Dérive

Ctrl+Alt Arcade Game

September 2021-March 2022

We developed a game prototype with a team of 4 game designers and presented our project at the San Francisco GDC of 2022

As the project was selected to be showcased at the conference, we recruited artists and programmers to polish the game as much as possible.

What I did

Designing the 3 weapons and traps
Balancing for a 1v1 fighting game
Creating multiple level designs
Making SFX
Assembling the arcade game
Creating graphical assets for the prototype

What I learned

Doing combat design
Designing the arcade game with all connections
Project and time management for a personal project (without dedicated class hours)
Using a 3D software, Blender

The prototype, Dérive 1

In "Dérive", the goal is to throw the other pirate off the ship. The game is a 1v1 experience, utilizing buttons and joysticks on the arcade. (gameplay here)

On the ship, there are interactive objects such as crates that players can grab to push each other. Additionally, there are oars that serve as melee weapons.

The developement of the prototype lasted 4 months, allowing us to establish the fondamental Design and test the player-arcade interactions. Although functional, it still has many bugs and design-related problemes. Nevertheless, in early Decembre, we applied to showcase the game at the GDC in San Francisco in March 2022

In January we got the callback from the GDC, confirming our acceptance for the exhibition. This marks the beginning of "Dérive 2", with the core team now expanded to include 2 artists an additional programmer.

"Dérive 2", on our way to the GDC

With this new team, a new development begins. The project starts from scratch as the entire art and programming aspects need to be reworked. From a game design perspective, the prototype allowed us to identify gameplay issues we had to fix.

We have prepared for our journey by putting together a sponsorship and an online fundraising, to help finance the trip and the transport of the arcade cabinet.

Gameplay rework

The base game wasn't dynamic enough and didn't encourage direct combat. Therefore, we changed the weapons there are now 3; corresponding to classic archetypes (each with its strengths and weaknesses), as well as traps that players can activate to hinder their opponent.

Art Direction

In the prototype, I created a few low-poly 3D assets, but we were more focused on establishing a cartoonish art direction for the pirate-themed universe. The artists re-appropriated this art direction to enhance the graphical quality of the game.

The arcade

The structure of the final arcade cabinet is the same as that of the prototype. We simply made visual modifications and consolidated the mechanisms inside. The cabinet held up during the 3 days of the conference and was played approximately 300 times.

Old vs New

Dérive 1 gameplay (decembre 2021)

Dérive 2 gameplay (GDC March 2022)

This project allowed me :

To understand the importance of prototypes for quick playtests
To travel in an other contrie in order to showcase a projet
To meet professionals in the industry and receive valuable feedback on the game
To engage in activities beyond game development, such crowdunding, organizing the trip or building the arcade

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