why we did it?
A big part of who we are and what we aim to deliver as a company is our passion to learn and improve, We started out as game developers and naturally want to exercise our abilities for client projects and our own. One of the best ways to improve is to look at existing examples, break them down into core functions and replicate them in a way that makes them nearly indistinguishable from the original.
We made everything from scratch, pixel art graphics / script and functions for game flow and play. That said we did purchase a cheap retro special screen effect to really give it an authentic feeling.
the tools we used
Adobe Photoshop CC
We created all the graphics in adobe photoshop using the originals as a reference.
Construct 2
The game functionality and web build was developed in Construct 2 primarily using its node based methods as opposed to direct scripting.
Libre Office Calc
We used Libre Office Calc to seperate all the core components and it really helped to recall where we were in development and what tasks we had to complete.
pac-man
PAC-MAN was one of the most successful arcade games ever, and for this project we showed some symptoms of Pac-Man fever. Pac-man is an incredibly simple game with complex working in the background, navigate around a maze avoiding ghosts as you eat dots. Try to eat all the dots to beat the level.
The most impressive area was handling the ghost AI, although base interaction was assumed such as moving towards the player, we never truly understood that each ghost actually has its own quirks, some will hang out around, others will directly chase you. It’s levels of complexity like this that are often overlooked but are incredibly cool to find out.
frogger
FROGGER is another long time classic, it even lead to some other massive games such as Crossy Roads, which is in essence frogger infinity. You control a frog and must move hop by hop towards the end of the level avoiding roads and riptides. Once you get 5 frogs to the end the level will end.
The area I found most interesting is how well this game could be optimised, most if not all components can be made to scroll and loop for an infinite pattern, such as for the water areas. Along with adding hints of randomness to make areas more interesting. This game is an example of simple easy to use controls.
arkanoid
Arkanoid is a classic game where you control a paddle and move it left and right, the aim is to keep knowing a ball into the wall at the top of the screen, You must break through all the tiles to advance through the levels.
This is one of the games that use a bit more physics then the rest, specifically controlling the bouncing ball and how it interacts with other elements, It took a few attempts to make the bounces feel good, whilst still keeping the game challenging.
space-invaders
Space-Invaders is another all time great arcade game, You control a space ship that moves left and right with the ability to fire a laser up the screen to destroy an invading alien force. The alien force will scroll left to right each time they hit the edge they will move down closer to the ground. Your objective is to survive and destroy all of the aliens before they destroy you.
This was a really fun game to make and we opted for a more interesting arcade colour variant, this one used coloured areas on the arcade screen to make the ships appear to change colour as they move through the screen.
how it looks
