Ice Slider
Design Process
Idea
Game Overview
The player is an ice cube that slides through the levels by manipulating their speed. They can slow down or speed up and jump. There are speed boosters, ramps to jump from and clouds to bounce on. The game features 3 unique levels and one short bonus level all designed by me. There are multiple paths in each level and 3 coins that can be collected per level. I did a lot of UI work with this game and added animations for the menu and in game items. UIs to represent which coins are found will be regularly displayed. Everything visible in this game besides the font was designed by me. All images for widgets were drawn in Krita. The goal of this game was to see if I could make a game from start to finish by myself, and make it not appear to be made in Unreal Engine. I also made all the SFX and voice recording myself. The only asset I did not create was the music which was played and created by Jarrett Holbrook.
This game was created for a 2 week game jam themed "frozen".
Game Mechanics and Implementation
Player Movement
To allow for constant steady movement without player input, I add movement input on tick and manipulate the speed variable from within the actual input function. The player tick is enabled when the player initially adds input. The tick is turned off when respawning or restarting. The player can also jump once vertically before touching the ground again.
Checkpoints
Checkpoints were set up as a forgiveness system for players. Each level starts on a checkpoint so that they feel familiar when coming across another one. Checkpoints allow players to return to a later location if they fail. The checkpoints update the respawn function with a new location once the player overlaps. The flag plays an animation moving up the pole and a jingling sound is played. Each checkpoint has a little blue stand that tilts when the player starts to show the player being given a sliding boost.
Collectables (Coins)
There are 3 coins to find and collect in each level, and the player has to find and pass through to collect them. There is a UI active showing which coins you've acquired, and the order acquired in the level. For example, if you were to miss the first and third coin but find the second, only the middle coin icon would light up and spin. The unclaimed coin icons remain a darkened dull color and no motion. The instance keeps track of which coins have been obtained and displays them in a UI from the menu. If the player collects every coin in the game a special coin image is displayed on the select level menu.
UI/ Widgets
Almost everything in this game including the background is a widget. I added a scrolling credits widget and menu. The main menu has an animation of the main character sliding down a mountain and shouting wee. There is also a widget for level selection, pause and level won. The character themself is a widget as well as the enemies and in game items. This allowed me to make blueprint actors 2D images in the world.
Interactions
The player can run over speed boost to give them a temporary speed increase and allow them to reach higher and further away spaces. The player can also land on 1 of 4 cloud platform types which are identified by color. The blue clouds are a regular platform with no effect, white clouds have interpolation to movement, the yellow clouds are bouncy, and the red clouds act as an elevator- trapping the player and disabling movement until the ride is over.
Enemies/ Obstacles
The enemy in this game is a red version of the Ice cube character. They were inspired by Mario’s Thwomps. They rise and drop on a timeline while making grunting sounds and if the player collides with them, they are sent back to the last checkpoint. The enemies play their sound at location so the player can hear them before they see them- allowing preparation to slow down, speed up or jump.