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Fuhgeddaboutit Gaming
Written by:
Christian Vargas-Polo
December 18 , 2020
The player can control Alex’s movements using the following keys:
- _D key_ : forward movement
- _A key_ : backward movement
- _B_ : shooting
- _SpaceBar_ : jump
Game Hosted At: Run & Gun Game
I. Main Character: Alex Stark
Alex Stark is a 30-year-old retired military veteran. He joined the military primarily to afford school after completing the minimum four years but found that he actually appreciated the structure that came with military life. After completing his stint in the military, Alex enrolled in college, and decided to study biology in order to work towards his dream of becoming a pediatrician.
Alex lives with his elder brother John and his German Shepard, Otto, in his brother’s three-bedroom condo in Washington, DC, mainly because it saves money and it’s close to campus. In addition to being a full-time student, Alex works part-time at BioCorp, a privately-owned laboratory, in order to gain experience for his medical school resume.
II. Back Story
Most days at the laboratory were pretty dull, but one day, as Alex was helping one of the senior technicians, a code red was sounded. As per his military training, Alex sprang into action and ran in the direction indicated by the voice blaring over the loudspeakers. The commotion led him to the aquarium side of the lab, where Alex could see mutated versions of the normally gentle and encased sea creatures breaking the aquarium glass, attacking the scientists, and wreaking havoc in the lab. Without a moment to spare, Alex ran quickly made his way to the secret stash of weapons that the lab stored for emergencies and began to annihilate the mutated creatures before they made it outside the lab.
I. Main Objective
In “Run and Gun” (R&G), the player must help Alex defeat the mutated aquatic animals before they can escape the laboratory. It is appropriate for players 10 and up who are seeking an action- meets-fiction game with a strong lead character and appropriately challenging levels. Depending on player ability, it should take approximately 5 – 10 minutes to complete each level, with total gameplay averaging about one-hour minimum.
II. Short-term Goal
The player must shoot his way through the plethora of NPC mutated sea creatures.
III. Mid-term Goal
The player must avoid the enemy NPC sea creatures.
IV. Long-term Goal
The player much reach the outside of the laboratory, all while avoiding getting attacked by enemy NPCS.
I. Abilities
The player can control Alex’s movements using the following keys:
- D key : forward movement
- A key : backward movement
- B : shooting
- SpaceBar : jump
II. Assets and Attributes
The primary attribute in the game are three hearts that represent lives. When the player collides with an enemy NPC, a life is lost. The game ends when all three lives are depleted.
The assets are the five items listed within the “Short-Term Goal” section.
III. Obstacles
The obstacles are the NPC mutated octopi and crabs that the player must dodge to avoid losing a life.
I. Required Hardware
R&G can be played on a desktop or laptop computer that runs on
Mac OS or Windows OS and is equipped with a functional keyboard
and mouse or trackpad. The player can control Alex with the keys
noted in the “Abilities” subtopic of the “Mechanics” section.
I. Development Environment
R&G was created using C# in the Unity game engine.
II. Development Sequence
The following shows a tentative, unordered list of development goals
that must be accomplished to produce a playable prototype. This list
does not include playtests between the addition of new mechanics:
- Program main character movements (see “Mechanics”)
- Program tutorial level(s) and puzzles
- Program enemy NPC movements
- Implement UI o Health hearts o Start screen o Game over screen o Menu system
- Record and add music and sound effects
- Develop new levels with appropriately increased difficulty
I. Characters, NPCs, and Assets
Sprite sheets for the main character and enemy NPCs were
obtained for free under the protection of the Creative Commons
license from kindpng.com.
II. Game World
The game takes place in a lab that has been overtaken by mutated
aquatic creatures. The backdrop was obtained for free under the
Creative Commons license from spriters-resource.com.
III. Sound Effects
All sound effects were recorded and/or created by the team.
IV. Music
All music was recorded and/or created by the team.
Depicted below in no particular order are the sprites and images
used in R&G. Sources and credits for all sprites and images can be
found in the “Characters, NPCs, and Assets” subsection of the
“Aesthetics” section. All sprites have been resized for the purposes of
this document, and do not represent their actual sizes during
gameplay.
Figure 1 Level backdrop A
Figure 2 Level backdrop B
Figure 3 Alex Stark character sprite
Figure 4 Enemy NPC mutated crab
Figure 5 Enemy NPC mutated octopus
The following figures depict the state machine diagrams for the
shooting and forward movement mechanics in R&G.
Figure 6 Shooting mechanic state diagram
Figure 7 Move forward mechanic state diagram
Christian Vargas-Polo: Backend/Graphics/Specs Specs:
- Created the narrative
- Initial outlining of the game design document Graphics:
- Created sprites for the collectible items
- Created background music Backend: Worked on the main functionality and visuals of the game, including camera, character, and monster mechanics