Design Process

Astro Blitz was a two week project for a class based around creating a prototype using physicality in games. This meant focusing on player skills such as reaction time and maneuverability. For this, I decided I would create first person spaceship movement.

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My initial concept was to require using both a controller and keyboard and mouse, having the controller used for the ship movement and the keyboard and mouse to be for inside the ship, having the player need to actually press the buttons to boost or use the laser beams. Based on on testing feedback, this was not well received by players, saying it was an interesting concept that took away from the actual flight, which players did like. 

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For the second week of the project, I went and converted it to be only on controller with a focus on the actual maneuvering of the ship within the world space. I added hazards such as the asteroids and enemy ships for the player to both avoid and destroy. I included a score system to give incentive to go towards obstacles rather than just avoiding. Rewarding the player for going through the explosions of the enemy ships was something I wanted to include, So I created score multipliers that can spawn when ships are destroyed. This helped me push players into going towards ships rather than just avoiding them. I still felt some more environmental pieces were needed, so I created a larger ship that would over time shoot out a large blast for the player to avoid. I included an incredibly loud sound to make it obvious it was happening even if the player could not see. I added some more set pieces to give the space some more depth and finished the project.