Interactive Application and Video Game Design
SummaryWhile in the DATA program, students who wanted to test and show off their skill in an area of expertise could do so in SkillsUSA. My team and I decide to be compete in SkillsUSA and attempt Interactive Application and Video Game Design. We developed an educational, action platformer meant for the demographic of children from the ages of six to thirteen year olds. This game would be known as Clever Sid. It is set in the prehistoric times where dinosaurs still rule the land. The player starts off as a small reptile named “Sid” trying to make its way up the food chain in any form or way possible to ensure its survival. To do this, Sid must choose what its diet will consist of, whether it be a carnivore, herbivore, or a scavenger. Each level would contain multiple obstacles consisting of enemies and puzzles. Evolve and survive as Sid becomes the faster and stronger giants of the Mesozoic Era and become the apex predators and herbivores.
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Pre-ProductionOur team worked vigorously, completing the tasks we volunteered to do. From pre-production to the finished product, everyone put in their maximum amount of effort. Jonas Engelmann worked on the code, Diana Mejia did the art, I was the team coordinator and Sebastian Gomez looked up research.
During pre-production, we started to learn programming and plan out the art design. We decided to go with the “finger-paint” art style to reflect the minds of our child fanbase. During this time we started to choose our dinosaurs and start basic sketches. We fully defined the concept of the game and which dinosaurs we would use. |
Production
Clever Sid was at the beginning of it’s production phase and we worked toward its completion. We had the starting lizard with walking, jumping, and climbing animations. We were creating the other playable dinosaurs, enemies, and prey for our lizard. We have completed the starting screen, level select, basic tutorial level, and second level with basic UI and animation. The team works together, with me or Sebastian asking Diana to create a piece of art, that piece of art is then approved by the rest of the team. She then passes the file to Jonas who then integrates it into the game.
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Planned Production/Final ProductIn the future we plan on adding more dinosaurs, enemy dinosaurs and bosses, different environments, and more levels. We are also thinking of porting the game to iOS and Android. We also are planning on polishing the User Interface and Heads-Up display after the completion, as it isn’t too much of a hindrance to the gameplay.
Hopefully you had a great time watching our game develop and enjoy our current product! We had a blast making and learning from it. |
My TeamThis is a picture of my team before we got judged for Interactive Application and Video Game Design at the State level. We got Gold at the regional and finished state with a Bronze medal. I am very proud of my team and our accomplishments.
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From left to right: Jonas Englemann, Miguel Platero (me), Diana Mejia and Sebastian Gomez
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