We introduce ourselves, we are Digital Synergy, we are three guys united by the passion for video games, and when we were asked to learn and develop a mobile video game from scratch, we didn’t think twice!
To create a video game, mobile in our case, three figures are needed: game design, game artist and game developer.
The choice between the three roles was immediate.
Much of the initial time was used to understand how to orient ourselves, learn the steps in creating a game and understand what the tasks were required by each figure, we tried to move in unison, creating elements that were applicable over time and that were feasible compared to our initial knowledge, and creating new elements that would allow us to study and deepen new knowledge (this in all aspects, both design and artistic and development)
After taking all these aspects into consideration, our choice of game was oriented towards a frontal side scrolling roguelike arcade game that was simple, fast and adrenaline
Gameplay Sunset Mango_alpha1
Game Design
Roberto Gambardella
From the first entertainment experiences to the most recent and sophisticated animated works of today. The very concept of entertainment is the cornerstone of our culture, and in this same culture we find ourselves knowing one of the most popular recreational forms in recent years, The Culture of Mobile Games.
From the first versions of Snake, the lively snake that was able to entertain and entertain for hours and hours, before the birth of what became the pillars of this category, such as Tample Run and Angry Birds.
To weld the foundations of our videogame we need first of all, to identify an experience to transmit, in our case we have taken into consideration the speed.
Through a 3-track sliding dynamic, with obstacles ready to drastically block the progress of our character, and a host of enemies determined to stop you. The speed will therefore be a direct index of difficulty. But it will also mean more points.
The score will therefore be the real protagonist, leading the scenario to a progressive evolution. And during events that are on average more than catastrophic.
The path of the game will therefore be paved with obstacles, these will form repetitive paths initially, but will require an increasingly high practice time advancing with the game.
Considering that our goal is to avoid any obstacle to avoid losing, we must give a sense of fulfillment. In addition to a dynamic landscape and a ramp of procedural difficulties, the goal will be to increase the final score. The distance traveled and the coins collected will be the two main factors behind the replayability of Sunset Mango.
The score therefore becomes our main objective, but also an exchange currency.
Progression is not an advanced Spartan looking for the perfect match. But a pretext to evolve our vehicle, acquiring bonuses and / or malus both in aesthetics and in gameplay.
Each alternative vehicle offers a different experience of the same game, for example by creating a loophole from death, a bonus score or a higher speed.
In order to vary the gameplay, several randomly played songs are being developed, created through AudioTool.
https://www.audiotool.com/track/f3jbvpkwq/
Game Artist
Valeria Nunziante
Regarding the graphic style, I thought of moving towards a style with colors and shapes vapourwave, sci-fi, all designed using vector shapes, this because I had animated in 3D and in pixel art in the past but I never drew characters or created animations using vector forms and I set out to start learning.
The first sketches created all revolved around a warm palette in shades of pink and orange, then change completely and choose in the cool shades of blue and purple.
I started sketching different backgrounds and characters, I wanted to use a style in which the shapes were mostly stylized, almost flat, where the settings and characters were enhanced rather by lights / neon
The background is characterized by two levels of “metropolitan” style buildings and obviously the sun on the fixed horizon and a blue / purple sky, all typical elements of a vaporwave background.
As for the ground I made several sketches, the in the end the best option turned out to be using a simple three-lane road because it fits better to the gameplay.
The main character (the player) was to be represented by a moving vehicle, the choices I made were between a spaceship, a car or a motorcycle, in the end we opted for a guy on a motorcycle.
For the style of the motorbike I kept the same style as the background, so I designed a motorcycle with futuristic characters, shown in vector on illustrator and then I created the sprites for lateral movement, so the moving up and down on the different lanes of the road. For this type of movement, the third dimension enters the field, so to better visualize the shapes, I first created a 3D model with Blender, rendered the character in different positions and reported everything in vector with Illustrator.
As for the game controls, we have inserted a tutorial screen that can be opened by a button positioned on the home screen. The screen of the character’s life is not present because the game is a roguelike so the character has one life, and there are no buttons because the whole game screen is clickable as explained in the tutorial.
Game developer
Emanuele Altieri
This is the first time using the framework SpriteKit and developing a videogame, i decided to step outside of my comfort zone, and i have to say, i feel satisfied of the results, i acquired a degree of knowledge with a framework that i believed really complicated
During the first approach with SpriteKit, i studier its basis, things like gravity management, physics and sprites, the very idea of the game and the various mechanics.
During the phase of the ACT, my team and i developed the graphic design on XCode with the needed sprites
Some of the issues I encountered at the beginning were the resize of the sprites so that they could fit every possible device running the game, then i had several problems with microlags of the camera on the player when a coin is collected, i almost managed to solve this problem, but i need to still work on it
I then worked on the acceleration when pression is applied for a long time and on player movement controls, which I’m really satisfied about, considering the realization time
In the update function i managed the deceleration, Decreasing the variable that manage the player’s movement speed with a timer, giving progressive background slow speed.
For the movements of the character then, i calculated the correct positions basing on the device the game is running on (iPhone 8 and so on) and i made available the right ones
I then realized an algorithm that has the purpose of making the game much more dynamic, making the mobs spawn randomly in the various lanes and in different positions
A record system has been added with UserData
To end the demo i included an audio track
We surely intend to keep developing the game adding a shop, power ups, new vehicles and new mobs.
