boasted graphic design skills, coding was uncharted territory. Conversely, the other two possessed UX expertise, but only one was proficient in coding.
WEEKS 1 & 2: IDEA GENERATION
Early on, we prioritized integrating color into our game design and drew ideas from established video games like Puzzle Platformer, Puzzle Dungeon Crawler, and Puzzle Simulation. After sharing our concepts with the class, we received advice to temper our ambitions, given the tight deadline of eight weeks for developing a fully functioning video game. We decided on a “Match 3” game that combined ideas and mechanics from two other games we encountered during our research.
INSPIRATION
Puzzle Quest is a match-three adventure where you journey through dungeons and battle foes by matching three board elements in either row or column formations to unleash magical abilities or physical attacks against your opponents.
PUZZLE QUEST
HUE - A Color Puzzle Platformer
POTION EXPLOSION
Position Explosion is a tabletop board game incorporating a “mixing” component to grant specific abilities during gameplay. It also has an “explosion” mechanic, where a potion can cause an ill effect if you're not careful.
WEEK 3: THE PITCH & PLAYTESTING THE UX
We developed a small story for the game and considered the gameplay and the specific game mechanics. We arranged our ideas into a design document and created a pitch presentation for the class. The game’s concept was met with positive reception and some ideas to simplify the overall design.
PLAYTESTING
ENGAGING THE AUDIENCE TO GAIN INSIGHT AND FEEDBACK
We decided it was essential to perform playtesting during every iteration of development, recruiting testers through posts on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The posts included a link to an informed consent survey that testers had to agree to before receiving a copy (via download link) of the game to test.
Each iteration (Alpha, Beta, and Final) was sent to all testers who agreed to the informed consent, along with a follow-up survey to give feedback about their experiences playing the game during each version.
Testers were not required to play the game nor provide feedback and could opt out of being sent future versions by letting us know in the follow-up survey of each iteration, as shown below.
The following prompts were given in each of the three surveys:
In your own words, please describe what you liked about the game:
In your own words, please tell what you did not like about the game:
In your own words, please describe any problems you had with the game. This can include observations about something that didn't work, something that didn't work as you expected, or anything you think was a "technical problem."
What, if anything, would you change about the game's difficulty?
Please give us any other feedback, comments, questions, or concerns below:
Please let us know if you're interested in playtesting the next release of the game:
WEEK 4: Game Engine & ALPHA RELEASE
Problem: Nobody in the group was a seasoned coder, and we needed a simple solution to help us along. Several game engines were considered:
Unity with Bolt
Godot
Game Maker Studio 2
Ultimately, we settled on Game Maker Studio 2 (GMS2) as it was the most accessible engine for beginner game developers. GMS2 utilizes Game Maker Language (GML), based on aspects of C++, C#, and JavaScript. It also includes a Visual Scripting component to help with coding and allows developers to flip back and forth between views.
PRELIMINARY GAME DEVELOPMENT
After settling on GMS2, we had to develop the basics of the game mechanics:
"The Grid" - The core of the game where players "Match 3" (or more).
The Time - The level is completed by reducing enemy HP to zero before time runs out.
The HP - Albertus and his enemies have HP that should increase or decrease depending on what potion mechanic is performed.
The Mixing - The potion mixing mechanic for mixing potions for additional abilities.
We used free placeholder assets for the most part, as the only sprites created for the Alpha were the potions, skulls, and first level background. A Match 3 Video Tutorial was followed to develop the grid foundation and mechanics. Time, HP, and potion mixing mechanics were set and added by us. We decided on a classic pixel art graphic style for our game.
Alpha Game Play
WEEK 6: BETA RELEASE
NEW GRAPHICS AND FEATURES:
Albertus's sprite received a redesign from the original concept.
Borders for the time bar, HP bar, and grid were created to be more congruent with the look and feel of our game.
The second and third levels, including backgrounds and three new enemy sprites, were designed. Each level increases in difficulty.
Secondary background sprites were added for depth in all levels.
Sound effects and additional music were both added.
Beta Game Play
WEEK 8: FINAL RELEASE
APPLYING THE FINISHING TOUCHES:
Game Intro Screen.
Two types of gameplay: Story Mode and Continuous Play.
In-game game instruction manual (How to Play).
Game Over screen.
Game Finished screen.
HP Adjustments for abilities, enemies, and Albertus.
FINAL GAME PLAY
“Challenging in my first 15 minutes! So far I'm not quick enough to beat the game. Color, sound, and characters are fun.”
— Anonymous Playtester
REFLECTIONS & FEEDBACK
APQ was a great idea; we have a solid foundation for a good game. The game concept and execution, despite having bugs, have a pleasant interaction and are easy to understand as you progress. There are a lot of changes that we could have added to make this a better game, both coding and artistic-wise.
Looking Back
It might feel more engaging if the game included consistent animation and art styles.
We could not implement something we imagined, such as an Enemy AI, a more fine-tuned grid, and visual indications of damage dealt, as we did not have a strong enough development team.
Downsides
Adding more abilities and indicating what's happening to Albertus and his enemies.
More realistic animation to essentially make players more invested in the game and the story.
We were tackling the coding issues we faced with more knowledge of game development.
Feedback & Suggestions
Swiping “too fast” will cause the game to crash. The grid must perform its calculations before receiving the next match, so swipe, ensure the match runs, and wait for the grid to update (new potions fall) before swiping again.
The grid does not solve itself – meaning that if a match three is in a horizontal or vertical position, it won’t solve until a new swipe is made.