Game - Doomsday (2011)

I don't know why I didn't add the game to my blog earlier.

Doomsday was a group project that I was put in charge of for a class the fall of 2011. I was in change of scripting, in Game Maker. While art wasn't my job, I still did some. Most of the art I did was effects (like scrolling heat, mist, dust, rain and snow), some background art. On top of art and scripting, I was the gameplay designer and story writer.

Our prototype was finished early - this was because the gameplay itself was simple. This allowed us to pool all of out effort and into making the game more than just a simple shooter. We could add a campaign with a story, freeplay level, cheats, unlockables, upgrades, multiple enemy types and even a few options and mini-games.

The story of the game was a playful mix of key events in earths history, like the extinction of the dinosaurs, the ice age and even Roswell, blended along with some light religion, science and alien motifs; it's as historical as it is silly. As the campaign progresses, the background remains the same, but the effect color palettes change. Realistically, the stars would not change position all that much, but for differentiation, colors and effects alternate and change.

This was a lot to focus on at one time, bouncing back and forth between technical and art, but we're given the title of best game in class, so our collaborative efforts paid off. Given the opportunity, I'd actually restart the project and start refining the project. If not a complete recreation, a sequel. This project taught me a lot, from group manage to pipeline work flow and it's one of the best and most fun I've ever worked on, even with the games oversimplified gameplay.

Doomsday was finished late fall of 2011. It is currently released here/here (scroll down) to the public, finished and completely playable, though a little buggy.

Below is a selection of screens of things I've worked on. Mostly backgrounds, unless stated otherwise.

Main Menu
Collaborative effort between Lorren Merritt and myself.
Text art and sprites done by Darius Ray.

Freeplay - Aurora
Sprites done by Darius Ray.
I was just playing with the scrolling effect and I thought
the effect was nice. Light usage of blues, purples and oranges,
as well as falling dust - creates a magical effect.

Freeplay - Home
Home is a level that plays with sound, timing and atmosphere.
Home is one of the few levels inspired by Earth, and there's
rain and heavy fog. The music track is straight rain and
thunder, so I was forced to sync the lighting effect to the music.

Freeplay - Abstract
Background art done by Lorren Merritt.
Abstract is an altered version of the game in freeplay mode.
The goal is to change the colors of the white spheres to score
point. Change it too much, and you don't get any points.

Freeplay - Level Select Hub
I had trouble figuring out what to do with the Level Select hub.
I wanted to display what the levels looked like before playing,
contrary to the campaign, where there's meant to be more intrigue
and mystery.

Campaign - Level Select Hub
Sprite work by Darius Ray and myself.
Each of the colors spheres represents a different level that
hasn't been unlocked. As you unlock more, the planets
are filled in. I did all the planets and spheres.

Additional Credits:

-Matthew Hurley - Background Art (not shown), Sprites

-Joshua Wozniak - Theme music

-Additional sounds from various internet sources

Tools used (Myself):
Game Maker
Gimp
Photoshop
Google