31 January 2012

Global Game Jam 2012 - Ophiuchus

Global Game Jam 2012 is over, and was a great success! I teamed up with Kristen Robertson, Brandii Grace, and Jason Wishnov, to make the game "Ophiuchus" during the game jam.

I contributed with music and design, as well as the concept for the mechanism for gameplay. The sounds and music were all made using Linux Multimedia Studio. One of the main focuses for me was consistency, so I used the same set of instrument patches for all three of the tracks. Additionally, in creating each sound effect, I made sets of variations that would help to prevent the game from sounding monotonous. The music and sound really help to set the mood and atmosphere for "Ophiuchus."

The concept for the mechanism of gameplay comes from the desire to make a touchscreen-based Arkanoid game, where touching / clicking the screen makes a shockwave that moves the ball, and that the goal of moving the ball is to destroy bricks to progress. This is a concept which I first developed at FGS/GDC 2011, and I'm glad that it got to see the light of day through "Ophiuchus."

Check out Ophiuchus here! (Requires Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 4.0)