EX0DUS

For the 2018 Global Game Jam, I worked as the lead programmer with four other programmers and two artists, the theme for the Jam was 'Transmission'.

 

Our idea for this was to have the player control the Queen of a hive mind, who would progress through levels and collect drones along the way. To gain these drones, the Queen would transmit their mind to the drones, incorporating them into the hive. The drones themselves would be able to have specific abilities that would allow the player to complete the level’s challenges, these abilities would be able to be transmitted between the drones, see what we did there.

On this basis, we created four types of drone;

 

• Grey

  • The default drone, no ability

• Blue

  • Super Charged – Can start up generators to turn things on (like doors) or overload them to turn objects off (like giant fans)

• Yellow

  • Combination – Causes several drones to stack up forming ladders (to access out of reach objects) or bridges (to cross gaps)

• Red

  • Explosion – Blows stuff up, fairly self-explanatory really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to make the ability transmission work like a disease. For example, if a grey drone came into contact with a coloured drone there would be a chance that it would gain its ability. To make this mechanic more apparent we increased the number of grey drones the player controlled, so once they acquired a new ability it would be transmitted throughout the hive.

To add to the hive aesthetic we thought it would be interesting to control the drones using a something akin to a Boids simulation, so they would flock to and around the player

To create a wider variety of puzzles we decided to allow the player to separate from the hive and then to control themselves and the hive as two distinct units. Thus allowing the player to interact with one thing, while the hive went somewhere else.

 

For the Jam, I mainly worked on the player controls and the drone movement and the blue ability. The player themselves is a fairly standard third-person controller. You can move about and look around yourself, and you press F to 'capture' nearby drones

 

For the drones, they each have a sphere collider on them, and if another drone enters that an explosion force is added to it so it moves away, at this point the transmission of abilities also occurs. While this may not be the most efficient way of doing it, it was the solution my brain came up with at 3 am and for the most part, it worked. I fully intend to go back to it and remake it.