Cindy Vu - Game Design Portfolio
Process of "(Spacemen, Strategists)^2"
Feel free to scroll through the images and see some notes!
Main focus: Game Design/Art
The Concept
Game design pitch and concepts.
At the start of the semester, every student was required to design a concept for a game and showcase a pitch to the class that was no more than 5 minutes. Once each pitch was given, students were given the chance to vote for which concept they resonated best with. Out of ~30 games, only 6 games were selected and students were assigned to work on one over the entirety of the term.
"(Spacemen, Strategists)²" (or "SS Squared," as I’ll refer to it from here on) was among the top six chosen. As the creator of the game, I took on the dual roles of lead artist and director, immersing myself deeply in the project.
The game's mechanics were originally inspired by the first Mario Maker, where players would take turns designing levels and then play through each level created. Players would earn points based on their order upon finishing, and the winner would be determined based on who earn the most points at the end. Interestingly, I later learned that the game "Ultimate Chicken Horse" on Steam has a similar premise, however I was unaware of the game during my brainstorming sessions.
Art Style - "Paper-y"
Shots of gameplay, assets, and part of an unused ending.
The art direction I envisioned for the game was inspired by Paper Mario's "paper-y" style, where characters would appear as 2D paper cutouts against a 3D world environment. This ultimately meant the game would be a 2.5D game and would utilize the Tileset system that Unity had once again. Fortunately, I was working on "Choco", my capstone project that used the same system, so my team was generally prepared.
I was responsible for creating character animations, block textures, and other animations assets on top of leading the entire team as the director. It was a very challenging experience, as both roles for this one game was very demanding, but I managed to pull through with a lot of planning and time management.
Originally, some of the group members were initially concerned that the art direction we took wouldn't distinguish our game from the others in our class. They were worried that "the style wouldn't pop" in comparison with other games that were more "vibrant", however I recommended with stick to our plans and remain consistent. It ultimately played in our favour, as our game ended up being the only one of the semester with this unique artstyle.
There was a brief ending sequence that was supposed to be much longer and part of a trailer that didn't make it into the final game. A friend of mine sketched the frames using MS Paint, and I compiled and edited everything in Clip Studio Paint. We decided to put it in the new promotional trailer that's now featured on the game's special website.
Gameplay Elements
Scoping is hard.
Initially, we planned to feature multiple environments, each with its own unique set of blocks, to add variety and depth to the gameplay. However, time constraints forced us to streamline our approach, focusing on a single environment for now: the tower. Despite this limitation, we managed to incorporate elements from our original concepts. For instance, we included a dirt block inspired by the grassy plains and an ice block reminiscent of the ice mountains, both of which added a touch of diversity to our prototype.
Development was rather tricky, especially in the programming aspect. We were all still university students at the time, so our coding skills had yet to be refined. You could see part of that in the second video above! Fortunately, we pulled through and was awarded one of the best game developed during that semester.
Feel free to try the game out here!
