Icarus Meltdown - development - The first game of my course

Icarus Meltdown was the first game I ever made. And the rest is history!

We were put into a team by our tutor to get ourselves into the design process quickly.Our team consisted of a total of 3 people.

Before we were put into teams, the tutor went through the course structure and then a description of the design process. In words it seemed quite fun, but in practice it was a whole other ball game. We learned this when we were given the brief, which was to create a game based on a folklore or mythology using Flash Action Script 2.

It was interesting seeing how a challenge can be un-challenging, we had to imagine the scenarios in our heads to see if they would make the player struggle because without it, the player would get bored, a big no-no for any game.

Our first action was to remember all the tales we were told as kids at home and school and supplemented these with research on the internet. We focused on Icarus and Daedalus’ tragic journey of flight because it was dynamic and there was a clear motive for the player too.

After finding a myth, we needed to set out how we would make it into a game. Who would you play as? What would the screen look like? What will the challenge be? Will the player be above to move left and right? What’s the aim?

It seemed the best way to figure it out was to just talk. We just threw out ideas and if we liked it we would elaborate, if we didn't we would leave it. The idea was formed when we decided that the player, Icarus, would have to dodge sun rays. Now since light from the Sun travels at around 300,000km per second at a constant rate in vacuum, it would seem we would have to refute what scientists like Einstein and Ole Romer theorised, and taught us, in order to make the challenge in our game viable. So the player, we decided, would have to dodge sun rays by flying through the thinnest point in the light ray. 

Apologies to astronomers and physicists, I feel your pain, but, Icarus needs to escape Crete! And we all know he needs all the help he can get, what with the wax holding his feathers together.

So we had established a challenge; to dodge sun rays, but how? The player choice was our next decision, but before we could go about that, we needed to work out how the screen would be composed.

One decision was a bird’s eye view, with the sun in the middle and Icarus flying around it through the thinnest part of the sun ray.

 

The image above is a snapshot of ideas we went through, one idea was to have the player control the Sun and have to aim solar flares at little Icarus' and Daedalus', with extra points given if the latter is destroyed. However this didn't ring entirely true with the myth and it seemed that the player would be more invested in Icarus as he tries to dodge the rays than if the player was the Sun. The human motive will make the player root for the little character on screen.

Another idea was for the Sun be in the center of the screen, this way the player would see the upcoming rays of light and this would decrease the challenge as not knowing where the gap is would constitute a challenge. The idea was scrapped and we thought about only showing a segment of the Sun.

 Above is the storyboard depicting the areas in which the player can safely traverse through the rays of sunlight. Bad play was defined as flying through a thick part of light and other components were added like rain clouds which made you lose feathers from a finite amount in the counter, this was basically the health counter/gauge. One idea was to include clouds which would protect you for a moment, however it did not make it into the final game as this was too beneficial for the player and reduced that all-important challenge.

The above storyboard shows a new feature in the form of a flock of birds, once flown through, Icarus will grab as many feathers and this will replenish his feather counter, call it Grand Theft Feather if you will.

Now that we'd figured out the screen composition, this left us with another important decision, how will the player control Icarus? One option was when the player presses down on the keyboard, Icarus moves down x amount, same for up. Now we left out left and right because the sun rays would move and give the impression of progression in the game.

While moving x amounts up and down worked, it seemed a bit stiff and not dynamic enough. Also, it would decrease the challenge if the player had total control, so we instead used a mouse click which pushes Icarus up. Introducing gravity as a state meant that the player would always be falling, so a mouse click would make them rise again. So now we had this tactile and dynamic mechanic which stayed true to the myth, Icarus would have been aware he only had a certain and finite amount of lift.

Now for some screen shots, below, Icarus is getting ready for some feather stealing which will increase his feather count. Other things he can interact with is lightning bolts which electrocute him and decrease his feather count, flying into rain clouds will make his height of ascent decrease for a while so the player cannot fly up for as long. Winds will make Icarus lose feathers while he spins out of control from the buffeting breeze.

The art style is vibrant and simple due to the myth being so referenced we decided to simplify the message. Below, the player has led Icarus into a sun ray and the importance of negative feedback is shown, the character looks fried and hurt and shows the player some of their health gauge has decreased. This lesson is important because if the player is unaware their actions have any consequences then they will be confused and this will affect their enjoyment of the game. Consequences of actions are essential and getting other people to play test the game is incredibly useful as it lets neutral eyes tell you what they are seeing, and sometimes, not seeing.

This screen shot below shows a dying Icarus falling into the ocean. Here, Icarus was defeated by the player simply flying too high and into the Sun, incorrect but a very important feature because it is negative feedback for the players actions. His wings have disappeared and his face is red, poor Icarus, but luckily for this reincarnation, he can re-spawn and try again, the power of games!

Speaking of creative leeway, we decided to let the player win the game, even though in the myth he never really escapes form King Minos in Crete. After a set amount of distance is covered does the player win the game.

One of the big issues we had was with the coding, Icarus would seem to go through all his animations of he hit anything. For example, if he hit a sun ray, the player would see him stealing feathers, being blown about by wind, dying and being electrocuted. The issue was solved by having an intermediary state change be used as a timer for how long he should be shown being electrocuted by lightening or stealing feathers. The problem took about 4 lessons over 2 weeks to solve, but it was great knowing we finally had fixed it because it was at its finishing stages of development. 

Below is the title page, the first title page I ever made for a playable game. Looking back as a third year student, I can say I have improved since then and can see the negatives and positives of the screen below. I like the simplicity of it all, it can be easy to fill up all available space on screen. However, the logo is too compressed and looks it compared to the rest of the art and the colours don't work too well together, especially the red blocky text.

I enjoyed making our game, it was a great experience because we were all in the same boat and approached the game from different angels so it was interesting communicating my ideas, although this was difficult because it can be nerve-racking having your ideas shot down. It also taught me a really important lesson - that sometimes you have to sacrifice ideas even if you nurtured them and storyboarded them, if they have to go, they have to go.

Communication was another lesson I learned and am still learning and improving upon. I learned that by doing a quick story board of an idea it is easier for me to describe what I trying to communicate. My art work has improved and I am always looking an unique visual styles we can use to tell our story, it's exciting being able to change style for each project as it keeps the visual style fresh and exciting and more importantly it keeps the artists on their toes.

Also, this was the start of something awesome - I realised I really enjoyed drawing up storyboards, it wasn't a totally artistic endeavour as it was about description and visually explaining things. Ever since, I have done the storyboards for all other games and have enjoyed the challenge of describing complicated things with the minimal of fuss and in an efficient way.

Talking about the development for my first game almost two years after I made it has definitely allowed me to look back at the work with an unbiased eye. As they say, retrospect is 20/20! I will have to look back on 'Fun Guy' and 'Taking Care of Buzziness' in a few years time to see how far I have and haven't come and what I need to improve on and see what I consistently do and don't do.

I may even make a sequel!