About:

Slapsticklers is a competitive, multiplayer 3D platforming game, made in Unreal Engine, that allows up to four players to battle to hold on to a battery the longest! The longer you hold on to the battery, the more charge you'll store and the bigger a building you'll build! Who will be the best construction robot?

Development details:

Roles: Programmer, Designer, Producer
Languages: C++
Tools: Unreal Engine 4, GitHub, Trello (for Agile)
Team size: 6
Development time: ~7 weeks
Developed: 2022

My role:

Programmer

• Programmed battery carrying mechanic, particle effects, end-of-game results screen, and menus
• Debugged code of other team members
• Taught non-programmer team members basic coding and Unreal Engine features to speed up development
• Laid out game map in editor
• Continued patching game after release to add additional polish
• Managed version control

Designer

• Solidified game's central metaphor
• Chose deep mechanics that could be pared back if necessary
• Tweaked movement, power-ups, and overall game feel
• Decided on experience goals (slapstick, goofy, and chaotic!)
• Designed UI
• Decided on various "juice" effects to improve user experience and mechanical communication

Producer

• Carefully managed project scope
• Guided most team discussions, fostered enthusiasm for the project!
• Resolved creative conflicts between group members
• Created asset charts, weekly/term plans

Lessons learned:

Have realistic scope, and anticipate having to scope back.

At the beginning of this project, we recognized that some things might be harder than we anticipated. Instead of backing ourselves into a corner with too many requirements for a minimum viable product, we focused first on a simple set of mechanics that could be expanded if we had time.

Have concrete goals solified early.

On top of being a programmer and designer, I ended up sliding into a producer role to keep the project on track — one of my proudest moments of that was having the entire team on board with a vision we could passionately brainstorm about. Deciding early on the chaotic, goofy slapstick construction site that was the game's central metaphor allowed our team to make every part of the game feel cohesively tied to that idea.

Look for opportunities to do a lot with a little.

For a small team project on a short time frame, doing a lot with a little was a must. In our mechanical design, we searched for a few unique mechanics that would overlap to create depth in player decision-making. In our map design, we opted for a setting that allowed for reuse and arbitrary placement of assets.

Links:

Download the game on itch.io