Frazer 'Dolph' Carpenter | Game Designer

Programming

As a designer filling the shoes of a programmer for this project, my focus for the programming was to create a satisfying gameplay loop which fit the design brief. I think this is most notable in the pathing for the birds where they move in a straight line towards a random point, occasionally reaching that point and then moving to a new random point. Given my abilities at the time and the short deadline I think this solution works for the gameplay, however, if I were to revisit this game, I would spend more time creating code that moves the birds in more natural paths, potentially reacting to the player and trying to avoid them or, at least, moving across the screen in the direction they are facing.

Similarly, with more time, I think the game could benefit greatly from additional effects. Most importantly would be destruction effects when the player collides with a cloud or bird. This would help the game feel more responsive while providing greater feedback to the player. One of the goals for the clouds was to hide the birds and if the clouds could puff around the player when hit, they could take up more of the screen further obfuscating the incoming birds.

One thing I learnt from programming Jolt in Construct, was the power of having a z-layer in a 2D game. While it was a considerable amount of work learning this feature of Construct in a few short weeks, it was crucial to the core gameplay. And, once I had the concept grasped, I started to see more places it could be used to enhance the vibe. One of my favourite uses was on the player z-position, setting it behind the camera when paused and having the sprite fall in front when starting/resuming. I also quite like how in the dreaming ending, the player sprite passes through the text, going from on top to behind.

Something I learnt about designing from this game which I have applied in each project since, was the value of being able to prototype ideas myself. The ability to get rapid results and test and iterate as each thought comes has allowed me to find design ideas which I would have missed otherwise, but also rule out poor ideas before they became baked into a GDD. This occurred to me as I was programming the player movement, testing it and finding it didn’t feel right. With some experimentation, I realised that the player had too much control over the character but by increasing the momentum, the gameplay changed from reactively positioning in front of a bird to preemptively chasing them. While this likely would have been caught after an internal playtest and discussion, I was instead able to document the change in momentum and my reasoning behind it, then present a compelling argument in the next design meeting, ultimately saving precious time.