I had to start thinking about my Senior Project for my last year at UCSD, and so of course I wanted to make a video game. Now, I could've approached this by making a game of my own interests, an RPG, a Roguelite, or something more like an Arcade game. However, I wanted to try to stand out with my project, something more,
U N I Q U E
I started by thinking of the game as an installation. Around this time I was taking classes in Electronic Arts which utilized Arduinos and sensors, and had taken previous classes which discussed the topic of thinking more creatively on how to extend the communication of the body and a computer. So I considered my options, what forms of input could I use in an installation? Well, I had used a loud sound sensor before for my Patience Console, that could serve as a click.
With such an arbitrary way of clicking a mouse, what kind of game could I possibly make? What options do I have that have more variable outputs? For example, a motion sensor is still an "on" or "off". I did some research and learned about distance sensors, and the idea clicked in my head.
I wanted to make a game that uses a player's distance from the screen.
But how do we implement this in a way that makes sense? Well, I had to first decide on a genre. What could work best with these two forms of input? The simplest option, a platformer! Then, how do we make it more interesting? After weeks of pondering, I then finally decided on the concept.
A puzzle platformer where the world's objects shifts with the player's position. To make it less reliant on the "platforming" aspect, as clapping repeatedly for the entire exhibition would get tiring, I could shift focus onto the puzzle aspect. The key goal of the game was to mimic this 3D plane on a 2D perspective, and the player must utilize their distance to shift the world to reach the end.
U N I Q U E
I started by thinking of the game as an installation. Around this time I was taking classes in Electronic Arts which utilized Arduinos and sensors, and had taken previous classes which discussed the topic of thinking more creatively on how to extend the communication of the body and a computer. So I considered my options, what forms of input could I use in an installation? Well, I had used a loud sound sensor before for my Patience Console, that could serve as a click.
With such an arbitrary way of clicking a mouse, what kind of game could I possibly make? What options do I have that have more variable outputs? For example, a motion sensor is still an "on" or "off". I did some research and learned about distance sensors, and the idea clicked in my head.
I wanted to make a game that uses a player's distance from the screen.
But how do we implement this in a way that makes sense? Well, I had to first decide on a genre. What could work best with these two forms of input? The simplest option, a platformer! Then, how do we make it more interesting? After weeks of pondering, I then finally decided on the concept.
A puzzle platformer where the world's objects shifts with the player's position. To make it less reliant on the "platforming" aspect, as clapping repeatedly for the entire exhibition would get tiring, I could shift focus onto the puzzle aspect. The key goal of the game was to mimic this 3D plane on a 2D perspective, and the player must utilize their distance to shift the world to reach the end.
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And with that, it was time to start prototyping! I decided to focus less on the controller aspect for now, and try to get an idea of how the game would play. I used a button in Godot to mimic the "clap" and a slider to copy the idea of a distance. One thing I had noticed is, unlike traditional platformers, I do not have a WASD keyboard format for this game. However, I came up with a simple solution. The spirit will simply start moving when the player claps, and clapping while it moves would make it jump.
This served as a double-sided solution, as one, I wanted the input to feel more like a fourth-wall breaking mechanic, like the spirit can actually feel your inputs. The idea of clapping so loudly the spirit gets spooked out to know to move served as a great way to build that interaction between the player and the spirit. It also was a very simplistic way to have the player maintain controlled movement.
As seen in the 2nd picture, I decided to try creating objects that would appear and disappear depending on the player's distance. If the player is too far, they vanish, or maybe if they're too close, they re-appear. An object's physicality in the world can serve as a blockade, but also a platform to work with. Moving forward, we have our very simple gameplay loop! The player must clap to move, and using their distance, they must help the spirit get to the right side of the screen.
This served as a double-sided solution, as one, I wanted the input to feel more like a fourth-wall breaking mechanic, like the spirit can actually feel your inputs. The idea of clapping so loudly the spirit gets spooked out to know to move served as a great way to build that interaction between the player and the spirit. It also was a very simplistic way to have the player maintain controlled movement.
As seen in the 2nd picture, I decided to try creating objects that would appear and disappear depending on the player's distance. If the player is too far, they vanish, or maybe if they're too close, they re-appear. An object's physicality in the world can serve as a blockade, but also a platform to work with. Moving forward, we have our very simple gameplay loop! The player must clap to move, and using their distance, they must help the spirit get to the right side of the screen.
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One of the hardest parts of this game was the visual design.
There were two key points, one was the color palette. Two was the feeling of depth.
I spent a lot of time creating tilemaps with different colors, backgrounds, and styles. I ended up sticking with the overworld grassy tones, rather than the underground cavern style. I wanted the world to feel more open and lively, and the underground element felt too cramped. There was a lot of attempts at mixing pink, purple, and blue. This was easily one of the most time-consuming aspects, as I kept feeling dissatisfaction with my work.
Secondly, rather than the traditional flatness of a 2D platformer, I tried to mimic a perspective within the game. Originally, "movable" walls would simply disappear and re-appear using a modulate shift, but I did not enjoy this at all for two reasons. One, if a wall is not seen originally, how does a player know there is a wall there? Secondly, this didn't go anywhere near the idea I had for a 3D world on a 2D plane. So what I had done is spent some time coding 3 "states" for my objects.
Behind, middle, and front.
If the player is too close, it would appear far back, but if the player was too far, it would appear larger and slightly transparent, mimicking the feeling of "depth" as if the object is closer to you. This really helped the game out, as objects could be seen at all times, and made the shift of the player's distance a lot more noticeable.
There were two key points, one was the color palette. Two was the feeling of depth.
I spent a lot of time creating tilemaps with different colors, backgrounds, and styles. I ended up sticking with the overworld grassy tones, rather than the underground cavern style. I wanted the world to feel more open and lively, and the underground element felt too cramped. There was a lot of attempts at mixing pink, purple, and blue. This was easily one of the most time-consuming aspects, as I kept feeling dissatisfaction with my work.
Secondly, rather than the traditional flatness of a 2D platformer, I tried to mimic a perspective within the game. Originally, "movable" walls would simply disappear and re-appear using a modulate shift, but I did not enjoy this at all for two reasons. One, if a wall is not seen originally, how does a player know there is a wall there? Secondly, this didn't go anywhere near the idea I had for a 3D world on a 2D plane. So what I had done is spent some time coding 3 "states" for my objects.
Behind, middle, and front.
If the player is too close, it would appear far back, but if the player was too far, it would appear larger and slightly transparent, mimicking the feeling of "depth" as if the object is closer to you. This really helped the game out, as objects could be seen at all times, and made the shift of the player's distance a lot more noticeable.
With gameplay intact, I prototyped a few levels and did a playtest for my class. There were two major things I noticed, the game needed more work visually, levels were too hard, it could use more mechanics (At the time, there was only objects that moved), could use better music (It was just a 30 second beat I made on repeat), and needed more of a story.
For visuals, I added a shade that progressively gets darker towards the bottom of the screen, adding a feeling of depth and making the bottom layer of dirt feel less empty. I added some clouds onto the top, and while it may have changed the visuals of the game drastically, I felt it fit the "spiritual" relaxation theme of the world I was going for. Originally, only the background would change colors depending on the player's distance. (If they were close, it was bright, if they were far, it got darker.) However, I thought it needed more shift, so I made the camera zoom in and out depending on the player's distance as well.
I had also added a camera shake, to really mimic the feeling of that loud alert the player is giving off. With actual testing, it felt very satisfying to clap, and the screen shaking at the sound of it.
For levels being too hard, I tried to put a lot less emphasis on platforming and made the positioning of levels way more lenient. (Before, a slight shift in movement would cause you to fall in a lot of levels.) So what this meant was, I redid EVERY SINGLE LEVEL from scratch. I made 9 new levels for my next midterm presentation on my second quarter, and I had felt a lot of improvement, though one level was still a bit too hard.
For mechanics, it was hard to make something that wasn't too complex to understand, but also something interesting enough to shift the gameplay. The player only had 5 minutes after all. So I decided on a wall that disappears and re-appears with the clap. The main idea of it is an unstable force in the world and your presence causes it to vanish.
For the music, I decided to put more effort into it and create a 5 minute long song. The goal was the song would progressively grow more rapid, dramatic, as time comes to a close. It starts very simple, but eventually adds a new instrument as time passes, then another. It becomes this dramatic ambience in the end, as you reach your end and the game comes to a close, but it doesn't intend on stressing the player, but allowing them to know audibly that time is running out.
Finally, I had to consider the most important thing. The fact this game is an installation, rather than a download on a PC. This shifts many dynamics, like the playtime length, the surroundings, and the variability of the audience. So I made it if the game, except the timer, will pause if a player is not present. If a player is not in front of the distance sensor for a while, then the game will reset back to the starting screen. The implementation of the timer served as a double meaning, one as a representation of the limited time in our lives, and as a way to allow players to play one by one, rather than one person potentially hogging the game for hours. (They could theoretically do this, but they'd have to redo the game from scratch each time.) Also, originally the starting screen would start the game if there was a clap, but that doesn't account for the possibility of someone elsewhere clapping or yelling. So, I have the game only activate if a player is the right distance away, and they clap.
For visuals, I added a shade that progressively gets darker towards the bottom of the screen, adding a feeling of depth and making the bottom layer of dirt feel less empty. I added some clouds onto the top, and while it may have changed the visuals of the game drastically, I felt it fit the "spiritual" relaxation theme of the world I was going for. Originally, only the background would change colors depending on the player's distance. (If they were close, it was bright, if they were far, it got darker.) However, I thought it needed more shift, so I made the camera zoom in and out depending on the player's distance as well.
I had also added a camera shake, to really mimic the feeling of that loud alert the player is giving off. With actual testing, it felt very satisfying to clap, and the screen shaking at the sound of it.
For levels being too hard, I tried to put a lot less emphasis on platforming and made the positioning of levels way more lenient. (Before, a slight shift in movement would cause you to fall in a lot of levels.) So what this meant was, I redid EVERY SINGLE LEVEL from scratch. I made 9 new levels for my next midterm presentation on my second quarter, and I had felt a lot of improvement, though one level was still a bit too hard.
For mechanics, it was hard to make something that wasn't too complex to understand, but also something interesting enough to shift the gameplay. The player only had 5 minutes after all. So I decided on a wall that disappears and re-appears with the clap. The main idea of it is an unstable force in the world and your presence causes it to vanish.
For the music, I decided to put more effort into it and create a 5 minute long song. The goal was the song would progressively grow more rapid, dramatic, as time comes to a close. It starts very simple, but eventually adds a new instrument as time passes, then another. It becomes this dramatic ambience in the end, as you reach your end and the game comes to a close, but it doesn't intend on stressing the player, but allowing them to know audibly that time is running out.
Finally, I had to consider the most important thing. The fact this game is an installation, rather than a download on a PC. This shifts many dynamics, like the playtime length, the surroundings, and the variability of the audience. So I made it if the game, except the timer, will pause if a player is not present. If a player is not in front of the distance sensor for a while, then the game will reset back to the starting screen. The implementation of the timer served as a double meaning, one as a representation of the limited time in our lives, and as a way to allow players to play one by one, rather than one person potentially hogging the game for hours. (They could theoretically do this, but they'd have to redo the game from scratch each time.) Also, originally the starting screen would start the game if there was a clap, but that doesn't account for the possibility of someone elsewhere clapping or yelling. So, I have the game only activate if a player is the right distance away, and they clap.
Finally, the story. I had the gameplay loop, the visuals, and music now.
I had always pushed this game's idea as a metaphor for the importance of having a friend. So, I wanted to build on the game being a metaphor for life.
You're lost. You don't know where you're going. You're stuck. But sometimes, all someone needs is someone else in their life, someone to provide new ideas, perspectives, and motivation. You serve as that friend for the spirit, pushing it and helping it navigate through this strange world.
The game mimics life. We don't really know where we go in the future. We're tossed in this world, taught a few basic things, and expected to keep on going. We don't know how it will end. But, it's about the journey. We stick by the spirit to move forward. There is no reward except the feeling of joy for our own accomplishments. The memories and feeling of being together with someone. Because in the end, that's all we'll have left.
And that's my game, Where We Stand. I actually REALLY enjoy this title because it works as a double meaning, for the literal gameplay of checking where you're standing to navigate the perspective shifts, but also to tell the player to see where they are right now in life. Take time to pause, slow down, and appreciate where they've gotten to.
This is certainly one of my favorite projects since until this point, I had only made games without a real sense of story or message behind them. The main goal was to test my technical capabilities and making something fun. This game was a fantastic test of both aspects, and I feel I made something that is not only fun and technically interesting, but also something that can leave someone with a positive message to end on.
I had always pushed this game's idea as a metaphor for the importance of having a friend. So, I wanted to build on the game being a metaphor for life.
You're lost. You don't know where you're going. You're stuck. But sometimes, all someone needs is someone else in their life, someone to provide new ideas, perspectives, and motivation. You serve as that friend for the spirit, pushing it and helping it navigate through this strange world.
The game mimics life. We don't really know where we go in the future. We're tossed in this world, taught a few basic things, and expected to keep on going. We don't know how it will end. But, it's about the journey. We stick by the spirit to move forward. There is no reward except the feeling of joy for our own accomplishments. The memories and feeling of being together with someone. Because in the end, that's all we'll have left.
And that's my game, Where We Stand. I actually REALLY enjoy this title because it works as a double meaning, for the literal gameplay of checking where you're standing to navigate the perspective shifts, but also to tell the player to see where they are right now in life. Take time to pause, slow down, and appreciate where they've gotten to.
This is certainly one of my favorite projects since until this point, I had only made games without a real sense of story or message behind them. The main goal was to test my technical capabilities and making something fun. This game was a fantastic test of both aspects, and I feel I made something that is not only fun and technically interesting, but also something that can leave someone with a positive message to end on.
