MYRIAD MAGNETS

PROJECT DETAILS

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Myriad Magnets is a single-player strategy/puzzle game in which the player navigates a series of obstacles by attracting to and repelling from magnets.

The basic game mechanics had already been decided when I joined the team, so I primarily worked to implement basic functionality and develop an aesthetic and artistic direction for the project. While testing the levels, the drag/delay in the motion of the player object reminded me of pushing through a viscous substance--experiencing resistance to movement but ultimately forcing onwards anyways. From this, I suggested either an underwater or outer space aesthetic to visually correspond to the sensation the gameplay evoked. We decided on underwater, and from there, worked to add appropriate audio, particle effects, and sprites to improve upon the game feel.

CONTRIBUTIONS

• Implemented the AudioManager script in order to play sound effects and music

• Implemented the progress save system (i.e. after returning to the main menu, a continue button appears and the player may resume from the level they last left off at)

• Laid out the main menu and pause menu and implemented basic functionality for them

• Implemented the level selection screen and functionality

• Experimented with and selected the color palette

• Drew vector sprites for seaweed, rocks, fish, sunken ships, and the anglerfish

TOOLS

• Unity 2D (C#)

• Adobe Illustrator

TEAM MEMBERS

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

• Potential difficulty options: Continuously decreasing health bar, Limited amount of times each magnet can be clicked, etc.

• The moving camera makes it difficult to click on magnets. -> Possibly activate magnets based on key presses rather than mouse clicks.

• The health bar only appears once the player takes damage, which kind of comes out of nowhere. Perhaps have it consistently located in a corner of the screen.

• Some of the later levels focused more on following a set path rather than experimenting with dexterity and strategy.