Friendly Fire
Friendly Fire is a 3D platformer-collectathon that I worked on for two and a half years during my undergraduate.
Originally I was one of three members on a team to make a rapid prototype for the game, but as time went on, instructors and peers were so impressed with the work that we continued to refine the project over multiple semesters.
The earliest screenshot of the Friendly Fire game,
two weeks into development.
Rapid Prototype
The game first started as a rapid prototype exercise between me and two other students. We only had two weeks to put together this project, and so there were many hats worn during this time. While this part of the project doesn't have the polish of the final game, there was quite a bit of content, with three distinct levels and a number of special abilities, like dashing, climbing fuses, and burning through wooden walls.
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Designed and implemented levels
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Programmed character movement
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Programmed level progression and pickups
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Programmed special abilities and terrain destruction
Planning and Recreation
Once we decided that we wanted to expand upon the project, we first had to take some steps back. We expanded our team, and I assumed the role of Creative Director. We went back and created a Game Design Document for everyone to reference while creating, and set off to refine the existing content in the game with new level designs and platforming challenges. After we finished planning, we recreated what we already had, this time using more efficient code and organizational structures.
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Refined level design for additive scenes
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Detail scenes are added on top of the base scene to add multiple levels
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Refined player movement and abilities
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Assisted in the creation of a Game Design Document
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Whiteboxed levels in editor using Unity
Concept art drawn for the new kitchen design. This design was heavily iterated upon in future milestones.
One of our designers had to suddenly quit the project. Here is the level that I designed in their place. It was the highest rated!
Alpha and Beta
During the Alpha and Beta portions of the project, I worked with the leads of the Programming, Design, UI, and Art teams to further refine the project. With the direction of several playtests and team feedback, we worked to produce alpha and beta versions of the game. During this time I also worked as a designer for one of the levels, as one of our other designers left the project. I also worked during this time to design the sound in the game, including scoring and composing the music, and adding sound effects.
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Designed and implemented new Ghost level
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Worked with disciplinary leads to improve game feel
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Assisted the producer with timeline management
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Created and implemented all music and sound effects
Golden Master & IndieCade
Since the final semester of our undergraduate was here, many members of the team left to work on different capstone projects. With a skeleton team, we worked to continue polishing and playtesting the game. Our efforts were rewarded when we were accepted to show off Friendly Fire in the IndieCade 2019! With the project all wrapped up, we published it on itch.io for anyone to try out. If you're interested, I encourage you to do so!
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Refined audio systems for smoother transitions
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Added additional player feedback for UI interactions
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Added additional player feedback during gameplay
A view from the final version of second level of the game, Overflow!