A 3D Voxel Rhythm Shoot-em Up made for Code Ninjas Sensei Game Jam 2024.
Takeaways
For this lengthier Jam, I wanted to make sure to have the game functionally and visually completed in the first half. While the second half was dedicated to ironing out bugs, and adding small additions to add to the game visuals without drastically changing the gameplay.
Doing the Jam in this way allowed me to better delegate my time on the project to complete all the parts in my game I wanted to achieve. There are various areas in the game that I was able to add onto because the time I had was more flexible.
Overall,
I created this game as a solo dev, during this longer Game Jam of two months.
My goal for this jam was to have a fully polished looking game. Which resulted in spending more time dedicated to Visual Assets, and making sure all the assets looked cohesive.
Cathode Blasters
Process Work
Initial Ideas
I’ve always wanted to make a hybrid rhythm and brawler style game, so I decided to go with an early idea that tapping to the beat allowed you to complete other actions.
With the amount of time that I had to complete this Jam, I wanted to divert more time on developing the art of the game rather than the code. As I have more experience in making code than Art, I was less confident in my skills to create the assets I would need for the game.
I had recently discovered that Voxel Art could be a reliable way to create 3D assets, so I went with that as my art style. The art direction and context of the game would drastically change as I progress through the project.
At the end of my early brainstorming, I came up with the Core Aspects for the game.
Voxel / Pixel Aesthetic
Top - Down
Tapping to Beat to enable gameplay
Code Ninjas Sensei Game Jam Theme
Rough Prototyping
I was able to complete my initial prototype very quickly. The prototype for the fighting system was created so that the player could recharge by tapping to the beat, and attack by holding a button down. However, after playing it myself, and having others also play it, it wasn’t enjoyable for a few reasons.
Few to No Actions
Unclear Effects
Lack of Difficulty
This feedback was great to receive early on, so I could begin recreating the player mechanics to be more fun.
The route I ended up taking was to make a shoot-em up, and not require the player to be tied to the Rhythm mechanic as heavily as before.
Build Differences
For this Jam’s submission, It was recommended to create a Web GL build. Which while I was prepared for, I had been using a lot of tools that ended up not working in the Web GL versions of the game.
This ended up requiring the end of the project to have scenes built for each version, and required two different builds each time I needed to test.
It was a great experience to add in many of the small features that I normally wouldn’t have been able to during a Game Jam.
Being able to check off all my to-do lists for this project was very satisfying.
Building an Aesthetic
As this early prototype focused on the game play aspects, there were few ideas of what could be the theme or context that could bind the game together.
While I had a rough idea of having a retro/neon aesthetic for the game, it was hard to expand that idea into other areas of the game. For example, the enemies needed to look distinct between each other so that the player could tell what to expect from any particular enemy at a glance.
I ended getting inspiration to make headphones for the enemies. While making it, I ended up adding extra details to it.
This spawned the idea to make Brands to expand the context for things to look different.
I also applied the Brands onto the Player’s upgrades, making it easier to tell what each Brand was best at.
Making the Brands was a fun design exercise as well, as I had to match the Shape and Colour language being used for each.
Summer Showcase Prep
I was surprised to have been picked for Interactive Ontario’s Summer Showcase!
In addition to fully debugging the game, I also really wanted to showcase the game differently, so I worked towards making a mobile port.
While I only had 6 days to do so, With plenty of research I was able to shoehorn an android build together!
It was a great opportunity to showcase Bait Watch, and to see people get their hands on the game and to play the game live!