video and build

Video
https://vimeo.com/80395133

Build


Powerpoint

What I contributed.

I was one of the programmers for Shuffled. I worked on the card mechanics, and made sure that the deck drew and shuffled correctly. I also worked on the code for restarting the game, so that it didn't break the game when someone restarted it. I helped fix most of the bugs in the game, and I also worked on the movement code somewhat, and helped to make sure the collisions worked correctly. I also helped make sure that the boss codes work, when I had time.

What I contributed.

I was one of two main artists on the game.  I created assets for the game such as the background, walls, playing board, cards, banners, and statues.  I also made both splash screens with the help of Dylan for the main menu one since we used his concept art that I cleaned up.  I worked with Tyler and the team to get those splash screens implemented.  I also tried my best to keep the team together by encouraging communication constantly.  I consistently posted on our Facebook page asking how other team member tasks were going and I always asked if anyone needed help with stuff.

What I did for Shuffled

I made the particle effects seen in game,
I programmed a lot of the AI and Player controls as well as helped with the card system programming.
I designed the vortex background
I came up with the original idea for the game
I wrote/composed the music and sounds in the game
I designed many aspects of the boss fight

what I contributed

Gameplay:

- initial dash mechanic: added into code for testing

- initial wall jumping mechanic: added into code for testing

- concept for the design of the final Heart Boss Fight: 

- boss fight damage tweaking: designing the damage values for the fight

- title splash screens: implementing the title and controls splash screen 

Bug Searching/Fixes:

- found and fixed bug that was causing the diamond boss to slide around when moving

- found and fixed issue where club boss had a larger hit box than intended

- found an issue that caused the club boss to slide around as a result of fixing the boss's hit box

- identified an issue that caused flushes to sometimes flip the players cards and break 

- helped to fix an issue that caused players to get stuck on a boss when dashing at them 

Taylor Harrington Weekly Update 11/25

This past week I've been working on finishing touches of art assets, and working with code to get everything into the game properly.  The team and I have also been preparing for our video and presentation and I've been communicating with the team about how everyone's final tasks are coming along.

Taylor H Weekly Update 11/19

I've finished the main menu and controls splash screens and am now implementing the controls text into them.  I also redesigned some environment art such as the banners and backgrounds, to better reflect the game and give better indication of getting a flush and level changing.

Testing Results

The results of the tests issued for the latest build were not really all that surprising, yet were still informative. The main gripes players had were the things already being addressed by our team, meaning our focus was right on the mark. In addition, players responded well to the recently added and changed elements in the game.

What players enjoyed:
Players responded well to the flush command and the dashing. They enjoyed the flashy nature of these moves and enjoyed the heavy damage it dealt. 

Players found most of the bosses interesting.

Players liked the new transformation sequence as a tell.

What players had issue with:
Players voiced the desire for sound effects suiting gameplay to be heard.

Players had issue with the main character blending in too much with the ground due to the color scheme. This is already being addressed.

Players had issue with the club boss and his behavior. This is already being addressed.

Most players had issue with the controls and the point of the game. This is being addressed by a main menu / controls splash page. Not the nicest way to go about it, but it will work and it’s a quick fix.

A few players cited the music saying that it could have been more epic or interesting for a boss fight. I am currently working on this personally.

One player mentioned that they would prefer a different way of displaying health and cards.

What complaints heard in the past were not heard this time:
No players complained about bugs with the card system. This is big and important meaning that we most likely fixed all the bugs in the system that actually affect gameplay.

weekly progress

this week i worked on balancing how much damage the bosses takes. I gave the bosses different values for how much damage the take to diversify the challenge. certain bosses will take more damage from the card throwing attack and less from the slashing attack and others will be the opposite. Also i helped identify bugs for fixing.

Taylor Harrington Weekly Update 11/12

This past week I have taken feedback and distilled it all into notes and changes that we need to implement.  I met with the team on skype and we gave everyone tasks for the fixes and changes.  I have also been working on splash screens for the game such as the start screen and a controls screen.

Another new build

In this build we've fixed a couple bugs, disabled WASD controls and Changed some boss behavior.

Controls:
Move left and right with arrow keys
jump with up arrow
q and e to select card
w to play a flush if you have one
space bar to fire a card normally

Play it Now!

Please play on Good settings or higher.

newest build

controls:
arrow keys to move and jump
q and e to select cards
w to play a flush if you have one
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/148281020/shuffplay.7z

Latest update

The latest iteration of the game has added a lot of features.

Playing a flush now deals a deadly special attack.
Several boss mechanics have been added.
Reshuffling works better, though there are a few bugs.
Many art assets have been added in.
Boss difficulty has been adjusted.
Music has been changed.

This week I worked on helping bug test the Bosses and helped fix a problem with how the player would collide with a boss when dashing.

Taylor Harrington Progress

This week I've worked on getting our team to communicate better in order to get us and the game back on track.  I've worked on changing art assets based on some constructive feedback and created some new art that feels more in tune with everything else which will help the overall look of the game be more cohesive. 

alpha_build

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/148281020/shuffledAlpha.zip

controls:
arrow keys to move
space to fire
q and e to select cards

music in game:
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/551213

test_build

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/148281020/shuff.html
CONTROL NOTES:
wasd or arrow keys to move
shift to throw and q/e to select your card
double tap movement to teleport/dash

Tissue Test Results

The tissue tests performed on the build resulted in several recurring complaints. The first of which being the question: “What am I looking at?” This complaint is actually two complaints in one (what a deal!) For one, the game looks like crap, mainly because the actual art assets for the game have not been properly implemented in the game and/or have not fully been completed. The second aspect of this complaint is that the HUD is both confusing and a bit of an eyesore.  We will take steps to clean up these issues and will have to think about a proper way to display information. Another issue is that many players feel thrown into the game without any sort of introduction; put another way, “The game starts too fast”. Even though the totality of the game is by design a final boss battle, which by all accounts should not be an introductory class for being spoon-fed, starting in media res is probably not the best way to go about doing things. To fix this, we’ll add an introductory room which may or may not display the controls for the game and allow the player to enter the boss room on their own time. A few other complaints were directly referring to a couple known or newly discovered bugs:

The wall jump on the right side of the room doesn’t work properly

Sometimes when starting the game, the playing cards will shake uncontrollably as if there is an earthquake (the quick fix for this is a game restart)

The reshuffling feature hasn’t been properly implemented

The discard pile constantly shows the first discarded card rather than the last

The teleport sometimes gets you stuck in a wall

The bosses can get stuck/get you stuck in the ceiling/floor

The bosses take the same damage regardless of card

These bugs will be addressed when we have enough time for it and as we feel they are urgent enough as most of them are quick fixes (hopefully). Other complaints regard the visuals (like the teleport feeling far too sudden for players), or the music (the sound quality is poor and it needs some proper mixing).

But the biggest concern of all is honestly the most noticeable and probably the hardest to implement at this point. The boss/bosses are currently stupid as hell, having virtually no AI. This will be the first problem the programmers will adjust in all likelihood. 

Taylor H Weekly Update

I continued to work on some background art for the game.  I also began working on the playing card art since our game will display the cards at the bottom of the screen and we felt that they will need a distinct feel from just your standard playing card art.

weekly update

I refined the dashing mechanic so that it feels more smooth for dodging and moving. I also was able to implement the wall jumping mechanic which allows the player to grab onto a wall and jump off.

Taylor H Week 2

I continued to work on different art assets such as background concepts and block textures.  I finished and uploaded a seamless texture of stone that can be used for a number of different things such as platforms, walls, and backgrounds.  Will continue to work on a great background for the game.

week 2

I added a small dashing mechanic for the player. If the player presses a movement key twice within a small time frame they will move at a faster rate for about half a second. This can be uses to allow for a more dynamic fighting range as players are able to dodge enemies. Wall jumping is still a work in progress.

Team Schedule as of 9/24

What follows is a rough idea of our goals over the course of the following weeks.

Sept 22 - Set up the game basics.
Get the player character working properly (attacking and movement), implement and display deck of cards (even if they are not used just yet). Have at least one enemy type set up roughly (not necessarily with fully implemented AI.) Start implementing mechanics ASAP. Visuals will likely be rough at this point. Fix bugs.

Sept 29 - Fully implement core mechanics.
Get the player's deck of cards working properly with the player's attacks and deal damage accordingly. Implement basic AI for enemies. Make sure suit damage is dealt properly. Improve upon visuals. Implement sounds and music. If there is time, polish up the smoothness of the game before the testing. Fix bugs.

Oct 6 - Playtesting and improving on the game model.
After issuing playtests, improve upon the feel of the game and fix bugs that will inevitably occur. These fixes will include adjusting the game pacing. Fix bugs.

Oct 13 - Add new enemy type, add variety based on card hands.
Mainly some coding and animation work here. Make see the game "feels" right. Make sure there are 30 seconds of awesome. Fix bugs.

Oct 20 - Week of the alpha presentation.
Present and get feedback. Ensure 30 seconds of awesome. Polish the feel and polish art and sound. Fix bugs.

Oct 27 - Continue polish.
Fix bugs.
Nov 3 - Present the game.
In the following weeks polish up everything after playtesting etc. Fix bugs.

Week 1 Jonathan Kriston

So far, I've been spending time in Unity, learning how the engine works, and watching the tutorials. I've also helped with ideas on how to make the game work, talking about the mechanics of the game, such as how the player controls while jumping, and how they control while running.

week 1 progress

So far I have only dabbled a little bit in Unity. As one of the teams programmers I spent some time going over tutorials to help with my understanding of how the code works with Unity. I've spent time thinking of ways for the ideas we have thought of to be implemented into the game.  Our group has met up several times already and we've done a lot of brainstorming on what we think we can accomplish in class and have narrowed it down to something we all believe will be fun to work on.

Week One Progress Report

This past week my personal responsibilities have been preparing a schedule and doing some basic sound design work, in addition to some preliminary game structure work (e.g. physics and control settings).
A few design topics have been re-addressed, mainly the pros and cons of orthographic and perspective display systems respectively. While we originally were planning for a 2.5 perspective camera based game, it has become apparent that working in a 2D orthographic environment could improve the feasibility in getting a completely functioning game done in time.
On a lighter note, the implementation of previously mentioned physics and control systems went much more smoothly than expected, thanks to the simplicity of Unity.

Past Week Progress. Taylor Harrington

The past week has mainly been our team meeting and discussing the game as a whole while deciding who is in charge of what.  After settling on roles and responsibilities, I've started working on concept art and level design for Joker Tale.  I've also met with the team several times to talk about our progress and as a team, we re-evaluated our pitch to ensure we have the best plan when it comes to the size and scope of the game.  

Joker Tale:2.5 Sidescroller with Poker Combat

Alternate Title Ideas:

Shuffle Story

Dealer's Hand

Genres:
2.5D Action-Platformer/Card Game

Similar Games:
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
More like Poker + Castlevania Series (albeit perhaps a tad bit faster paced) 
or Poker + Mega Man

Narrative Summary:
All was well in the land of Deck. The Council of Twelve faces had ruled justly and fairly over the land for as long as anyone could remember, but then the Dealer came to Deck and caused the calamity bringing chaos and disorder to all. This disaster soon came to be called the Great Shuffle. The Dealer then used his infernal powers to control all of Deck to act upon his every whim. But there was one who was immune to his powers.
The one called “Joker” had always been a bit different from the other inhabitants of Deck. He never quite fit in with the clans, and though he was welcomed just the same, he never really had a place to call home. It was this difference the protected Joker during the Great Shuffle, and it is this difference wherein lies Joker’s latent potential.

Unique Hook:
The thing that makes this game unique is the Poker-based combat system. On the surface the game's combat functions in a similar way to other games such as the Castlevania series. In addition, however, is a standard deck of 52 cards of four suits.
The player has access to a hand of 5 cards dealt from the deck. Every time the player attacks, a selected card is sent to a discard pile. Attacks can be linked into a combo of up to 5 cards, after which the hand is refilled back to 5 cards from the deck.
The damage done by an attack is dependent on the card expended. For instance, using a Queen for an attack does more damage than using a 4, but using an Ace does even more damage.
In addition, the type of damage done by an attack is dependent upon the suit of the card used. This comes into play as enemies are allied with one of the four suits. An attack of the same suit does no damage, while an attack of a different suit but the same color does half damage. An attack of the opposite color than the suit of the enemy does full damage.
Special attacks called Hands can be used which use different combinations of cards equivalent to standard poker hands. The effect and damage done varies from hand to hand. When the player's deck runs out, the player is immobilized for a short time and is vulnerable to enemy attack while the deck refills and shuffles.
Another concept possible for inclusion is the pick-up of Joker cards, similar to a collectible or a power-up in any other platformer. The difference is that a Joker card, once picked up, automatically reloads the entire deck and places itself randomly into the deck. When a Joker card is used it acts as a wild card.

Target Demographic:
The target demographic for this game is a mainstream audience of players of all ages who like action-platformers as well as some who also like strategy games.