Garbage Gladiators

1
Garbage Gladiators

• By Garbage Men
• Jared Salzmann, Jesse Sheridan, James Truesdell,
  Nicholas Lance

2
Evolution

• Started with focus on truck modification
• Trash did too many things
• Fighting over territories

3
Evolution

• Ended with focus on actual game play
• You win with most trash collected throughout game
• Trash gives you money, money buys weapons
• The battles are the fun part, not buying weapons

4
Evolution of Formal Elements

• For the most part, only a few of the rules and
  mechanics changed
• The same
• Resources
• Conflict
• Boundaries
• The story changed after story boarding.

5
Success!

• We realized the vision for our game.
• We imagine this game to be a fast paced resource
  gathering multiplayer shoot-em-up. This intense
  game play pits players against each other while
  trying to collect resources to further them in
  the next level.

6
Changes After Prototype Testing

• Clearly mark drop off point
• Unlimited bullets
• Represent health and resources as bars
• Pickup up trash with L trigger, not A
• Added powerups

7
Changes After Alpha Demo

• Slowed down rate of fire of bullets
• Added super weapons
• Couldnt decide how the player should shoot
  weapons, playtested
• Random queue No
• Each weapon had its own button No
• change weapon button, trigger for fire

8
Changes After In Class Game Evaluation Time

• Buy super weapons (menu system)
• Added audio
• Player X is in the lead really helped
• Attempted Truck on truck collision detection
• Made it too easy to completely block a player
• Just too frustrating
• Maybe Bullet would have helped

9
Playtesting The Nearly Final Game

• Players felt balance was pretty good
• We observed players learning the game faster
  than others and winning more.
• Players rarely dominated an entire game.
• Come from behind victories
• Nuke (started as a joke) killed everyone,
  including selfplayers didnt like this.

10
Playtesting The Nearly Final Game

• Audio volumes needed to be tweaked.
• End of round and game was anticlimactic
• Added Player X Wins Screens and Audio
• Lightning bolt didnt seem to do damage
• Added a hit sound and upped hit points
• Most people really liked it and thought it was a
  lot of fun.

11
Playtesting The Nearly Final Game

• Audio volumes needed to be tweaked.
• Music during game cause audio overload
• End of round and game was anticlimactic
• Added Player X Wins Screens and Audio
• Lightning bolt didnt seem to do damage
• Added a hit sound and upped hit points
• Most people really liked it and thought it was a
  lot of fun.

12
Tech Challenges

• Maya put extra invisible 3D structures in models
  (slowed game)
• 8MB vs 700KB
• 12 fps to 60 fps
• Bullet was too hard to implement. Spent a weekend
  figuring it out, decided our time was better
  spent elsewhere.

13
Roles

• Jared Salzmann - Collision Detection, Game Model
  stuff, Sound Design/Sound FX
• Jesse Sheridan - XNA 3D Audio Integration,
  Driving Physics, Bullet
• James Truesdell Modeling, Level Design
• Nicholas Lance - Camera Zoom, HUD, Menus,
  Intro/Ending Screens

14
Future Changes

• Bullet
• High quality maps/textures/models
• One player with AI
• Other multiplayer modes
• Audio commentary (might be too much audio)
• Fake TV commercials

15
XNA Dev Improvements

• CVS on the DML computers
• Fraps on the DML computers
• Audio development on the PC speaker is annoying
• Need better monitors for the Xboxs
• Speakers for Xboxs
• Four controllers per Xbox (or at least two with 4
  controllers)
• Rent a controller from TSO to plug into windows
  computers
• Stop having to generate keys

16
Video

• Trailer