The Rat and the Alchemist

A game developed with a team for the Pirate Software Game Jam 2024.

Overview

For this project, I wanted to work with a diverse group of people, as most of my previous collaborations had been with students studying DAE. The large community of Pirate Software seemed like a great place for this. After a few days, I assembled a team of enthusiastic individuals with varying skill levels to participate in the jam, taking on the roles of project manager and lead developer.

I learned a lot about managing a team of people who didn't know each other, coming from different parts of the world. We encountered several challenges, but these experiences taught me valuable lessons about team management in a game development context.

Project Development

This was a two-week game jam. On the first day, we got off to a strong start with a fun idea: you play as a rat helping an old wizard make potions without being seen. We decided to set the game in a circular room, which would provide a unique perspective and fit well with the wizard tower setting. This concept led to a 3D platformer with limited depth, as the player could only explore as deep as the shelves allowed, similar to the design seen in Little Nightmares.

However, after a few days, our team encountered some issues. Our artist wanted to switch to a completely different project due to concerns about scope. The team decided not to switch, which made the artist feel disregarded, leading to a significant drop in motivation. Our dedicated game designer also took a long time to deliver his work, and since we relied heavily on him to create levels that were engaging and fun to explore, this caused further delays and increased tension within the team.

To address the artist's concerns, I took on a mediating role and assisted with various tasks, including creating additional props and handling all of the game's implementation. With the game designer, I consistently followed up on the need for his design work. Each time, he assured me that it was nearly complete and would be delivered soon. As this was a game jam with participants working for fun, I was hesitant to impose strict deadlines. However, I now realize that even in a relaxed environment, it's crucial to ensure that tasks are completed on time to maintain team morale and project momentum.

My Contributions

Besides project management, I was also the lead developer and character artist. Some of my contributions include:

• Alchemist Behavior: Building on previous projects, I improved a state machine to create the alchemist's behavior. The alchemist follows a simple logic: it starts by going to the book to check the recipe, then looks for an ingredient. It decides if the ingredient is correct by comparing values and uses a percentage chance to determine if it should proceed. The alchemist then places the ingredient next to the cauldron, returns to the book before placing it in the cauldron, and repeats the process. Everything is designed to be interruptible by the player, allowing them to gain more time and replace the item next to the cauldron to let the alchemist add the correct item.
• Alchemist and Rat Art: I created the art and implementation for the alchemist and the rat, including modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, and implementation into the engine. I experimented with Unity's Cloth Component to make the alchemist's cloak and beard, as well as the rat's tail and tie, flexible. While the tail and tie worked well, the wizard's cloak pushed the limits of the Cloth Component, leading to some issues. Despite some artifacts and concessions in the hand-painted texture, the added secondary movement enhanced the characters' overall feel.
• Item Movement: I designed a system that allows items to move from any point to any other point with a smooth arc. A manager handles various splines that can be triggered by game events, moving the sender of the event from its current location to the given endpoint. This design is highly modular, with items being unconcerned about who moves them, and movers being unconcerned about what they are moving.
• Troubleshooting: As the most experienced Unity developer on the team, I handled most of the technical issues. This role also gave me the opportunity to work with FMOD in Unity and to solve various challenges related to building the project for WebGL.

Outcome and Reflection

Our submission received positive feedback, placing in the top 15%. Considering that three of our team members had little experience and we faced several challenges, this result was commendable. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied, as I felt the game had more potential than what we were able to deliver.

We received feedback such as:

"Very simple and intuitive design! Clear goal of the game, no need for instructions—just follow the recipe! The 3D models look great, level design is so cool, and the camera work only emphasizes that! The only missing piece would be some SFX/player feedback for picking up different objects, throwing them, and the alchemist adding the ingredient. Awesome little game that checks the scope of the game jam perfectly!"

Additionally, the judges provided constructive feedback on areas that could be improved:

• While the circular room and environment were praised for being interesting and engaging, it was suggested that the game could benefit from an in-game tutorial or on-screen guidance, especially for mechanics like the catapults, which some players found unintuitive until they read the design document.
• There was feedback regarding the shadow element, which was central to the game's theme but didn't play out as effectively as intended. The suggestion to include a UI indicator to show when the alchemist's eyes are on the player would enhance the stealth aspect of the game.
• The navigation and platforming were challenging and engaging, but there were suggestions for improving mechanics such as object placement, possibly with some magnetism to make the interactions smoother.

The music and overall alchemy theme were well-received and tied nicely into the gameplay, but it was clear that more polish could have been added to the mechanics and user experience. This feedback has been invaluable in helping me identify areas for improvement, particularly in terms of providing better guidance to players and ensuring that key game elements, like the shadow theme, are more effectively integrated into the gameplay.

Overall, this experience reinforced the importance of player feedback and the need for clear, intuitive game mechanics, even in a game jam setting.