Subject 48

Info

You wake up in a futuristic research facility with no memory.

Can you escape a sadistic AI running antimatter experiments?

Controls (Keyboard + Mouse Look)

• WASD: Move
• Space: Jump
  
• Mouse Left-click: Shoot antimatter particle

As a participant in the "Judica Me II" game jam from December 1 to December 3, 2023, I entered on the second day to create a game. It took me about 6 hours to complete the mechanics and level design and about an hour to add some polish. Here's a breakdown of my experience and the game I developed:

Development Approach and Aesthetics

- I intentionally kept the graphics low-key to avoid distractions. This decision allowed me to focus more on the gameplay and the voice acting.

- The game features a sadistic AI, inspired by Glados from "Portal 2", adding a unique twist to the player's experience.

- Embracing the theme of the jam, I designed the game based on chain-reactions, aiming to create engaging and dynamic interactions within the game environment.

Audio and Visual Technicalities

- I used sounds primarily from https://artlist.io/ to enhance the game's auditory experience. This choice provided a wide range of high-quality sound effects.

- For lighting, I employed Bakery lightmapping, a tool known for its ability to produce realistic lighting effects in games.

- I needed a quick solution for an FPS controller. The time constraint did not allow for an implementation of my own character controller. The movement mechanics in the game are powered by the Classic FPS Controller asset, which even includes  bunny hopping (CS 1.6 anyone?). This asset can be found at the Unity Asset Store: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/physics/classic-fps-controller-18474...

Challenges and Learning Outcomes

One of the main challenges I faced was coming up with a compelling game mechanic.

Unfortunately, the game lacks a good game loop, and the puzzle mechanics turned out to be somewhat mundane due to the limited time frame. I eventually got frustrated and decided to turn this into a learning opportunity, particularly in improving my audio, voice and narrations skills. I set up spatial audio, recorded some voice over and worked on triggers that play sound throughout the game's progress.

Endless chain reactions sounded way better in my head. I had "Peggle"-style graphics and cool gadgets in mind. I found it very hard to make the concept work, even more so in 3D and the constraint to use basic shapes only.

The robotic voice was created by recording myself in Audacity and then slightly shifting 2 copies of the same track by a little bit. I also added some reverb, normalized and compressed it and finally slightly increased the pitch.

I did set up triggers (OnEnterTrigger) when the player enters certain areas to play the voice narration.

Overall Experience

- Despite these challenges, participating in the jam was a fun and educational experience. It pushed me to explore new areas of game development and work under tight deadlines.

- A big thanks to Andrew for organizing the jam. His efforts made this creative experience possible.

In conclusion, my participation in the "Judica Me II" game jam was an intense but fulfilling endeavor. It was an opportunity to explore new aspects of game development, particularly in audio and story-telling, and to push my creative boundaries within a very limited timeframe.

See you in the next one, stay classy...

Matt