Prototypes

Here is a collection of some of the game prototypes and demos I have made so far.  Please note that they are not meant to look or sound pretty-- they are just meant to show me whether or not the finished game would be fun to play.  I am posting these for the sake of my fellow developers, in the hopes that they will either find inspiration or comfort in the fact that something so functional can be made so very quickly.

I am all for the free exchange of ideas in the creative world.  These prototypes are merely the starting point of games, not actual demos or full mock-ups.  Thus, if you like the feel of one of them, take the idea and run with it.  Make your own prototype.  Test it out, tweak it to your liking, turn it into a real game.  And then come back and tell me all about it, because I'd love to see your finished product!

Please note that most of these were made with Game Maker 8.1, which means the download link leads to an executable (.exe) file in my Dropbox.  If you are uncomfortable with downloading such a file, please let me know, and I'll see if I can't find a better format to provide.

When you start the game, please press F1 to view more detailed information about the game itself, controls, and where the assets came from.

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Theme: Pacifism
Prototype Title: The Pacifist Initiative
Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Lite
Brief Summary: A puzzle or tower defense game where you can left-click to place a limited number of "barriers" to keep the two opposing armies (green and blue fields) from reaching the battle grounds (red field).
Fun Development Fact: My final project for this class was to pick one of my prototypes and improve upon it.  I chose this one, and thus To Arms, Wheek Wheek! was born.
Development Time:  Approximately twelve hours, including planning.
Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!
Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Journey Home

Prototype Title: Mouse Knight Lantern Demo

Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard

Brief Summary:  A platformer game where you manipulate light to help you navigate a dark cave.
Fun Development Fact: The premise for this game was inspired by a platformer I had been trying to design the semester before taking this course, which had a working title of Mouse Knight.

Development Time:  Approximately ten hours.

Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!
Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Inspired by...

Prototype Title: Wockycraft

Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard

Brief Summary:  A hack-n-slash game where you fight your way through foes while wielding a magic sign-post that turns your enemies into fairies.

Fun Development Fact: This was my least favorite prototype of all the ones I made during this course.  Although I thought my idea was solid, I failed at implementing it after spending most of my time on a combat bug.

Development Time:  Less than twelve hours.

Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!

Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Competition

Prototype Title: Monster Fighter Tech Demo

Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard

Brief Summary:  A monster fighter that uses a combination of stats and a rock- paper- scissors- lizard- Spock system.

Fun Development Fact: This game required the players to share a computer.  When my classmates tested it, they had a lot of fun cheating by looking at their opponent's button presses and changing their input accordingly before the time ran out.

Development Time:  Less than twenty-four hours.

Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!

Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Vegetation

Prototype Title: Alien Herbicide

Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard

Brief Summary: A shoot-em-up game where your goal is to get past the invading swarm of angry, sentient plants without dying.

Fun Development Fact: This game used spawners instead of pre-placed enemies, so each play-through will have a slightly different number of enemies to get past per wave.

Development Time: Less than twelve hours.

Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!

Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Thirty Seconds
Prototype Title: Time Curse
Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard
Brief Summary: A pseudo-randomized game where you must navigate your way through a simple maze to reach the goal before time runs out.
Fun Development Fact: The map information is actually contained in an array for this game, with each doorway being set to move north, east, south, or west according to its location.  This is instead of calling a specific (i.e. hard-coded) room name at each doorway, as is normal for Game Maker.
Development Time: Less than twelve hours.
Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!
Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: Consume
Prototype Title: Run Away!
Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard
Brief Summary: A platformer where you must try to escape a giant monster that is coming to eat you.
Fun Development Fact: This game made me realize that fire is one of the hardest things to recreate as an artist.
Development Time: Less than twelve hours.
Download the Game Maker .exe file via Dropbox!
Made for Rapid Prototyping, Fall 2012

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Theme: You Are the Villain
Game Title: Gnomer
Engine Used: Game Maker 8.1 Standard
Brief Summary: A platformer where you play as a car-key gnome in training, using your superior jumping skills and trusty grappling hook to steal people's keys and hide them.
Fun Development Fact: The moving platforms in this game were handled by a set of tools I made.  These tools let me place platforms wherever I wanted and covering whatever distance I wanted without having to change any variables or create multiple different objects for each level.
Development Time: Less than seventy-two hours.
Download the Game Maker .exe file via my Ludum Dare entry page!
Made for Ludum Dare #25, December 2012

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