Wacky Wizards

“Wacky Wizards “was a group project in which we built a two to four player party arena brawler within the confines of the theme “ strange side effects “. We first thought of doing a top-down brawler but instead decided on the current idea here in which the camera is at a 75-degree angle and covers the map and player through one camera. We did a core mechanic of spells which would have effects on the environment and player and through the pickup system would cause new spells to be temporarily activated adding the chaos and the competitiveness of the game.

The game starts with our title splash screen followed by our UI and menu system which travels through various rooms, and you click on what you want to go to, and the camera moves and transitions to a room covering that menu. We opted for this style of menu and UI as we felt it best fit the theme and gave the player the starting experience, we wanted them to have. Furthermore, it’s functionality was very useful and felt satisfying to use and proved to be a positive experience for the user. It also travels to a map room which allows a preview of each map through a portal; in which the player can choose the map and game mode and get right into a game.

 

We also had multiple maps which included a ship map in which two ships would shoot each other and chaos more chaos on the map especially with the physics-based objects and ocean moving. We then had a tavern map which would create a tight environment with a bit of elevation for movement and manoeuvring and lastly; our first map made which was the Colosseum map. Within this map it’s a simple dome with some depth and elevation with the addition of traps around the map, bounce pads which move the player and a chaotic fashion and the well in the centre which when a player falls within can prove lethal to one of the three lives a player has.

 

Additionally, we had 2 game modes for each map which included a free for all game mode where each player has three lives and simply fight to death, using the map or spells and movement to eliminate a life or push the other off the map to do so. As well as this we also introduced a stagger system which means when the player takes enough damage they will stumble and fall for a small time which gives the other player a chance to potentially wreak havoc and gain an advantage. Our other game mode was the king of the hill gamemode which eliminates the life system and keeps the stagger system. It also introduces a glowing zone on the map which can move that a player must stand in alone to gain points, when another player stands inside it becomes “contested “ and points freeze until a player is moved out. Once the score of a player reaches a high enough count, the player wins.

 

The game was made as a group and the credits are as shown:

Ben King – Producer and Lead Game Designer

Lucian Matan – Lead Programmer

Dom Drain – Lead Artist

Ben Stott – Game Designer

Danny Edmonds – Artist

Ben Pinchbeck – Game Designer