GameJam - Creating 2.5D Platformer Chrome-A

  1. Introduction
  2. Brainstorming and the Design Process
  3. chrome-A, the end result
  4. Reflection

Introduction

This was for LibreGameFest, a GameJam hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Game Maker Union and Metropolitan Open Source Society. It ran from September 22nd to the 29th, 2023.

I worked in a team of three, with Aimee and Serena, to create chrome-A, a 2.5D platformer within Godot Game Engine.

  • (they have requested to only be credited by me with their first names, as they will showcase their work seperatedly.) *

As a GameJam, the goal was to create a new game within a week, based off the theme of “Starting Fresh”.

I was the coder, the one who created and connected all of the “scenes”/assets within the Godot engine, as well as the transitions from menus to game and to the end. I also assisted in the environment creation by creating the “floor”, the puzzle obecjts, the textboxes, as well as the puzzle mechanic.

Aimee was the concept artist and 2D artist. She designed all of the background, title cards, logo and concept art. Her work was also used as very rough textures.

Serena was the 3D artist and animation artist. She created all the of the models, including the player and its walk/idle animations, and the level’s enviroment.

 

Brainstorming and the Design Process

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During our first two hours, we brainstormed out game storyline using the theme of Starting Fresh. Inspired by my favourite game Mabnogi and its Rebirth mechanic, I suggested that the player would have to undergo rebirth in order to take on new characteristics that would allow the Player to solve the puzzle to traverse the level. From there, my teammates made their own suggestions and ideas, such as having Exploration as key feature, an apocalyptic world as the background, until we came with our final storyline.

  • You, the player, are a robot who has suddenly woken up in a pile of trash, in a post-apocalyptic world of humanity. *
  • You should still be broken, but are now somehow powered by a magical flower. *
  • You now must explore the world, and solve various puzzles in order to renew each area. *
  • With this, you will transform this ruin of a world into greenery.*

Other aspects of our concept were:

  • that each level would start greyscale, but when tranformed into the nature, renewed version it would become colorful.
  • ideally, the player robot would themselves become more covered in greenery as they renewed more areas.
  • if we could, create various areas and link them non-linearly, so that there are many potential “paths” to reach the end.
  • following that, hidden areas that are unlocked by seperate puzzles.

Later on, I suggested the name chrome-A. I thought it would be a good pun, based on the words chrome and chroma, since a key idea was to have the areas be greyscale and then colorful. My teammates thought it quite good, and one of them loved the word chroma itself, so our nameless project was now chrome-A

chrome-A, the end result

Please have a go playing the game on itch.io

 

Reflection

 

Notes

This page to be incomplete - more will be added, such as the reflection, screenshots of the game, and samples of the code.