Postmortem

Postmortem

What did you change from the initial plan? 

Our Initial Pitch:

We were provided the theme: "Game within the game." We came up with the concept of a first person puzzle game, where you can pick up a variety of virtual controllers or gaming handhelds. Different consoles have different effects on the game world. For example, you can pick up a Game Boy and play Tetris. While you are building blocks on the 2D screen, suddenly a bridge is being constructed right in front of you outside of the Game Boy, made of blocks analogous to the ones in Tetris. Other ideas include playing Minesweeper to clear a path or a "Where's My Water" style game to create water flow to power a gate. Having these 2D games cleverly interact within our 3D game environment fits our theme of "Game within the game."

What changed was the idea to have different consoles for different games. We ended up sticking to one console, a handheld, with multiple game cartridges.

We also had different game ideas in the end. Instead of a “Tetris”-style game to build a bridge, it became a “Game n Watch”-style supply catching game. Instead of “Minesweeper”, we used “BreakOut” to destroy obstacles. These were due to scope restraints and these 2D games were easier to create.

The overall gameplay loop also changed. We had the initial idea to make the project a sequence of “game puzzles” that the player runs through linearly. We instead decided on a more sandbox approach, having a small collection of games representing player actions that they can use in multiple scenarios.

These changes are further reflected in our final pitch slide presentation.

What went right with your final project?

We were able to create our “Game within the game” mechanic wonderfully. On a 2D handheld, players catch planks to build bridges or break bricks to destroy boulders. We were worried about how we were going to render both the 3D world and the 2D game when the player switches from controlling a 3D character to 2D character. Thankfully with proper utilization of features provided by Unity, the “switching” mechanic went smoothly.

All of our group members were able to contribute to the project, creating assets, level design, audio, mechanics, UI, and ideation. We also were able to record and construct a game trailer just in time for the presentation.

What went wrong with your final project?

Due to time constraints and group members having limited time to collaborate and work on the game, we had a “Game Jam”-style week where we pretty much did the bulk of everything in 3 days. Thankfully, we had previously constructed a concept guideline with assigned roles to ensure a smooth production.

We had a couple of hiccups. We had rendering and lighting issues within the editor. We had some issues with merging our work together. We had some trouble with the ball physics in  “BreakOut.” We also had some trouble with the checkpoint system, pause system, and level changing system. We also had trouble scheduling a time when everyone was available to meet.

Also our assigned tasks and roles did not perfectly match the final product, however I think that this worked out for the best. We all were able to contribute in our own ways and collaborate together on the same tasks rather than separately.

Thankfully everything was able to be resolved.

What would you do differently next time?

We would try to work on the assignment earlier, if next time would allow us more availability.

If you could add one more week of development, what would you add?

We would add a third game cartridge to provide the player a new action, allowing for more complex levels and puzzles. We would also try to add more ambience/fidelity such as audio and visuals.

Individual Contribution(reflections, anything meaningful, etc.)

Phil Meyer: 

“Looking back at Retro-Active, I am very proud of each of our team members and what we were able to achieve. We have followed and fulfilled our concept nicely. It’s fun and creative. I feel it is the best completed game I have worked on so far, and it definitely has the best group work contribution too. Compared to other classes, it seems that only one person would construct the game, but all 5 of us had an active role in its creation. I would love to show off this game more.

Also thank you all for trusting the game concept, I hope it was as satisfying to see it come to life to you as it was for me.“

Aaron Vuong:

“All of us were able to contribute meaningfully to Retro-Active and had a good game concept to work with initially. I think that our initial scope of implementing Tetris and Minesweeper would have been interesting to implement if given the resources to do so. How would they affect the world and what puzzles would we have been able to create that showcases those games to the fullest? This is a question that this game presents to us, how to reform our understanding of other games and implement it into this one. I really enjoyed working with everyone on the team and wish everyone luck on their future endeavors.”

Wang Liao:

“Retro-Active breaks the boundary of games. I think the most important points throughout the development were that we worked on a scalable idea and made a playable demo in the early stage to make sure the core mechanic worked properly. I’m really glad everyone can work on what interests us the most and combine them together. Unfortunately, we had to scope down our project because of time constraints, but the final demo worked out. Thanks to everyone in this group. This game couldn’t be possible without everyone’s hard work and I’m sure everyone will keep making interesting and creative games in the future.”

Steven Ren:

“I have always loved games like this, games that are unconventional, games that push the current ‘norm’ of game boundaries of what a game is supposed to play like. I’m glad that we were all able to come together and create Retro-Active, even with the time restraint causing us to cut a lot of content, I think the game came out great. This game is a product of everyone in the group, it could not have been made if there was a single person missing; everyone was the backbone of the team of equal importance.

I’m glad this game was made and I hope everyone can keep making games as good as this one in the future.”