About this project:

One-button jumper game with robots, pirate fish and cool retro game music.

Developed in one week in July 2009 at Game Development Camp, which is a summer camp held by The Danish Youth Association of Science – UNF (Ungdommens Naturvidenskabelige Forening). Our team consisted of six people (three programmers, two 3D artists, one 2D artist). The game was made using the open source engine Blender along with some few scripts written in Python.

Game concept
Side scrolling platformer controlled by only one key. Easy to learn, hard to master

Game mechanics
It’s a 2.5D game where a small robot has to jump from platform to platform. He walks by himself, and all the player has to do is press the jump button. Timing is the key, and various obstacles and pitfalls makes this game become harder and harder, while the player’s skills increase.

The visuals
Since Blender is a 3D game engine, the game models are made in 3D. However, the game is viewed from the side, giving an illusion of 2D.

The first level consists of a nature theme with a big glowing sun that constantly follows you like in Super Mario Bros. 3. The second level has a pirate theme with pirate ships, piranhas and crocodiles. Why? Because pirates are awesome!

The character is a cute little robot with funny walking animations. To help the player we have also placed some wood signs along the road that gives hints about what to do.

The atmosphere of the game
A fast-paced game with fitting music. Sound feedback: if the player does something wrong, he should know it by the visual and audio, and if he completes the level he gets a pie and some nice sound effects.

Why is this game fun?
Because the game is difficult yet simple. You’ll get the feeling of wanting to return to the game and play five more minutes. And when you finally beat the whole game you’ll get a great feeling and a big pie (“the pie is NOT a lie!”)

Credits
Caspar Bak Ahrensberg
Gustav Dahl
Kirstine Granzow
Kristian Hedeholm
Mikael Vind Mikkelsen
Tobias Tvermose