Posted May 31, 2024 by Cablel
Overall, I think that I managed to create quite a lot of what I intended to in my original document. I think I focused a lot on getting the mechanics in the game, and ended up becoming overwhelmed in creating content for the mechanics. I had to cut a good few things, like cutscenes, half the levels and endless mode. It's safe to say that the graphics towards the end were rushed, and I didn't add quite as many SFX as I would have wanted. I also wanted to create my own music tracks, but that was also reaching a little too far. Anyway, I will now briefly go into detail about why each of these needed to be scrapped:
I wasn't able to participate in the week 12 testing session, but I have gathered a lot of feedback and observations over the weeks:
Player Character:
Uses Zegley's 2D platformer template asset as a base, which was then drawn over with my own design.
Weapons:
Drawn by me, displays the idle, shooting, and reloading states of each weapon
Tilesets:
Drawn by me, illustrates the game level with a blue toned night time colour scheme
House/Workshop:
Drawn by me, represents the main target of the enemies. Can be attack, and entered by the player. Inside is the workbench, where the player may craft ammo at.
Background:
Uses Saukgp's 2D parallaxing backgrounds, which sells a nice effect of moving through a dense woodland at night.
GUI:
Uses Mournir Touhami's pixel art GUI Assets, a robust set of GUI elements that was very suitable for all the GUI elements of my project
Enemies:
Drawn by me, represents each action an enemy can do. Most enemies have common animations like walking and attacking, as well as some enemy specific animations like falling or running. Each enemy also comes with a "parts" spritesheet, for animating their gib particle explosions.
Graveyard:
Drawn by me, represents the spawn point of the enemies.
Trees:
Drawn by me, their branches are usable to the player for safety, but will snap if stayed on for too long
Music:
Composed by RyanAVX, the track used provides some much needed ambience to the game. Could there be a better suited track out there? Maybe? Does it do the job? Absolutely.
SFX:
A mixture of assets from Kronbits, Ogrebane, Snake, and my own making using the website SFXR, and the chiptone tool by Sfbgames. Many of the monster SFXs are from Ogrebane and kronbits, with Snake's sfx being used for various gun SFX.
The player will fend off hordes of undead enemies over the course of 10 waves. They must prevent the enemy from attacking their house by moving, jumping and shooting around the 2D platformer level. Controls are as follows:
A/D - Move Left/Right
Space - Jump
Cursor - Aim
Left Click - Shoot
R - Reload
E - Craft at workshop
The player will encounter a main menu screen on first loading. From here they may choose to see a tutorials screen on how to play the game, or to start a new game.
When the user presses start, they are greeted by an intro screen, contextualising the game's setting.
After they press the play button, they are put into the game, starting inside their house. This scene is the main scene of the game, and where all proper gameplay occurs. It is comprised of several key elements:
As mentioned earlier, the player's main goal is to defend their house against the hordes of encroaching zombies. Alongside just shooting, the player will find that they are able to upgrade their weapons between waves, being able to choose between three randomly generated upgrades that will boost the stat of a specific gun, for the cost of scrap which is dropped from zombies on death. Scrap also serves another purpose, as the currency used for crafting ammo at the workshop. This means the player will need to decide how much they are going to spend on upgrades vs ammo.
The player has access to three different guns. Each gun acts differently, and requires a different ammunition. These guns are:
The player will encounter four different enemies over the course of the ten waves, each with unique stats and behaviour. These enemies are:
This concludes the user guide for Grave Mistakes, as well as it's documentation. I hope you enjoy playing my game, I had a blast making it!
Eric Fredricksen 2011, JSFXR, viewed 18 May 2024, <https://sfxr.me/>.
Kronbits 2019, Itch.io viewed 10 May 2024, <https://kronbits.itch.io/freesfx>.
Ogrebane 2010, OpenGameArt, viewed 10 May 2024, <https://opengameart.org/content/monster-sound-pack-volume-1>.
RyanAvx 2020, Itch.io, viewed 20 May 2024, <https://ryanavx.itch.io/breezys-mega-quest>.
SnakeF8 2022, Itch.io, viewed 10 May 2024, <https://f8studios.itch.io/snakes-authentic-gun-sounds>.
Saukgp 2020, Itch.io viewed 16 May 2024, <https://saurabhkgp.itch.io/pixel-art-forest-background-simple-seamless-parallax-...>.
SFBGames 2021, Itch.io, viewed 22 May 2024, <https://sfbgames.itch.io/chiptone>.
ZeggyGames 2023, Itch.io, viewed 22 April 2024, <https://zegley.itch.io/2d-platformermetroidvania-asset-pack>.