de;graded

Download Link: https://tiagoros.itch.io/degraded

This game was created for Global Game Jam 2020 (GGJ). You play as a broken down robot who's goal is to collect all their missing pieces and repair themselves, playing on the "Repair" theme of the jam. You move around using WASD, move the camera with the mouse and use the space bar to jump.

I worked on this one mostly as a level designer and scripter. I helped create the collection algorithms, as well as the UI text/story components. Our team had four experienced scripters, and I was able to take on a new role of level design. I mapped out the order of the room, built it in Unity, lit the space, and also work out the bugs in the program. We initially used Github as our version control software of choice (after much debate), and encountered problems later in the process that ended up with us all passing around my laptop in an attempt to implement everything that people had been working on. As well, all of the UI assets, music and 3D models/textures were created during the jam, with nothing being taken from the asset store or being found elsewhere. We only had one dedicated 3D artist, with one of the other scripters stepping in to create small 3D objects like cans and boxes.

I had never worked in a level design role, and was constantly looking up how the various environment systems in Unity worked on top of debugging the collection codes and giving up my laptop so we could implement the start screen, audio, new models, etc. into the game. I also wrote all of the dialogue in the game, with some input from the rest of my team of course. We wanted a game with a little more story elements, and a little more overall polish, so the level design was kept on the simpler side. There are a few world building elements in the game as well.

I'm fairly proud of this piece, which allowed me the rare experience of stepping out of my comfort zone while still being able to contribute in a field I had a more solid grasp over. The game is surprisingly bug free for a game jam game, and was well received by the judges and other participants. If we hadn't had issues with the Github repository (as seems to be the usual cause of issues during game jams), we most likely would have:

1. added more world building story elements

2. added an outside area for the player to explore after finding their body

3. fixed a few lighting bugs

4. new animations and some fun particles when gaining a new piece

Overall, we got compliments on it being a 3D game as well as it being well polished, with a few exceptions. de:graded is a labor of love made across 36 hours with people of various backgrounds and abilities.