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Saturday, January 26, 2013

GLOBAL GAME JAM 2013 - "Border Hearts" Game Development


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Intro Cut Scene

Global Game Jam Experience:

Global Game Jam is a world wide event that takes place every January. Students and Game Developers will get together to create a game for 48 hours and submit them to be viewed on the Global Game Jam website.

This was my first year attending GGJ. It was a great experience. With the limitation of 48 hours it pushes everyone to work hard and stay up till the peak of dawn and sleep for less than 4 hours to get the job done. There is no material reward, just the fact that you pushed yourself through it and successfully or unsuccessfully made a game from concept to finished product.

When I first arrived we attended the opening "ceremony" and were given our game theme. A Heart Beat. This got me thinking and I eventually came with the idea of "Border Heartz".

 In the game you played a mole. He can't see but he wears a hardhat with a flash light taped to it so the player can see a small radius around the character. The layout of our levels was supposed to be an isometric top down view of a maze. Our mole will seek out the heart beat of the female mole who wanders around the tunnels.

Some challenges we aimed to place inside the game were the maze itself, and other moles that would seek out the female. We implemented nuts and grubs as speed boosts and increase in the light radius for the player to see. There were also insecticide droplets that would slow the character down and dim his light to prevent the player from seeing the walls and other harmful things that block his path.

We wanted it to be instant-kill if the mole ever encountered another mole, but we didn't get much farther than that.

Sad to say, our coder left us about half way through so we didn't get to finish the game. The assets and art were ready to be implemented, but we had no coder to make the game work in unity. So, in light of everything we learned that it's important to schedule yourself and make the effort to get as much done as you can, but maybe bring your own coder when you go to GGJ. They are slim to none as it is and if you can't find one, try to get yourself into a group that does, or ask around for help. Most people are nice enough to lend their knowledge in a program.

And there are teachers and game developers that attend this event. Work towards everyone's strong points and you'll do just fine.

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Concept Art

Hard Hat Poly-paint (Model by Davon Allen)

Hard Hat Poly-paint (Model by Davon Allen)

3D Model / Rigging









GAME OVER Screenshot


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