CA190
Elan:
This is a game I created in GameMaker as my final project for CA190. I never had a chance to finish the actual game before it was due (the documentation was the focus of the project). Someday I might come back and finish this game.
Title Screen
In game screenshot
Story:
Chris’ breath dances with euphoria as he puts the final touches on his latest invention, a jetpack with near unlimited thrust. Although he is still relatively young he assures himself “Einstein was only 26 when he made some of his greatest discoveries.” Chris places his arms through the fortified harness. As he buckles the final support around his waist he can feel more than the substantial weight of the device weighing him down. He gracefully steps out of his bedroom onto the roof. All the calculations he has done, everything he has worked for, comes down to this moment. Chris peers into the sky as the earth holds its breath in anticipation. He presses the ignition as lightly as his thumb will allow. In an instant the rocket explodes to life, shooting Chris into the atmosphere. Galaxies away a Phe, or child of the stars, detects an enormous energy coming from a nondescript barred spiral galaxy. Her name is Pixi and she is sitting in the chamber of a dying machine; one that has been keeping the Phe alive for eons. Pixi assumes that any such source of such great power will be able to save her people, and fix the machine. Using the last ounce of life left in the machine she teleports the source of this energy to her. She is shocked when Chris appears, and wonders “How could the source of such great power be so small and fragile?” The answer to that question will not make a difference. Now they need each other to restart the machine so Pixi can save the Phe, and Chris can go home.
Overview (Premise):
Chris thought it was just a small project, who knew it would go this far. Now it’s up to him and his jetpack to save a dying species of creatures made from stardust. With the aid Pixi, a stardust creature, Chris must traverse the blackness of space and the inner workings of an ancient machine to save this otherwise doomed civilization. Use Chris’ items and Pixi’s abilities to navigate her world, and overcome obstacles in this 2D sidescrolling action-adventure platformer.
Explanation:
The general theme of the game is to be about the interdependence of 2 individuals. Pixi and Chris need each-other to be successful. Pixi saved Chris’ life but to return he needs to help her. She needs his help to restore her species. It is only by leveraging this cooperation that the player will be successful. This connection is communicated to the player via the mechanics of the game. Chris can interact with the physical world and Pixi can manipulate the stardust. Also by the end of the game it was planned for Pixi to make the ultimate sacrifice. The player will launch her at the enemy during the final encounter. It is this action, and the trust it encapsulates, that is the thesis of the game.