Flash Flood - How it began


The game is currently available on Google Play.

The version on google play is a very early iteration of the game as can be seen through the photos displayed on the google play website. 

More on the game: Development of the game began in January 2022. The design is heavily... -extremely heavily- inspired by the notoriously difficult - yet very fun (in my opinion) Rayman 1. The key difference was that my game was initially going to be completely procedurally generated, only having one level/mode where the player must climb as high as they can. Like the famous doodle jump or any infinite runner where no additional levels were ever planned. (edited)

Whilst the procedural part was working, I quite quickly realized the game was pretty boring due to the platforms always looking the same. A solution to this problem was "Segments", where zones of prebuilt content were fitted into the procedural process. A segment could contain anywhere between 3 to 10 platforms, and they will have a unique design to allow players to use the abilities that they have purchased using their coins. The process loop became: * Platform (xN) * Segment The above loop seems to work quite nicely and is still used now. (edited) 👍1

Another key difference was that I wanted to use a light effect. In this effect, when active the player is able to see everything, just like any other platformer. But when inactive, visibility is reduced, and key game elements are no longer rendered. These elements include collectibles, creatures, and various environmental elements. Without the light, the game becomes slightly harder.

The final difference, again inspired by Rayman's flood level, is the water below. If the player comes into contact with the water, they are instantly killed without mercy. After a certain height, the flooding begins and the player must race against it.

The above is what is currently available on Google Play, released in May 2022.

After around 3 weeks of break. Refreshed, with less biased eyes, I immediately saw that even with all of the above, it was apparent that there was still not enough gameplay content within the game. The replayability is there, but is it fun? how long will it last? and is it enough, considering how many purchase options there are? At this point it was decided, the game still needs more fun ways for the player to get coins and gems. So, three months ago, there was no denying it -the game needs levels.

In order to do this, an extreme search for bugs ensued, followed by multiple performance overhauls. This ensured that any new content was being deployed on good and working material. The infinite level (as seen in the current released version of the game) is used as the template and stripped leaving the bare bones and no procedural content. Multiple corgi-inherited scripts were reimplemented without PCG and once a scene was working without bugs. Development of new content began. 

Files

Builds_WebGL.zip Play in browser
Oct 02, 2022

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