My main role in this project was to work as part of the team to create the base idea for the game, story, art style and assist with the design of the levels in the game by utilising the Unity engine to quickly drag assets into the scene to create an environment. Before I started on building the level I wanted to have some assets to work with, so I created 5 quick low poly models in 3DS Max as this had to be done quickly due to the time limit, these models were the robin itself, trees, a bench, eggs and the surrounding fence. This also gave time for the base code of the game to be laid by the engines specialist using some basic models in the scene ready for more complex models to be easily implemented later on. After I completed each model I would pass them over to the texture artist and explain to him what I had done and work together with him to ensure the textures fit the proposed style and looked like our animal. We utilised Quixel suite to create these textures at first for painting on the base layers but then we painted directly on to the UV's to ensure that the colour was consistent and represented that pastel shading style we wanted. Now they were ready for implementation into engine.

 

Once they had been fully implemented and the game was working as intended all we needed to do was create the levels! For this I began by creating a perimeter using the fences I had created, then I placed more trees in the scene ensuring that if the player increased in size they could still navigate the level without getting stuck. Next I added in the rocks around the level ensure an even scatter and placing them slightly into the floor to give them the effect of being buried. I also used the scale function on the rocks to change the sizes making each rock slightly more unique. Then I added in the bench into the scene under a tree and began to place the eggs around the level. The plan was to have ten eggs in this level so I placed them around the scene insuring that players would get to see the whole level whilst collecting them, but also placing some eggs that would be more difficult to get at the larger sizes creating more of a challenge. Now this was done just some minor tweaking was needed and level one was completed! Unfortunately due to the time constraints we were unable to fully populate the other levels but we had a working game that utilised the assigned animal and had a win/loss state which also went on to win this years game jam! 

 

This was a great experience for me as it allowed me to feel what it was like working in a team to a deadline whilst also having to manage my tasks so I could complete each one as efficiently as possible. It also made me feel a lot more confident in my abilities to communicate well and the overall skill set I have been refining during my time at university. I really feel that this game jam was a defining point in my career as it highlighted my passion for games design, driving me towards this specialism with more determination.  

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Below is a short trailer I made for the game showing the only level and some game play and the music is directly from the game itself. Under the video is a download for the game so feel free to have a go and see if you can collect all 10 eggs in 1 minute!