Prototype Entry

Turning Big Top Battle from concept into a playable prototype was quite the leap, as its small but focused scope demanded key gameplay implementation from the start. This first prototype needed to prove the concept of a bullet hell, a game in which you dodge projectiles with the danger of failing. Which meant I needed mechanics for the player's movement, projectiles to avoid, and a punishment for failure. I spent the weekend developing the necessary code for implementing these core features.

For bullets, I wanted a variety that I could expand upon in future iterations. Currently, there are three types of bullets: ones that move in the direction they are spawned, ones that fire towards the player when they are spawned, and one that follows the player as they move.

The other aspect of bullet logic was where the bullets spawned from. This, while simpler than the bullet logic, has two variants.  One that fires in a straight line, and another that spins and rotates the angle at which bullets are fired.

To make the threat of bullets real, I added a Health system, which stores the player's health and uses an animator to show the player's reactions to taking damage. Currently, it lacks I-frames and other nuanced designs, but it works as an incentive to avoid damage.

Finally, I wanted to convey information about the player's health visually. Currently, three hearts represent the player's max and current HP; however, scaling with UI elements may need adjustments to look visually cohesive. 

I realized the scale and focus of this project required a large amount of technical work early on in the process. However, this large leap should hopefully put me close to the rough outline of my final project. The game is only lacking player abilities and boss mechanics. I believe these to be major, but with the bones of the game in place this early in production, I'm confident I will have enough time to implement and polish everything I have planned.

Thanks to the feedback from fellow solo-game devs, I believe my focus will allow me to quickly iterate and improve the game's content in time for its final presentation.