Great Success!

EAE day went pretty well.  We had a lot of interest in our game, and practically had to pry people away from it to allow others a chance to play.  We got a lot of positive feedback, and the negative feedback was very helpful.  Mostly we need to refine the tutorial levels and the controls, but that's about it.

Here is a candid photo of the team setting up:

During winter break we will be getting our 3D models textured and have them ready for the game by the beginning of next semester.  I will also be working on some new art assets and the programmers will be prepping for next semester also so we can just jump back in.  We will have the new build up on the website this week, so please go play it and send us feedback via the form on the site.  Thanks!

www.melterman.com

EAE Day!!

Today is EAE day at the University of Utah where we get to show off our games!  I was up late last night getting some new art assets ready.  I made 350 business cards to hand out.  Here's what they look like:

I also made a new and updated Start Menu for the game:

New screenshots and a game play trailer to come soon!

For more about EAE Day check out: 

http://www.coe.utah.edu/blog/2014/12/08/u-students-to-show-off-latest-video-game-projects/

Alpha Prep

This week and next we will be getting ready for Alpha!  Friday December 12th is EAE day at the University of Utah from 4pm-7pm.  We will be showing our game and we want to make sure it's as polished and playable as possible.  Our first attempt at tutorial levels didn't go over well.  We figured out that we really need to simplify and slow down the learning curve.  We also discussed ways to make our complex controls more streamline and easy to pick up.

My job is to make all the tutorial UI that will be needed.  The idea is to make it look like graffiti on the walls.  Below is an example of what that will look like.

As soon as we have the alpha build ready, I will post a link so people can start play testing!

Updated Environmental Art

I decided the environmental art needed to be simplified and better match the feel of the goo.  Below is a test of my  new assets:

I also experimented with adding a glow to the meltable items.  The color of the glow will indicate to the player what type of goo is created when that object is melted:

In one of our meetings we talked about possibly creating 70's themed wallpaper as a background.  Here's what I came up with:

The problem with these two is that the backgrounds are too busy and distracting from the foreground.  Part of the difficulty I've been having has been trying to make that distinction.  I think that the first two relate to the player what is interactive and what is background.

Level Design

On Sunday we all designed levels and then played through them.  This way we were able to see what was fun and what wasn't.  It was interesting to see how many different play modes everyone came up with, using the same assets and mechanics.  We also used that opportunity to make sure everyone was on the same page and had the same vision for the game.  We came up with a razor and description so if ever any of us forget, we can remind ourselves.

We also got our website and facebook page updated, so go check them out!  http://www.melterman.net/

Play Testing

I had a bunch of the guys at React! Games SLC play through our demo.  They game me some really good advice and feedback.  Specifically I need to differentiate between the background and the foreground, and need to make the art more cohesive.  They thought the core game mechanics were interesting and have a lot of potential, but that as a starting level, the demo was hard to complete and at times frustrating.

Art Progress

So we finally have the t-poses done for the two main characters.  The modelers have started on them.  In the mean time we decided to place free Miximo models in the game as place holders so the programmers can get a feel for how the finished characters will work in the game.

First Build!!

We now have a playable web build!  The art is place holder and temporary, but we're starting to develop the feel we want for the environment.  Check out and play the demo here:

http://eng.utah.edu/~tigran/melterman/melterman.html

Still a lot of refining and play testing to do, but we're pretty excited about where we are now!

Screen shot:

Finally, We Have A Character!!

It took us some time and a bunch of concept art, but we finally settled on a style for the 3D characters.  We decided that the main character and the female character will be in 3D and that the rest of the art will be 2D.  A big part of figuring out the character was figuring out the story and how he fit in it.  We decided that he should be lanky, nerdy and semi-realistic.  This was a very different from our original idea, which was a hulking, superhero type.  We wanted our character to be normal and relatable.  Now I  will work on refining a T-pose for both characters so the 3D artists can start modeling them and get them rigged and animated.

Egon from Ghostbutsters was my inspiration!

MelterMan Made It!

MelterMan was one of the games chosen for this semester!  This past Sunday our team plus our new additions got together and hashed out where we wanted the game to go.  We spent 3 hours defining the main game play and core mechanics.  Since this week is fall break, I gave the artists and myself tasks to accomplish for our next meeting, on Sunday the 19th.  We need to come up with as much concept art as possible and then choose what we like.  The animators were tasked with researching 2D vs. 3D.  I will post the concept art once we have it available, in my next post.

Prototype Pitchin'

Today we are pitching our prototype to Bob and the class to practice for our industry panel pitch on Thursday.  We feel really good about our core mechanic of melting and the prototype shows it off in several different ways.

On Sunday, the artist also discussed what direction we would like to take the art.  We're looking at a synthesis of MegaMan and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.  We will all be working on more concept art so we can further pin it down.

Prototyping

We started prototyping our game and right away ran into a problem with the melting mechanic.  Since it was creating so many particles it would crash the system.  The programmers immediately starting looking for new scripts to fix the problem and did very well.  I am currently working on environment concepts (seen below) and will be starting on some character concepts.  We decided the environment will be a run down laboratory, but we will also have a clean version used for showing the past.  We decided to go with 2D since our particle system is in 2D and it should make animating and all the art easier for us.

MelterMan!

Thursday I found out I will be working on the MelterMan project.  I'm excited to get started on the prototype.  The other members of the team are great and I think we can make something really fun.

I am currently concepting some ideas for the direction of the art.  We have agreed that 2D will be a good way to go for this project, but we still have to figure out an art style that we all like.

Pitches

This week we pitched 15 game ideas to each other.  I found it interesting which of my ideas people found the most interesting.  In the end, none of mine were chosen to move forward, but it was a great experience.

First day of class.

I'm already thinking of game ideas to pitch.  Thinking about what I heard today and how it compares to having worked in a studio environment.