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Project Power

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Roles:
Game, Level, and Systems Designer
Duration:
03/2021-04/2021
Goal:
Exploration PCG and the power systems design.
 

Game Objective:
Provide 100 power to the rocket ship.

Development Challenges:
The most challenging aspect of this has been with the power system working no matter the order that buildings are added to a network. Simple idea was not so simple.

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Inspiration:
A theory that players just need a complete system and a complete experience for a game to be successful.

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How I started:
I love PCG for its creation of unique context. From Octagons to better fitting hexagons, to getting 1 building to turn on another.

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The Power System
The middle "Extender" was already connected to the income building on the right. When I connected the left power building to the Extender, and saw the income building start ticking, I was so excited! What could come from this?!

Cheap and Affordable Project
My intention this time was to stay away from the asset store, make everything on my own, and focus on the power system until we could win the game.

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Big Bowl of Oatmeal Gameplay:
PCG has this issue with providing lots of content that is not interesting. It can easily generate a huge level for example, and the player wouldn't feel pulled or interested in any direction. So I added tiles with bonuses to encourage decision and preference.

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Player Feedback:
Ambient and hover sounds and visuals were all part of the simplest form of feedback to the player. Audio was used to distinguish between Power and Income buildings for example, when they're placed, selected, or hovered over.

My Achievements: 
I gave myself 1 month to explore Unreals cable component to see if I could make a complete system. I got pretty far. The entire level is random yet tile clusters and interesting elevations create points of interest. You spawn on a random tile, choose where to start building, and the objective is simple. You can almost connect cables any which way that you want to.

There are a few bugs but when do you call a project finished? The initial goal was achieved and the solutions to the bugs are just a matter of more time. Out of concern for self moderation, feature creep, and needing a job, this is on hold. If this is resumed, I imagine some sort of top down camera, base building, or city builder. 

The game is playable on itch.io linked below.

Disclaimer:
Sfx all from FreeSound.org

Other:

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