Team Leader, Lead Designer, Level Designer.

After our 2-week game-jam we were challenged with a 4-week jam. Being mixed into new groups and dealt new cards, we received the arcade card for our theme. 

I was inspired!

I drew up an entire concept for a game and pitched it to the team through the use of white-board and A3 sketches. The team were impressed and with that, we began production of D:fragged.

My inspiration came from a later addition to the Tron series:
-Tron 2.0 Killer App for the Xbox original-
Tron is a series complied of different game modes and mechanics, but Tron 2.0 killer app combined all those game types into 1 package that allowed you to experience each mode without purchasing individual games.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game idea was "simple". The player must travel to 4 hardware locations on the computer, each will have its own mechanics and objectives that the player will have to overcome. Additionally, to travel to each location, players will need to complete a
mini-game which is consistent throughout.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would soon learn how wrong I was when I came up with these "simple" mechanics.
I put my programmers through hell as we made 5 games in 1. But, we stayed late, we worked together and in the end, we pulled through with a complete game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
I worked on the level design, sprint planning, playtesting and giving lots of hugs to both programmers (unfortunately our GDD was physical and has been lost to time).   


Reflection.

I do not consider this game to be a failure, instead, I see it as a reminder of scope, work distribution, and finally, that adding mechanics to a game is not an experience.

We were adding mechanics to serve a purpose, we weren't exploring the possibilities of what we could achieve, neither were we testing to see if they were enjoyable.   

"Make it work"

Took over from

"Make it fun"

Finally, I believe working exclusively with placeholder objects lowered team morale.