Aurora Game Projects

Background

These are a series of game projects I have worked in the two or three years I was active in Aurora. All of my positions were in programming, and for each of them, I did get to try something new to implement while learning.

Card Game (Fall 2017 - Spring 2018)

The first project, and it never really got off the ground since it was mostly a group of people coming up with ideas than anything. There isn't much to say code-wise since the most I did was a file reader for creating grid maps, and otherwise, there was a lack of a decided direction that I couldn't do much anyways. In retrospect to the code, I felt I made a mistake to start with a file reader first because that did not contribute to the core gameplay beyond an easier way to make maps.

To code: https://github.com/dprefontaine/lostland

Chirodonum (January 2019)

Although this is not a semester project, it was during the game jam the club promoted anyways. For what it is, I'm proud of it despite having an understaffed team of two people working on sound, and a programmer who has barely touched Unity before. Was the result sketchy? Yes. Did we win? No, but it felt great doing the echolocation system in the span of a morning while learning about Unity's libraries. "How did you do that so fast?" asked one of my teammates.

For how the echolocation worked: a series of raycasts were sent out, and if they casted onto an object, it would determine what that object was. If it was a platform, it would flash green, and if it was a hazard, it would flash red. This would last only for a limited time, and would get weaker before it expired.

To code: https://github.com/dprefontaine/chirodonut

Talonfall (Spring 2020)

Returning to the club after a hiatus, I was looking for any game that needed a programmer, and the team making Talonfall said they needed one. Overall, this was probably my favorite project in the club because not only did I help with implement a lot of the levels, there was quite a bit I did to make the game "feel right." Where I would implement a UI, I'd also implement screen flashes and other health effects. Where I would add sound, I'd arrange what the team provided to make a strong atmosphere. I had most of the team to thank, and I am hoping this continues again to make it into something big.

It's hard to say much for features since it's more from the highlights are from the appearance side than anything.

To code: https://github.com/jedklika/TalonFall

The game: https://talonfall.itch.io/silent-scream

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CHEg_M37oc

Shared Time (Fall 2020)

Despite having not a lot to work with, there were some things I still like going out, minus trying to develop on a virtual machine early on. For one, I like where the level design went because I would add some extra ornamentation to what was already planned. Second, I did my own AI system for adding stealth. Although it was a crude system, I felt it was quite a step up compared to what was done in the club before, having a rough sight detection going on, and having to manage what was active because it was also not very optimized. There was more I wanted to do, but sadly, I felt it was my time to move on from the club by the end.

The features explain themselves, and I do need to upload the playable build at some point. I would have a screenshot, but I'll have to build the game again to get it.

To code: https://github.com/jedklika/SharedTime

Reflection

Sometimes I think about going back and fleshing out these ideas further since I don't think there's such thing as a fundamentally bad game idea, more so poorly realized ones. And for here, I do want to flesh these out more at some point, but time and circumstances only permit so much, and I can't keep still in my ideas anyways.