Mateo Julia Wise
SPUZZLE TROUBLE
Uh-oh! Tilt N’ Tap are in a SPUZZLE!
Tilt N’ Tap in SPUZZLE TROUBLE is a game that uses the tilt functionality on iPhone and Android. The player controls two characters and navigates a 2D landscape full of puzzles and obstacles.
Process
This project was based around an NYU GameCenter class known as Team Studio: Game Design where we would form into groups and produce a game from scratch with a creative challenge in mind. After Forming our groups the initial Creative challenge we came up with was:
Creative challenge:
Make interesting use of tilt controls on the mobile platform.
We initially started with a rapid prototyping model where we would develop a prototype taking an approach to the creative challenge, analyze it, and see if we wanted to continue on or try a new idea. These following images are of each prototype we explored before continuing on to full production.
Prototype 1
Objective:
Bring the ice cream cart to the boy.
Features:
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Tapping to select/deselect objects
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Tilting phone manipulates gravity
What did it teach us?
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Dialogue isn’t a sufficient way to create complexity with the tilt mechanic
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Selecting/deselecting makes for a choppy experience during playtime
Prototype 2
Objective:
Light the action on the stage to make the audience happy!
Features:
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“Applause Meter” to reflect the player performance
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Switching spotlight to match the timing
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Tilting phone manipulates the position of the spotlight
What did it teach us?
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Active usage of the gyroscope made for a fun & engaging experience
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We didn’t want to continue with a rhythm/timing-based game
Prototype 3
Objective:
Keep the plant alive by using the power of sunshine & precipitation!
Features:
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Meters to track player performance
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Tilting phone manipulates wheel rotation speed
What did it teach us?
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Active usage of the gyroscope made for a fun & engaging experience
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We didn’t want to continue with a rhythm/timing-based game
Prototype 4
Objective:
Bring grandma ingredients for her pie by using the power of time!
Features:
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Elements in the scene change with time
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Tilting phone manipulates time
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Left/right arrows to move the character
What did it teach us?
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An added level of complexity was needed to bind the tilt & tap mechanics
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Puzzles felt disjointed and needed more transitional elements
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Time manipulation was something we wanted to explore further
Prototype 5
Objective:
Help the shop owner get electricity back at his store!
Features:
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Two characters: one whose movement is controlled via arrows, other whose movement is controlled by tilt
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Tilting also manipulates time
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Puzzle that features moving both characters to different places
What did it teach us?
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Balancing two characters with different movement controls was engaging, but needed tweaking
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Need to refine movement & add more elements in the scene that utilizes the base movement mechanics
As we continued on this project we decided to utilize Prototype 5 as a base and work from there. It felt like the strongest pice of work so far and we pushed forward in production to bring the Finial Iteration into sight
Final Iteration
This Is the accumulation of a lot of work on the programming and world-building side. While I wanted to get more precision and levels we had a lot of problems with the systems themselves. I hope to keep working on this for the future and implement
- Cleaner Precise movement
- rouge Like elements
- overall rework of the turning mechanic