Game Designer
Scraps
Team Size: 6
OverView
Scraps is a game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic time where the player is known as scrappers. The process of making Scraps panned over 3 months which first started as a solo project which eventually became a team. The levels consisted of 2 mechanics which would challenge the players progression but make if fun at the same time. The project helped from planning to prototyping to put together the final product. Working alone is easy and everything you do is up to you but when working on a team it can get a little difficult when you have to make sure everyone is on track and doing what they need to do. Communication with teammates is really important and can make the process a lot easier but when not communicating can lead to problems which can delay the project.
Responsibilities:
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Pen and Paper Level Design
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Constructing a level with simple geometry
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Making a laser that causes damage over time
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Making pressure pads that open certain doors
What went right:
1. Physical Meetings
Having online meetings can be difficult but as for physical meetings it went really smoothly. The difficulties for the online meetings because when a problem would come up it's hard to get their attention unlike physical meetings where we would be right there to fix the issue. Showing the problem in person makes it easier to solve the issue at hand by helping each other out and pointing out what went wrong. We would also be able to evaluate each other works to make sure everything went smoothly for there won't be any future issues.
2. Planning
At the start of the project the designer needed to come up with a level idea that fit the theme of the game and sketch that idea out in google draw. When it came time to where we had to put our levels together seamlessly it went really well without any issues because everyone thought out their level panning. The other part was coming up with 2 mechanics and how they would layout in the level while fitting the theme or construction of the level. Being able to sketch out and plan on where the 2 mechanics would go helped make the "Blockout" phase easy. The final months of the projects consist of asset integration and polishing up what needed to be fixed which resulted in our final build for Scraps.
What went wrong:
1. Online Communication
Being able to meet in person was smooth but when it came to online it was a bit of a hassle. Even though we had the option to meet in person we still had to resort to meeting online. Most of the time people couldn't make it or just never responded because some of the team were online as well. One major part that we had issues was the asset integration which caused either errors or magenta textures. Most of the time the person who had these missing textures didn't know and had to try to get in contact with them but sometimes it took a couple of days. Once we were able to fix it everything went back to normal and were able to finish up the project.
Try out the Scraps experience for yourself.