Jobert: An Explosive Adventure
Gameplay Synopsis
Climb the mountain, reach the top! Jobert: An Explosive Adventure is a single-player side-scrolling platformer featuring…
Unique Platforming — Take control of an exhilarating movement system based around using explosions to jump between platforms.
Whimsical Atmosphere — Explore each level as you progress and take in the charming details of their fantastical environments.
Delightful Music — Listen to a soundtrack with musical pieces tailored to complement the mystical experience of each level.
Checkpoints — Reach checkpoints carefully positioned to encourage brave attempts at scaling obstacles while still allowing failed attempts to be punishing enough.
Personal Contributions
My role in the project was to perform engineering tasks for the fundamental platforming mechanics. The essence of these contributions are the movement system, the explosion knockback system, the moving/crumbling platforms, and the respawn system. To provide a quality gameplay experience, I ensured the movement system featured acceleration, deceleration, coyote time, air strafing and fast falling. I also paid great attention to detail with the explosion knockback system and programmed the bombs to include a drop-off mechanic, adding a layer of skill to the game by forcing players to time their jumps just right in order to maximize knockback distance. Another feature I programmed to ensure quality of experience was state saving for moving/crumbling platforms. When a checkpoint is reached, all relevant variables for dynamic platforms are saved and then restored to those values when the player respawns at that checkpoint.
*Art not representative of my work.
Game Concept
I derived the concept from the premises of different successful contemporary games in the mobile market. Clash of Clans served as the primary reference; a game where units are dropped into a level and left to automatically attack enemies. Since the traditional real-time army management of desktop strategy games is extremely difficult to replicate on a touch screen, these kinds of games turn strategy into a viable genre on mobile by removing the responsibility of micro-level decision making from players. Recognizing this, I thought up my own take on an auto-battler ported into a feasibly scoped, single-player concept.
Design Goals
Design Process
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NPC Combat System
I knew every NPC in the game needed to be able to act on its own without player input. To achieve this, I created my own algorithm for the combat system that allows units to ignore friendlies, seek out enemies and pick targets which make the most sense in the moment. The result was a fairly optimized and maintainable system that works exactly as intended.
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Placement System
The placement system represented a development hurdle that I was willing to tackle and overcome no matter the effort. Its implementation was a noteworthy challenge that taught me many lessons in player input, grid logic, conflict handling and overall game data management. Although this could be said about every feature in every game I develop, I especially feel that I continue to use what I learned in the creation of this system to this day.
Design Goals
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Camera Animation System
The camera animation system serves as the player’s eyes for every level of the game. My goal was to create a system that did more than just the bare minimum of showing players what they need to see by snapping between different perspectives. Instead, what I designed is a vehicle for delivering a cohesive sense of spatial presence in the level and a feeling of dramatic impact.
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Upgrade System
Upgrades are what tie the whole game together. It is what rewards players for their conquests and imbues a sense of progression throughout the levels. Without the upgrade system, levels would lose an important dimension of strategy and lack the feeling of being stacked on top of one another.
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Design Process
… I designed the upgrade system to be consequential for later levels where winning is extremely difficult without the right kind of upgrade balance.
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In-Game Level
My thought process behind composing the game’s map layout was to give it a stylized setting which at the same time provides a visual identity and tells an open-ended story. I felt the game deserved an atmosphere capable of elevating it beyond the feeling of an empty prototype and into the impression of taking place in a world of its own.
Design Goals
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