Pond Scum
Pond Scum is an isometric action-RPG I created as a student solo project in Unity. Players take the role of a knight in an amphibious kingdom who is tasked with wiping out a rival nation - but after sparing a young girl, his perspective begins to change. The game features sword-and-shield combat, quests, dialogue, loot, and exploration.
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WHAT I CONTRIBUTED
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PROCESS
1. Concepting and story outline: The first step in pre-production was developing the concept and story arc. I created a game design document with plans for each level, character, and story beat. I maintained and updated this document over the course of development. I also assembled moodboards of reference images for visual inspiration.
2. Systems implementation: I then implemented all of the gameplay systems - movement, combat, dialogue, quests, and scripted events - using C#. I programmed the enemy AI using finite state machines. For the dialogue and quest system, I used scriptable objects in Unity in conjunction with Excel spreadsheets. All of the dialogue I wrote is stored in a spreadsheet which is converted into a .csv file and parsed by the C# script. The system is modular, flexible, and easily editable through the dialogue spreadsheet. This allowed me to write and iterate on over 120 lines of dialogue for three major characters and easily keep in-game dialogue sequences up-to-date. 3. Level building: I designed and implemented three distinct levels, each featuring combat, exploration, and story development through dialogue and quests. I tackled the levels one at a time, and always started with the basic layout and gameplay elements. 4. UI implementation: I created the HUD elements for player health, quests, and dialogue. I specifically wanted to avoid the cluttered HUD elements that isometric RPGs sometimes rely on, so I designed my elements to block as little of the game view as possible. I initially used primitive shapes to represent characters in the dialogue popups and HUD sprite. 5. External playtesting and revisions: I conducted several user playtests to find out how players responded to the level layouts, gameplay mechanics, and story. I then revised the levels to improve the flow and feel. I also took notes on where players encountered unintended challenges, then worked to fix bugs and ease gameplay in these areas. 6. UX polish and set dressing: I illustrated character sprites for the UI elements using FireAlpaca (a free drawing software, similar to Krita) to bring the characters to life. I added lots of particle effects for things like walking, destroying wooden crates, using a health pickup, and knocking an enemy out. I also collected music and sound effects from creative commons sound libraries and added them to give better feedback and set the atmosphere for gameplay. Finally, I used third-party assets to set-dress the levels. |