O.A.S.I.S
What is this?
This was a Global Game Jam challenge where, again, I worked with fellow development students and game artist students to produce a game in under 48 hours. This turned out to be something of a challenge for many reasons, but mostly to get a strong idea out of ‘What Does Home Mean To You’?
We landed on a little robot named OTTO flying around space cleaning up his home galaxy.
The code is mostly built by my compatriots, with myself acting in a senior programmer role as the only 3rd Year student programmer in the group. It’s a unique challenge as you ensure everyone has something to do, that they actually can achieve what you need them to do and then keep on top of what you need to do as well. I settled for adding enemy behaviour (all basic but very quick to do, which is useful for when you’re checking on everyone else regularly, dragging you from your own work) and handling animations within the Unity Engine. Most were stock animations applied to humanoid skeletons but a few, like the winged lumps of coal or OTTO’s weapon, needed some additional animation to make sure they looked right.
Otherwise, the game is mostly cobbled together by myself from the excellent assets and completed code work my teammates achieved to make little scenes to sell somewhat of a story. My favourite is OTTO enjoying the star-lit space-scape outside with nothing but a nightlight and his beaten up teddy-bear for company. Then the level is this descent into the surface of the planet to fight a fire-breathing monster before finally getting to return home after a job well done.
I desperately wish to use some of these assets again. I would adore some extra expressions for OTTO as I think he’d be a really cute and fun character to build into something more substantial. Adding expressions and a little more flavourful voice acting would make his adorable design fit together as this lonely little space-cleaner. That shall have to be for another project, I think.