UT Game Development Class

LAMBO: FIRST BLOOD

This was the first game I ever developed, from idea to finished product, by myself.  I made it during the Game Development class at UT in only two weeks.

The concept was simple; a basic 2D action shooter game.  You take control of Lambo who uses a semi-automatic rifle (which means you have to click to shoot every bullet).  You have an infinite number of ammo clips with ten bullets each.  You have to take out all the farmers and sheared (brainwashed) sheep  that try to stop you from escaping the farm.  You also have to protect the prisoners that follow you, and at least one has to survive for you to win.

After you make your way through the seemingly endless horde of farmers and brainwashed sheep, you are ambushed by Hambo, your arch-rival.  Hambo is a flying pig who throws chickens to fight.  After defeating Hambo, the game is over, and you are free!

Making Lambo, I learned a lot about the game development process.  It was an invaluable experience to see a game through from start to finish by myself. 

I made this game in the GameSalad engine.  It is playable at http://www.gamesalad.com/game/play/358. Currently, GameSalad is only supported on Mac computers.

DARKWOOD

 Be the hero, save the princess, save yourself! Experience this Zelda-esque dungeon crawler, filled with puzzles and traps to deter even the most stalwart of heroes!

Darkwood was a simple 2D, top-down, dungeon crawler.  Two other students and I finished it in about two weeks.  We created this game with the intent to utilize 'indirect control.'  We wanted to guide the player where we wanted them to go, without explicitly telling them what to do.  It was a fun experience and from it, we made a really great game.

As the nameless prince, you are tasked to save the princess of Darkwood from a dangerous dungeon.  The player must avoid arrow traps, fake floors that cover an unending abyss, and rolling boulders.

The game was made in the GameSalad engine.  It is playable at  http://gamesalad.com/game/play/764.  Currently, GameSalad is only supported on Mac computers.

PRODUCING

During the last several months of this development class, we were creating about ten games to be presented at our Game Development Showcase.  I was the lead producer and was in charge of organizing everyone's work, making sure everyone was on schedule, and facilitating the communication between all the team members.

Throughout this period, I would help everyone with specific problems in their different projects.  As an engineer, I have honed strong problem-solving skills, and these were very helpful when dealing with a wide variety of problems in a wide variety of mediums.  This allowed me to help others look at their problem from a different perspective and tackle their problem with clear thinking.

I organized several computer tools to help our team.  One tool that our team heavily used was a web site that helps organize team projects: basecamphq.com.  This allowed me to create to-do lists and mark deadlines on a calendar that all of my classmates could access on any computer.  Our team also used google docs to share basic documents and to facilitate group e-mails.  We met every Monday and Wednesday nights for three hours, and every night before, I would send out e-mails with work reminders. 

One problem with organizing ten students is the fact that I had to contend with ten busy student schedules.  Everyone did not always show up to meetings, and sometimes people would not finish their work by a specific deadline.  I had to make sure that everyone was aware of what needed to be done.  I had to keep my eyes on future deadlines that my teammates were not always watching.

Through all of the struggles to keep everyone organized, we could never forget that the focus was on creating quality, fun games; games that provided unique and compelling experiences for the player.  This was challenging in such a short amount of time, but with the right organization, our team flourished and finished some great games.