Posted April 14, 2025 by Jade
During the first week in development, the narrative team focused on creating a backstory for all aspects of Kookd. Going forward, we branched out into different areas. We wrote the game's dialogue, item descriptions, chronological development, and tutorials.
Following the completion of our tasks, we branched out to collecting sound FX for the game’s sound design and worked on incorporating the dialogue into a unity file.
Sound FX
Writer - Ayesha
Editor - Wyatt
Source: https://freesound.org/
MC Walk - https://freesound.org/people/cupido-1/sounds/530860/
MC Attack (Rolling Pin) - https://freesound.org/people/WhiteLineFever/sounds/416886/
MC Block (Spatula) - https://freesound.org/people/Artninja/sounds/751260/
MC Attack (Piping Bag) - https://freesound.org/people/Vrymaa/sounds/753428/
Found Chest - https://freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/734823/
Popcorn Bucket Explosion- https://freesound.org/people/LiamG_SFX/sounds/322489/
BakingResult -https://freesound.org/people/azumarill/sounds/564623/
Pick Up Ingredient - https://freesound.org/people/el_boss/sounds/665183/
Put Down Ingredient - https://freesound.org/people/el_boss/sounds/665181/
Boss Music - https://freesound.org/people/dreamstobecome/sounds/439287/
Fight Music - https://freesound.org/people/Timbre/sounds/795962/
Background Music/ Baking Ambient Noise - https://freesound.org/people/josefpres/sounds/796108/
https://freesound.org/people/Ilariio/sounds/795723/
Money/ Rent Paid Up - https://freesound.org/people/LilMati/sounds/714565/
Leveling Up/Level Completed - https://freesound.org/people/organizedlaziness/sounds/790472/
New Menu/Recipe unlocked - https://freesound.org/people/interstellarcat/sounds/787559/
Final Battle - https://freesound.org/people/code_box/sounds/521417/
Cake Gate Opening - https://freesound.org/people/Hybrid_V/sounds/320737/
The Content team experienced a gradual start in the development of sketches and iterations for original character and enemy designs. Early progress was slower than anticipated, as the team worked to establish a cohesive visual direction. However, following our first game production sprint meeting on March 4, 2025, creative momentum picked up significantly. Team members became more engaged, actively contributing a range of imaginative concepts for enemy characters and bakery helper designs. This collaborative surge led to a more focused and productive workflow, allowing the team to refine character designs and push forward with speed. Sketches and designs below are created on March 4, 2025.
(Designs and sketches by Ivana Tam)
(Designs and sketches by Eshel Qureshi)
After that, we kept the momentum going with more group iterations on weapons, characters, and enemy designs. Working together made it easier to bounce ideas around, give feedback, and develop more polished and cohesive concepts as a team. (March 4 - March 11) Done during and before the second production sprint meeting.
(Designs and sketches by Eshel Qureshi and Ivana Tam)
The remaining production sprint meetings were focused on wrapping up key visual assets, including pixel sprites, character designs, background illustrations, weapon and trap sprites, and various animations. At that point, most team members were focused on individual tasks and pushing to get everything completed on time. Before settling into final production, we also spent some time experimenting with pixel sizes and making small adjustments to existing sprites to ensure consistency and clarity across the game. (Written by Alice Du)
Original title and logo for game (Design by Claudia)
New redesign of game title and logo (Designed by Lloyd
Idea for title screen-Claudia
game over screen idea-Gwyneth
Shop layout idea and rough concept for jam icon (lost the other two)-Gwyneth
layouts for different screens and icons-Claudia
text box ideas-Charlie
The battle mechanics for the game were created right away due to it being a core mechanic. Few of the logistics of the amount of enemies were changed but for the most part the mechanics were not changed after first being written down.
Various Game Loops created by Jade Keenan
Planning for the Battle Mechanic By Jade Keenan
The game currency was created in the last few weeks of the game creation due to task complications but in the end was thought out and shared to the group.
Currency doc by Jade Keenan
Early Planning: We created a World Asset List that outlined key components for our game’s visuals, combat encounters, and world logic. This list included:
Enemies -
Boss (The Measuring Scale) -
Environmental Traps -
Interactive Objects -
Level Design members were also given the creative liberty to make additional dessert assets of their own choice and were given feedback from the coordinator.
Level Sketching
Our level layout started on paper before hitting Unity:
Unity Blockout & Iteration: Recreated each level using Unity’s Tilemap system. Decided tiles would be 32x32. While trying to follow the sketches, we quickly realized that 2D game design in Unity is more nuanced than expected. A few paths were reworked for pacing, readability, and better combat zones. Still, the original layout logic was preserved wherever possible and kept the spirit of the sketches intact. We also made sure to test out how different assets looked together in the process.
Early Documentation :
Provided the team with screenshots of different camera sizes so we could all come to an agreement. We decided on Unity’s Orthographic camera size 3.
Colliders, Clouds & Unlockable Paths: After placing the assets, colliders were added to all walkable and non-walkable terrain. We also added clouds, an idea suggested by Gweneth, as playful but functional blockers to control progression. Clouds disappear on specific days, opening new routes and encouraging replayability.
Adjustments: We got a lot of feedback about confusion in the map navigation. Originally, we considered adding a UI minimap or pullout world map, but decided instead on a more integrated storytelling approach. Cherie took inspiration from games like Metal Gear Solid V, where cutscenes flow seamlessly into gameplay and used Unity’s Timeline system to create cutscenes that would show at the beginning of each day in the levels. These cutscenes were added as a way to orient the player on where the chest is placed each day, as well as where the conveyor belt is located on Day 6.
To help players better appreciate the world and make more intentional pathing decisions, we agreed with the technical team to reduce the player’s movement speed from 5 to 2.5. This small change made a big difference in how players explored and experienced the environment.
Boss Walk-Up: For Day 7’s dramatic build-up to the final boss, there will be a castle walk-up scene, a scenic path leading to the Cake Castle. Along the way, papers scattered on the ground (creds to narrative team) hint at closed-down dessert businesses, setting the emotional tone and hinting at the boss’s impact on the world.
As the player approaches the Cake Gate:
Key Takeaways
Strawberry enemy scripts by Aaliyah Marshall
To effectively track tasks and monitor progress, the game leads organized weekly meetings. Both during and outside of class, with all group coordinators. These meetings served as a way to review each team's current focus and progress, provide feedback and implement necessary revisions, while establishing key deadlines, to make sure there's enough time to address any questions or concerns that arose.
In the initial weeks of production, these meetings were especially critical for ensuring that tasks were being completed on time and for making timely adjustments and clarifications during the early development stages.
Suggestions that we implemented
Having clear communication between coordinators and game leads was crucial for ensuring that groups were completing tasks and that everyone was on the same page, and it played a key role in the successful creation of our game.