Minitomic: months of jumping, falling and magnets
My final project for the master's in video game development at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM): a 2.5D platformer with a small magnetic hero. I spent months programming how he jumps, falls and gets hurt.
The game
Minitomic is a 2.5D platformer made in Unity 3D. The hero, Minitomic, has to rescue the tomics from the evil Dr. Von Mark III, solving puzzles and getting past obstacles with two special skills: a double jump and magnetic powers. He can create magnetic fields, red or blue, to attract or repel objects around him, and that is the heart of the game.
We were a small team, the Tomic Team, and we made it in four or five months. Another team member from that time was Nekete. The game received an honourable mention at IDEAME++ 2012, sponsored by Nintendo and the Complutense University of Madrid.
What I did
I was part of the project from the first ideas, so I helped with the design, the early prototypes, the scripting and the levels. But most of my time went into the character. For several months I programmed prototype after prototype of his physics: how high and how far he jumps, how gravity pulls him down, how the camera follows him, how many hits he can take. Later came some of the enemies, the triggers (saving a tomic, reaching the end of a level) and the turns that let Minitomic change direction in 3D.
A jump looks simple from the outside. Making it feel right, so that it is fun to press the same button a thousand times, was the part of the project that taught me the most.
Watch it
Two gameplay videos are still online: the third level, and the last one, where Dr. Von Mark comes after Minitomic.