For the past 6 months, I've been working alongside two classmates on a web browser game named Rush-Fu. It was a 2D side-scrolling action game that took place in a factory where the player must climb while dodging/destroying enemy robots in order to beat the final boss and, therefore, beating the game. What stood out in this game was how fast you had to progress through the levels and the player moving automatically horizontally, while still being possible to change direction at any given moment. To make this game and implement these features, we used three games as main references:
- Katana ZERO
Due to its intense and fast-paced gameplay, as well as being rogue-like. In this game, if you die on a level, you’re sent back to the start of that level. In Rush-Fu, you go back to the first level, due to its short overall length and the fact that you could beat the whole game in 5 minutes.
- Slayin’
A lesser known game for mobile devices (iOS and Android). This is where we got the auto-move idea, as well as the possibility to change direction anytime the player wants. Just like in this game, in Rush-Fu, you can change direction by simply hitting the arrow key pointing to where to want to move once.
- Speedrunners
The core idea of finishing stages/levels as fast as possible was drawn from here, as well as the idea of comparing scores (measured in how long you took to beat the game) between other players, creating a sort of competition.
My main role in this game was drawing pixel art, since it was the art style we picked for it. I designed the logo as well as a background and the player character’s idle pose. Not much sprite wise or background wise, because at this early stage of development, we had to focus more on conceptual matters, such as moodboards and layout designs, which I was put in charge of. I ended up designing a total of 10 moodboards for the game, some for enemies, some for the chosen environment, one for UI and another one for stage props. With all these “ingredients”, I was able to complete the art book for Rush-Fu, which was the goal for the semester art-wise.
Unfortunately, progress didn’t go too well for us, as we had several technical and programming issues along the way, resulting in one of the staff members to leave the group.
Hence the reason of changing and working on a different game, with a former classmate from Rush-Fu and two other classmates just this week. We’re currently working on a game called Captain Plank, a 3D top down hack n’ slash game where the player controls a pirate.
I’ll be assigned as an artist on this new project, where I’ll be modelling characters, stage props, and also designing 2D assets, such as the game logo and other UI elements.
This will certainly pose a challenge to me, which is something that I’m always looking forward to face!
