© 2017 por Miguel Correa, Sergio Buenaventura y Lina María Sánchez. TURTLE BUMP game is a development of Jazz Cat Games. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TurtleBump/ All rights reserved.
Miguel Correa Sergio Buenaventura Lina María Sánchez
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about the content
abstract The following document contains all the pertinent information on Turtle Bump a mobile game by Jazz Cat Games. In the following pages the reader will find the documentation of the design of the game, a programing document and a description of the arts and worlds of the game.
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(1)
about the “Team”
We are "Jazz Cat Games”, a three person team, each one with a specific responsibility, Lina María Sánchez is the lead artist, Miguel Correa in programing and Sergio Buenaventura as the game designer. Lina is in charge of everything that has to do with the aesthetics and the U.I. of the game, she is the person that gives color and tone to the game. She will also be in charge of generating a constant communication with the player in the U.I. as to guide him, all the visual cues that will help facilitate the experience and help a compelling gameplay with compelling art and animations. Sergio Buenaventura is in charge of game design and story, focused on giving the player a good experience as he designs all the levels doing an organic difficulty curve, he integrates the story in the game and combines it with the mechanics to create a good ludonarrative and game-feel. Miguel Correa is the lead programer, he is in charge of the game’s code and the engine, he works in all the technical aspects of the game and works with the design of the controllers to make them feel good and generate a good game feel, helps with the U.I. of the game and makes mechanics that help the ludonarrative of the game.
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c o nchapters tent
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pg. (8-29)
pg. (30-39)
pg. (40-61)
A B OUT
AR T DESIGN
TE CH N IC AL ASPE C TS
Theme/Settings/Genre
Story
Game Engine
Core Gameplay Mechanics Brief
World & Character Description
Game Flow
The elevator Pitch
- Giotto -
World Scene
Project Description
- Mini -
Scripts
Metagame
- Sancho -
UI
Core Loop
- Rumpelt -
Select Level Scene
What sets this project apart?
- Linda -
Game Scene
Core Gameplay Mechanics
- Eugine -
Game Objects
Game Modes
Heads up Display
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Powers Tutorial Multiplayer
pg. (62- 63)
Monetization model
RE FE RE N CE S
Target plataforms
Photographic References
Project Scope
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about theme / setting / genre
Turtle Bump is a puzzle game divided by levels, with a lighthearted tone about a little turtle at sea. We plan to make a game playable for all people with a lighthearted aesthetic through short, puzzle-solving gameplay.
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Core G ameplay M echanics Br ief - Puzzle by turns. - One piece per power. - Turn, flip, skip, and stop the pieces so the turtles don’t crash. - The game works as a simulator, as soon as the player uses the power de pieces move.
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The elevator Pitch Turtle Bump is the next big freeto-play mobile game, addictive gameplay and an honest monetization system makes it the go-to game for everybody, with a lovable aesthetic and more than 500 levels upon its launch and even more in monthly updates it is assured to keep the player hooked.
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Project Description (Brief ) Turtle Bump is a game of puzzles, a simple mechanic invented for anyone, the puzzles are easy to solve and get progressively hard as new mechanics are introduced. It is thought of as an on-the-go game that can be played by small children the same as businessmen, its one touch gameplay assures you can play it with one hand anywhere. Its puzzles are calculated to be solved in no more than 5 minutes so it can be played in small burst or, should the player want, in long stretches with multiple puzzles. Basically, Turtle Bump is an easy-to-play, on-the-go game with addictive gameplay that will hook people. We have also two more game modes for players that want more: hard-core mode and endless mode, each one giving a more in depth experience and usable, fun and free to get content. The game is designed to keep players during a long time by releasing a vast amount levels that will give content for at least one to two years. The game doesn’t need to rely on any paying whales, as the main means of receiving money is in ads. We will have some cosmetic packages if a consumer can and desires to pay for a change of aesthetic. Still, we are conscious that we need a decent DARPU and ARPPU. The game, as it is designed to be very addictive and fun, will rely on monetization by a big number of downloads, as it will be produced mostly in ads. The game will have an ad-driven monetization system, as we don’t want to take direct money from the player unless they so desire it. In the first levels (50 approximately) we won’t have any ads, as the only purpose of these levels is to get the player hooked. Later in the game we want to place ads that aren’t intrusive or gameplay braking, and in order to accomplish this we will make euphoria moments that will let us play ads as the player is happy and accomplished (willing to watch ads), and watching these ads will give some rewards to the player (lives and powers). Also, in these moments of publicity, we will encourage the player to check other aspects of the game such as game modes and aesthetic changes that will enhance the experience. 11
M etagame •
As gameplay outside of the main game we will encourage fast play as a means of social interaction and challenge, creating leaderboards via social networks.
• In hardcore mode the levels are built as a single line made with turtles in a single order (turtle 1 follows turtle 2 and turtle 2 follows turtle 3 and so on). If the player figures out that the turtles are following that pattern the gameplay changes to fix the few turtles badly placed in the pattern. • In some cases the player might find that the puzzle can be solved with less than the given powers. This provides an extra difficulty as the player must find other solutions that utilize all the powers.
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Core Loop The basic core loop of the game is easy: open puzzle, use all the abilities, and manage to move the turtles so they don’t crash. We guarantee the permanency of the user with this core loop by giving a large amount of puzzles, we plan to launch with at least 800 levels and do monthly updates with even more, not including the hardcore and endless levels.
What sets this projec t apar t? • Addictive gameplay with a new puzzle mode that hasn’t been used in the market, it is no copy or imitation of any other game. • Honest game that doesn’t want to take advantage of the player and scare him off with pay-walls and pay-to-win mechanics. • Game with a big scope that doesn’t count in just one demographic so it can be played as a mass-market game. • Constant updates that will add new content always and help
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long-term play. 13
Core G ameplay M echanics The game works as a movement based puzzle. You get a board with a certain
Turtle (Pieces)
number of turtles on it; the head of the turtle indicates the direction the turtle will take at the end of the turn.
Movement (Power)
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Timer
At the bottom of the screen there is a button that will alter the direction a turtle goes. These are the powers, they turn clockwise, counter clockwise, flip, freeze or more as more mechanics are introduced. The player must choose a turtle and choose a power for it; the turtle will change direction and at the end of the turn will move in that direction. The point of the game is to have all the turtles move at the end of a turn in different directions so
Number of Powers
they don’t crash to each other.
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G ame M odes Nor mal mode It will be divided into worlds, each world consisting of 25 levels that share the same mechanic or gameplay. The completion of every world will unlock the next world of 25 levels with a new mechanic or new gameplay. The basic game has 4 by 4 puzzle boards and directional pieces that will move at the same time after the player moves their direction or position, making it possible that when all the pieces move everyone lands in its own slot, if two or more land in the same slot it will count as a non solve and a live lost. Every 25 levels or so the player will get a new mechanic that will change in some way the gameplay of the game and the difficulty of the puzzles and also the end of every world will come with a five turn board based on the world mechanic, which will give some closure to the world.
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Hardcore mode It is the same as the basic mode. The board is 5 by 5 and most of the board is full, as it is much harder than normal mode it has more time per level but it still is short enough that it gives more of a sense of urgency to the player. It will also have tiers of 25 independent levels that will add the same new mechanics as normal mode in the same progression. The player must play the hard-core levels before but also must pass the normal mode level introducing the mechanic that will be in the new set of levels. For example, if the player wants to play the third world (with mechanic X) of hardcore mode they must first pass the first and second levels and also play the normal mode in order to unlock certain mechanics that should first be passed in normal mode (the level with mechanic X). The unlock of every hard-core world will also (4)
generate euphoria moments that will motivate the player to continue and help us by watching an ad. 17
Week ly Challenge We are implementing in game a weekly challenge mode, five very difficult levels that will change weekly, if in a week the player completes the five levels we will give him a reward, most likely in-game currency or something like that. It has multiple purposes, first keep player retention as we will add push notifications to keep the user engaged and so that there is always a remainder of playtime. Also, this weekly challenge will be in part with hardcore mode difficulty wise, so that the player feels the reward is well deserved and not only a free ad on. 18
Powers The game works as a movement based puzzle. You get a board with a certain number of turtles on it; the head of the turtle indicates the direction the turtle will take at the end of the turn.
turn left
turn right
stop
double
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flip
diagonal left
diagonal right
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tutorial Every new mechanic will have its tutorial that will explain the mechanics with animations, as well as some humorous text for further explanation. It will also give euphoria moments and recognize the player for getting thus far.
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1
M ain M ech a n i c ( Tu r n ) : Level 1-1
- Choose a power Press the ability button to make him turn. Remember, he won’t always turn in the same way!
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2
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N u mber o f powers:
Fl i p M e c h a n i c :
Level 1-9
Level 2-1
- First (uses) Remember to watch how many times you can use an ability; it can save your life!
- First (explanation) You can flip your turtle to go back, try it with Mini!
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Obsta cl es:
Sto p me c h a n i c :
Level 3-1
Level 4-1
- First (explanation) It’s freezing outside! Remember to wear a coat, you may freeze!
- First (explanation) Hey! It appears there are some obstacles ahead. Don’t crash into them!
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D o u bl e mech anic :
Fa de me c h a n i c :
Level 5-1
Level 8-1
- First (explanation) You can try swimming underwater; try it to see where you end up.
- First (explanation) This turtles can sink. Touch them so they don’t bother you any more!
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Po r t al m ech a n i c: Level 12-1
- First (explanation) Look at that water swirl! Maybe it can move turtles from one place to another.
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How to Play
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O b j ec ti ve
2
Ab ilit ies
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3
D ra g t h e Powe r
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5
Sp ec i a l p owe r s
Use a l l the ab ilit ies
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M ultiplayer For multiplayer we propose only social play via Facebook, and each level will be timed so we can generate leaderboards. We can also generate weekly challenges for everyone to enjoy, as well as other means of challenging the players against each other such as the endless mode high scores and the hardcore mode progression.
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M onetization model The game is planned as an ad driven free-to-play game with in-app purchases. We are aware that it is important to have some good DARPU and ARPPU metrics, but for the time being, we plan to only sell aesthetic packages.
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targeted platfor ms Mobile IOS platform Android capable phone Social Play (Facebook) (5) 30
Projec t S cope - Game Scale (Money)
-Adobe licenses for 8 months ($230)
-Google store permit ($25)
-IOS developer kit one year ($100)
-Three person living expenses ($2600)
- Time Scale - 8 months (January - August)
- Team Size - Lina Maria Sanchez: Lead artist, works with the game aesthetic, responsible for all the art in the game. - Miguel Correa: Lead programmer, in charge of every programing aspect, manages space and the engine. - Sergio Buenaventura: Lead designer, Game feel, story and mechanics. 31
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Art Design Thinking on the art of the game we were focused on doing something for a wide audience, we wanted to do something approachable and pleasant, the aesthetic as well as the color pallet were done for an easy in the eyes experience that will help some players that might have long play periods. The positions and directions of the turtles must be clear at all times, we were focused on doing fare-play, if there are problems solving a puzzle we want the player to feel that he must focus harder and not that the game is at fault. We tried to make the U.I. as clear as possible but also change things up by giving the player different worlds and turtles so there is more variety, non the less, respecting the color pallet and over all aesthetic.
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Stor y Our game is not based on any story since we are trying to appeal to a soft-core demographic. We do not want to make the experience strange for the player introducing gameplay breaking moments. Nowadays, there are a lot of story-less games in the free-to-play market. As the player progresses through the game we will make some character descriptions as he will meet new characters so that the game doesn’t get monotonous and we get some points to recognize the accomplishments of the player getting this far. The character descriptions aim to be a fun interaction with the player; it doesn’t add a lot to the gameplay, but we aim to make it a moment of recognition for the player, causing a euphoric moment that will encourage him to continue playing and maybe encourage him to watch a video ad. (6) 33
Wor lds & Charac ter descr iption As the player finishes one world there will be a message congratulating him, in some worlds we will also introduce new characters as we introduce new mechanics, each turtle comes with a humorous description.
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g World 1 normal mode
giotto Giotto and his brothers are happy turtles that are kind of afraid of water since they are bad swimmers. They have 4 Brothers who currently live in a sewer. It’s nothing fancy, but at least they eat pizza all the time.
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m
Worlds 2,3 normal mode
mini
Mini is a lad who knows how to return to basics. Currently he is a YouTuber who works mostly with friends, an owl, a pig, a hipster and a guy that calls himself water. They also work with a quirky Irish lobster.
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s
World 4 normal mode
sancho Sancho likes cold waters, he doesn’t move a lot because he feels if he is still he is warm, he is kind of a loner as not many turtles get near the cold waters. He is all for good eating, most of all he likes some nice ceviche.
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r
Worlds 5,6,7 normal mode
rumpelt Leonard likes to swim so much that he goes underwater to tickle unsuspecting turtles. He is also quite the big comedian with three HBO specials.
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l
Worlds 8,9,10,11 normal mode
linda Linda is one of the most beautiful turtles there is. She likes to go to parties, but always is late, and if she hangs out with you, she will most certainly remember she is late to go somewhere and will disappear leaving you alone.
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e
Worlds 12,13,14,15,16 normal mode
eugine Eugine is kind of a dodgy fellow. He likes to go underwater and take advantage of underwater currents. He is here and next you can find him there.
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Heads Up Display The game works as a movement based puzzle. You get a board with a certain number of turtles on it; the head of the turtle indicates the direction the turtle will take at the end of the turn.
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technical aspects game engine We chose Unity. It has the development game engine to make the game because the 2D games and the multiplatform support. C# is the main language, supported by JSON files to make the level configuration.
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G ame Flow There are four kinds of scenes in the game:
1. Main menu scene: In this scene the player can choose between game modes (normal and hardcore). Player connection to Facebook too. 2. World Scene: The world scene lists all the worlds in the game. This scene is a free draggable layout canvas containing the world icons. 3. Level Scene: The level scene lists all the levels in a world. This scene is a grid layout canvas. 4. Game Scene: Main scene of the game. Is where the puzzles are created and can be solved by the player.
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Wor ld S cene Contains the list with the different world levels. There are two world scenes in the game representing the two game modes, normal mode and hard mode. Each one of the scenes has a GUI touch draggable layout canvas with all the level icons in it.
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Scripts
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M a n a ge wo r l d
UI S cene M anager
Sto re M a n a g e r
Save the tutorial properties and check if a world was complete. If true, uncheck the locked option and save the game progress.
Control the settings menu. Manage the game audio (On/Off), show the player how to play and shows the game credits.
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Manage the in-game store.
UI
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Wo r l d Canvas
M enu Ca nva s
Renders the draggable layout configured in MLM. This is an infinite draggable panel which buttons renders just when those enter in the ratio camera.
Shows the buttons for settings menu and the in-game store.
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S etti n gs Canvas
Store Ca nva s
There are three options: sound turn on/off all the game audio (music and play sounds), How To Play shows images with the instructions of the game, and the last one, the credits of the game.
In the store canvas the player can shop game skins to change the game theme. The player can shop two different kinds of controls.
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S elec t Level S cene In the select level scene the player can choose between different levels of a specific world. The levels are listed in a 3x3 grid layout per page, with the first one unlocked and locked the others. Levels are unlocked in sequence, from the first to the last every time the player ends a specific level. There are many select level scenes depending on the managed level configuration. These scenes are part of a world scene representing a group in the configuration file.
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Scripts
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2
UI S cen e M anager
G ene ra l Po o l
Control the settings menu. Manage the game audio (On/Off), show the player how to play and shows the game credits.
Creates the object pools for the limits and obstacles objects used in the game scene. The pools are created just one time and are destroyed when the game is closed. The arrays of pools are static objects, and are to be accessed through the scenes. The maximum objects in the limits pool are 25, and for the obstacle pool, it is 10 and cannot grow if more are needed. All the objects starts with an initial state, with position in x=0, y=0, z=0 and set active in false, and change this state when they’re used in the game scene. When the game left the game scene the objects reset to its initial state to be used in the other levels. 48
UI
1
2
Wo r l d Canvas
S et t in g s Ca nva s
As in the world scene but with a back button to get back to the world map.
As in the world scene.
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G ame S cene The game scene is where the player can solve the puzzles. The puzzles are created dynamically using configuration json files with the following structure.
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{ “World” : “1”, “Level” : “1”, “MatrizSize” : “3x3”, “Separation” : “2.0”, “Turns” : “1”, “Time” : “0.0”, “GameMode” : “1”, “Limits” : “-2, 2,-1, 3”, “Tokens” : [ {“type”:”Arrow”, “direction” : “Right”, “position” : “-2.0,1.0,0.0”}, {“type”:”Arrow”, “direction” : “Left”, “position” : “2.0,1.0,0.0”} ], “TokenControls” : [ {“type” : “TurnRight”, “position” : “-2.0,-2.0,0.0”, “uses” : “1”} ], “Obstacles” : [ ] }
• • • •
World: Represents the world that the level belongs to Level: The level in the world MatrizSize: The size of the game board. Min. 3x3 - Max. 5x5 Separation: The distance between two tokens in the game board • Turns: Number of turns in which the game can be solved • Time: Time to solve the game. In normal mode it’s always 0 and goes upward • GameMode: There are two game modes: Normal mode (1) and Hard mode (2)
• Limits: Limits of the game board • Tokens: In this tag we list all the tokens of the board. Each token has these tags: type, direction (Up, Right, Down, Left) and position • TokensControls: In this tag we list all the controls we can use to solve the puzzle. Each control has these tags: type, position and uses • Obstacles: In this tag we list all the obstacles of the board. Each obstacle has only one tag: position
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Game Objects
Tokens In development, tokens are the main objects in game loop. Tokens can move and change its initial state by using a control. Tokens have some properties defined when they are created in the game scene: • Direction: The direction the token goes when moves at the end. Four possible values: Up, Down, Left, Right • Separation: Defines the separation between tokens in the scene. This depends on the configuration of the leve. • MinX, MinY, MaxX, MaxY: Defines the limits in the scene. The token can move only inside the limits.
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S c r ipts Token Sets the properties of the object, controls the selection between tokens (just one token can be selected at time) and look when collide with another token (lose the game). Events Manage the events triggered by the controls. When the token is enabled, the script register the different delegates from each control. Move Manage the move of the token depending on the direction at the end of the game. Physics The tokens have a 2D rigidbody to control the physics. The rigidbody has gravity 0 to avoid the force in the y-axis. The token have a 2D box collider also; this checks if colliding with other tokens and obstacles when it moves. To control the animations, the tokens have 2D three-circle collider, one in the head of the token and two at the right and left. 53
Controls The control objects change the initial states of the tokens. All the controls inherits from a single interface (Token) implementing this methods: SetUses: Number that the control can be used by the player SetText: Text with the control number uses There are 7 controls in the game: Turn Right: Turn the token 90º to the right Turn Left: Turn the token 90º to the left Flip: Turn the token 180º Stop: Freeze the token and it can’t be moved at the end Double: The token can moved two blocks Fade: The token disappear from the game scene Portal: The token moves from its actual position to the portal position The control prefabs has a Box Collider 2D to identified the player touch in mobile devices, using a raycast from the camera to the hitbox. 54
S c r ipts All the scripts controls have delegates to send messages
StopControl
between the controls and the tokens. The first delegate activate
Manage the Stop control
the control in the token and the second delegate delete one DoubleControl
use control from the total for the level.
Manage the Double Control TurnNinetyControl Manage the Turn Right and the Turn Left controls. The enum
FadeControl
controls indicates which one the player use, Turn Right is 0 and
Manage the Fade Control
Turn Left is 1. TurnOneHundredEightyControl
PortalControl
Manage the Flip control.
Manage the Portal Control. Sends the portal position as a parameter 55
HUD In the HUD we show the current time in minutes and seconds in the game scene. This represents the time spent solving the puzzle. We took the deltaTime from Unity, then we convert this in to minutes and seconds to display it in the canvas.
Another representative feature in the HUD is the stars. The stars represent how many levels the player completes in the game. This stars can be used in the game to unlock hidden scenes and to buy things in the store.
The last thing in the HUD is the high score chart. In the chart we list the five fastest time to solve the level in all of the facebook friends of the player.
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UI
loading...
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Lo ad i n g Ca nva s
Play Canvas
This is the first canvas in the game scene. Its a loading screen to prepare the scene to start the game. After 3 seconds it set to false and the time starts.
In the play canvas we have the scene timer, the stars, the facebook button to connect to the social network, the best times chart of the scene and the pause button. The pause button activates the pause canvas.
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3
Pa u s e Ca nva s
This is the menu of the scene. Here we have the restart button to restart the level, the Continue button to go back to the game, the quit button to go back to the select scene and the sound button to turn On/Off the music and sound effects in the game.
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Wi n Ca nvas
Lo s t Ca nva s
This is the canvas when the puzzle is solve. Shows the final time and we have three options. A menu button, a restart button and a next button to continue with the next level in the world.
This is the canvas when the player can’t solve the puzzle. Here we have two options, a restart button and a quit button to go back to the select scene.
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Tutor ial Canvas
This is the canvas when the player check the How to Play. Here we have an explanation in five steps.
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S cr ipts M a i n S ce n e
This is the most important script in the game. It controls the game loop in the game scene, from the start to the end. In the start method we read the configuration files needed to construct the puzzle (tokens, limits, obstacles, controls) and create all this objects. There are four methods to create the objects: CreateTokens: Instantiates all the tokens from the prefab object, giving its initial properties. CreateControlTokens: Instantiates all the controls from the prefabs, giving its initial properties. CreateLimits: Take the objects from the pool and set them active. CreateObstacles: Take the objects from the pool and set them active. There’s two game modes, time mode where the puzzle is solved in a certain number of turns, and control mode, where the puzzles is solved when all the controls are used. Finally it looks when the puzzle is solved, setting the game as solved, showing the winning canvas, or unsolved, showing the lost canvas. 60
S cr ipts Input Touch Controls the input in the game. We use a raycast from the camera to the hitbox in all the objects. When a ray collides with a hitbox it chooses between different options and executes the corresponding action. Select Scene Takes the properties from the level configuration file and set the world number, level number and mode variables to be used in the main scene class. Tutorial Manager Set the tutorial objects in the levels where are needed. Set to active the objects and controls where they are showed and when they disappeared. Scene Manage the aspect ratio of the game and sets the scale of the objects in the scene. 61
S cenes
Level s
Word s
R eward s
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Tu to r i a l
D evelopment by :
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Photographic R eferences
(1) Jazz Cat Games Team. (2016). Author archive. (2) Antonieta Softcore Player. (2016). Author archive. (10)
(3) Gabriel Hardcore Gamer. (2016). Author archive. (4)Phillip focused testing (designer). (2016). Author archive. (5) SOFA 2017 Bogotรก Colombia. (2017). Authoy archive. (6) Sergio, game designer. (2016). Author archive. (7) Maria and Phillip, avid mobile player and designer. (2016). Author archive. (11)
(8) Mad Level manager asset. (2016). Author archive.
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Photographic R eferences
(9) Mad level manager. (2016). Author archive. (10) Phillip, focused testing (art design). (2016). Author archive. (11) Lina and Danielle, esporadic players. (2016). Author archive. (12) Gamers SOFA2017. (2017). Author archive.
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(13) Sergio, SOFA2017. (2017). Author archive. (14) Lina, Miguel and Sergio, development team. (2016). Author archive. (14)
(15) Alejandra and Majo, target audience testing. (2016). Author archive.
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