AstroFrog

A fast-paced action game designed for the DJ Hero turntable controller.

Overview

• Date: March 2023 - April 2023

• Duration: 6 Weeks

• Team Size: 6

• Role: Systems Designer

• Genre: Action

• Platform: Unity for PC

Responsibilities

• Work with two other Game Design majors, a Game Programming major, and two Game Art majors to create a game that uses an unconventional control method.

  • Our team chose the original controller created for the Xbox 360 version of DJ Hero, as I had previously experimented with implementing the controller into Unity as a personal project.

• Use Scrum game development methodology and meet with team multiple times each week for progress report meetings.

• Implement DJ Hero controller support and onboard team to the controller's features.

• Implement previously-created grappling mechanic and onboard team to help them adapt the system to the needs of the game.

• Create checkpoint and respawning systems.

• Design game's third level.

• Document gameplay, mechanics, and design pipelines in a Visual Design Guide.

• Maintain Visual Design Guide through project's lifetime.

• Create questionnaires for playtesting sessions and use feedback to develop actionable plans​

Postmortem

I like how the project turned out, but I wish we had more time to find the fun of our project. While using the turntable's platter to rotate the character for better aiming was an innovative use of the controller, playback kept showing that the most fun part of using the controller was not carefully aiming a precise shot, but just spinning the platter as hard as you could and watching the character rapidly spin around. The structure and short time frame of the project forced us to effectively "lock in" our core mechanics before we could make this revelation, so we weren't able to fully capitalize on this fun aspect.