Natasza Szulc - Untitled Ant Game

Logo

"Untitled Ant Game" is a game created for the Game Jam #ZostanWDomuRobGry organised by Fundacja Indie Games Polska, Game Industry Conference, PolskiGamedev.pl. The Jam was taking place between 30th of March and 6th of April 2020.

My team's game was placed 6th from 22 games submitted in "professional" category.

Team:

Bartek - Programmer, UI, minimap,

Maciek - Music, gameplay programmer, animations, AI, level design,

Natasza - 2D graphics, UI design, textures, dialogues

Klaudia - 3D models, textures

Type: Game Jam

Game Jam Topic: Rebuild

Engine: Unity

Team Size: 4

Duration: 30th of March to 6th of April 2020

Responsibilities:

Game design (shared with the rest of the team)

Art

- 2D Graphics

- UI design

- Textures

Narrative

- Dialogues

Click here to download the game

POLISH GAME JAM VIDEO

YouTube link to the video

SHORT GAMEPLAY

FULL GAMEPLAY

IDEA DEVELOPMENT

Brainstorming

All of the notes are in Polish because I was working in a full Polish-speaking team.

Mind map

I started with making a mind map containing what game-wise I think of the theme "rebuild" I made a few sections, such as:

- What to rebuild?

- How to rebuild?

- Is it only possible to rebuild what was destroyed before?

- Possible mechanics

- Possible game type

- Possible target market

My first game ideas

- Rebuilding a haunted mansion

- Post-apocalyptic game

- Short educational game

- Rebuilding a construction (but how to make that unique?)

- Rebuilding a previously destroyed garden

How we came up with the ant game idea?

We were thinking and brainstorming about making a garden game. We started putting some free assets in unity to visualize that idea, but actually, they turned out to be much bigger than the player. We thought that this looks very interesting and we decided to keep the player the size of an ant.

Research

To design the world and mechanics I did a quick research about ants, covering:

- What do ants eat?

- What types of ants live in the forests?

- What is the hierarchy in the ant colony?

- What anthills are made of?

- How do anthills gets destroyed?

GOAL OF THE GAME

Rebuild the nest!

The nest was destroyed by the birds. By being in control of one of the ants, you must collect items essential for the rebuilt, such as sticks and leaves. You also have to make sure not to starve the colony in the process.

Mechanics

- Supplies

Leave the nest, get supplies and bring them back. Collect nine of sticks and leaves in general to rebuild the nest. Some supplies just lay around on the ground and some you have to get from other animals/bugs.

- Life bar

The life bar represents the health of the colony. To prevent the starvation of the colony you must provide the anthill with a sufficient amount of food, which can be found in the area.

- Pheromones

As an ant the protagonist can leave a path of pheromones behind him. That way other ants will follow him and also help with the tasks.

Options menu design