Latch
Project Latch is a 2D, pixelated, side scrolling puzzle platformer for the PC. The player uses a magnet to defeat enemies, solve puzzles and traverse the harsh environment of the post-apocalyptic world.
My Role: Game Designer, Producer, Level Designer Genre: 2D Puzzle Platformer Platform: PC Engine: Unity Project Length: 9 Weeks, September-November 2020 Team: 8 People |
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Team
Design: Finn Mahoney, Sean Brady (Myself) Art: Chris Ottey, Hannah Lamb, Lachlan Smith, Tom Stonehouse Programming: Blake Tighe, Callum McDermott |
Contributions
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Development
Latch is a 2D, pixel art, side scroller, puzzle platformer for PC and was the first game that I (and most others in the team) developed as part of a team as part of the AIE Game Production course. We had 3 weeks of pre-production and planning before the 6 weeks of development in unity. We were given a brief to create a 2D sidescroller by the course instructors which we had to meet and follow. During the planning stage, multiple ideas were pitched. One idea we almost went with for our game was a Ninja nun game where a nun uses a whip to progress through a level and defeat demons. Finn and myself were not happy with the direction we were taking the game since we felt that it was way too similar to Castlevania so we had a talk with the team and convinced them that we should go back to the drawing board. The idea that we would later turn into Latch was a game that I pitched to the team where the player uses a magnet to both solve puzzles to progress through a level and defeat enemies. The idea was inspired by the Magnesis mechanic from ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ and was well received. The game was named Rob.io at this time.
Since this was the first time developing a game as a team, we had a lot of difficulties with teamwork. Not to say that there was any hostility between the team members or anything, it was actually quite friendly, but there were a lot of problems that occurred from communication and our pipeline. We each weren’t effectively communicating what we were up to and what we had worked on so there were many times when we were unsure exactly what had and hadn’t been implemented. There was also a small difference in the game's vision between the team members, which we wouldn’t realise until after the damage was done.
To create the game's level, Finn (the other designer) and myself made a level flowchart that outlined how we wanted the player to progress through the level and where they would learn each of the skills and mechanics. We then both created multiple sketches for the different sections of the level as well as different puzzle ideas. Finally we pieced all the parts together for the level layout and used the unity tile system to build the level in game. Minor tweaks and changes were made to the level based on testing and the tile sprites were replaced and updated once the artists implemented them.
Latch is a 2D, pixel art, side scroller, puzzle platformer for PC and was the first game that I (and most others in the team) developed as part of a team as part of the AIE Game Production course. We had 3 weeks of pre-production and planning before the 6 weeks of development in unity. We were given a brief to create a 2D sidescroller by the course instructors which we had to meet and follow. During the planning stage, multiple ideas were pitched. One idea we almost went with for our game was a Ninja nun game where a nun uses a whip to progress through a level and defeat demons. Finn and myself were not happy with the direction we were taking the game since we felt that it was way too similar to Castlevania so we had a talk with the team and convinced them that we should go back to the drawing board. The idea that we would later turn into Latch was a game that I pitched to the team where the player uses a magnet to both solve puzzles to progress through a level and defeat enemies. The idea was inspired by the Magnesis mechanic from ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ and was well received. The game was named Rob.io at this time.
Since this was the first time developing a game as a team, we had a lot of difficulties with teamwork. Not to say that there was any hostility between the team members or anything, it was actually quite friendly, but there were a lot of problems that occurred from communication and our pipeline. We each weren’t effectively communicating what we were up to and what we had worked on so there were many times when we were unsure exactly what had and hadn’t been implemented. There was also a small difference in the game's vision between the team members, which we wouldn’t realise until after the damage was done.
To create the game's level, Finn (the other designer) and myself made a level flowchart that outlined how we wanted the player to progress through the level and where they would learn each of the skills and mechanics. We then both created multiple sketches for the different sections of the level as well as different puzzle ideas. Finally we pieced all the parts together for the level layout and used the unity tile system to build the level in game. Minor tweaks and changes were made to the level based on testing and the tile sprites were replaced and updated once the artists implemented them.