I Need Space

Team Size

Project Duration

10 Days

Engine

Unity

Platforms

Controls

Move: Left and Right arrow keys

Shoot: Space

Summary:

I was thrilled to act as a Producer and Game Designer for my first ever game jam, the GBJam11. GBJam11 is a 10 day long game jam where teams create a Gameboy inspired game while also following a specific theme. For GBJam11 the theme was "Space" this could be anything from Outer Space, Inventory Space, the Space Bar on the keyboard, or any other idea as long as it follows the theme of "Space".

I brought together a pixel artist and 8bit composer for our team and we began brainstorming ideas. We ended on a Endless Runner type Tube Shooter, where the farther you traverse Outer Space, the more "Space" you have. Does it make much sense? No. Was it a amazing and fun experience? Yes.

As the producer of the project, I kept everyone on track, but I also took on the daunting roles of Game Designer and Programmer. During the next 10 days, I spent hours learning Unity and C#, rapidly prototyping and duct taping solutions together to meet the deadline. After 10 stressful days of laying down tracks as the train was running, it culminated in my team submitting our first Game Jam submission, and with a sigh of relief said "That was amazing! Lets do it again!".

My Responsibilities:

Created design and feature documentation.
Managed the team to keep everyone on track to hit the 10 day deadline.
Designed the gameplay loop, including Menus, a Score System, Fail States, and Enemies.
Balanced the game so it increases in difficulty as the players score increases.
Worked with our composer on music and sound effects, providing feedback and implementing Audio Design.
Oversaw development of art assets, implementing them in game.
Utilized Unity and C# to code features from the ground up, seeking and implementing solutions as issues arose.
Designed UI to fit for multiple different screen sizes.

10 Days To Jam

Feature Summary:

Based on childhood favorites, we decided to pursue a Gameboy inspired Tube Shooter. This gives the impression of traveling through space while avoiding obstacles.

Traversal is based on having the ship revolve around the screen on perfect circle. Your ship is able to fire a laser toward the center of the screen. The player is given three lives for the entire run, and must try and survive to make it as far as possible.

The obstacles you will find in space include:

Asteroids - Asteroids will randomly appear in front of your ship, increasing in size as you get closer, until eventually moving past your ship and off screen. Asteroids can also be shot with your laser to destroy them.
Comets - Comets randomly appear and cross the screen horizontally. Comets cannot be shot and must be avoided, making player stay aware of obstacles coming from the sides of the screen as well as asteroids from the center.
Alien Spaceship - Every now and then, an Alien Spaceship will appear in the middle of the screen, slowly rotating. The Alien Spaceship will shoot a plasma projectile at you that must be avoided. The Alien Spaceship can be destroyed, but will take multiple shots.

Key Requirements:

We needed multiple types of obstacles, that each felt different, while also fitting the theme.
- We accomplished this with our three main obstacles: Asteroids, Comets, and Alien Spaceships. With Asteroids coming from the center, comets coming from the sides, and Alien Spaceships hovering in the middle while shooting projectiles at the player. This made each obstacle unique and required players to use specific tactics to avoid or remove these obstacles. Later in the game, juggling all of these obstacles can become a real challenge.
We needed the game to fit the Gameboy aesthetic.
- We opted for a green pixelated style, only incorporating around four main colors.
We wanted to incorporate a story element.
- With us only having 10 days to complete the project, we did not have much time to develop and implement a full story. So we opted to provide context for the main gameplay loop, shown in the starting screen (depicting a Ship in front of a suburban home), and the initial cutscene when starting a new game of a character telling their partner they just need some space. This also leads into the main purpose of the gameplay which is to get as much space as possible.