The idea for the “multi portal project” was a multiplayer, puzzle platformer that incites cooperation and fun between you and your friends. The aim of the project is to traverse each dungeon with your partner as quickly and with as few resets as possible, but most importantly have fun! The players are tasked with platforming their way up to a white crystal that they both need to hit their laser with to turn it purple to unlock the portal to the next level.
How did your final product compare to what you originally planned?
- The Multi-portal project has changed from what we originally thought as we have had to downgrade a lot of the original due to time constraints and losing our original game file. The game represents a different style of play then was originally intended but I believe that it is still fun and fits well with the connection theme.
What were some of achievements or benefits you gained from developing this project?
- Throughout this project our group has really developed our programming skills and pushed ourselves to learn new mechanics and master the basics. We are most proud of how we ventured into animations and creating impressive and visually pleasing looking levels.
What did you learn in the process, and how do you feel about the product you produced?
- Our group learnt how to manipule sprites to create an interesting and immersive world. Eric learnt how to create laser projectiles using the draw function and Jack learnt lots about animation and sprite manipulation
If changes were made during the development, explain what these were and why they were necessary?
- We made many changes to the development of our game such as the deletion of amyn types of collectible crystals, secret rooms and power ups. The main reason we got rid of a feature was due to time constraints but some we got rid of because we didn’t think it fit well with our game.
What were the most significant challenges/blockers, and how did you overcome them?
- We really struggled with first developing the laser and finding a way to make it an object beam rather than a projectile. We overcame this by making the laser shoot through a draw function and changing the collision mask, so that it can interact with the environment. We also struggled with making animations flow well and look natural.
If you had more time to work in it, how would you improve your project?
Unfortunately we lost some major parts of our game which we tried to recreate but had little time left before the project was due. It would also be nice to implement some quality of life features like a menu and more user interface features.
- I think that we would definitely add more levels and more intricate puzzles. I also think we would add a two player puzzle mode that features puzzles that require absolute cooperation.
If you were to start this project again, how would you approach it differently?
- We would definitely need to manage our time and expectations for features better. We jumped in a bit over our heads with the initial design. We should have also focused less on looks and more on mechanics.
Here is a snip of our sprites for the characters, portal, and player crystals at the beginning of our project.
We were partially inspired by the game franchise “portals” and how the portals in the game have to be used smartly to achieve the goal. We came up with the laser feature on our own but had thought of the idea of a beam that is rotated and aimed at the crystal similar to in “Fire boy and water girl.”
