Hammy The Hamster

DESCRIPTION:

A 3D platformer where the player takes control of Hammy, a genius hamster who dreams of escaping  from his owners and exploring the world. He has been constructing a rocket ship that can blast him off to safety, but pieces of the ship and all the batteries used to power it have been scattered around his owner's bedroom. Collect them all and help Hammy escape!

PROJECT DETAILS:

This was my first group project of university, which we made over the course of 6 weeks in Unity. Its been a while since we made Hammy now and I look back on this game fondly. I am proud of how it turned out with the time constraints we worked in, but in hindsight I can't help but think about what I'd do differently for a sequel or remake.

Out of all the design principles I've learnt, one that has always stuck in my mind during development is 'follow the fun.' The idea that game design as a practice is incredibly fluid, and if you are playtesting a game and realise an aspect of it that you didn't plan for is much more fun than what you originally designed, its a sign that you need to follow that fun. 

The original pitch for this game was that of a sandbox collectathon, where the player is placed inside a non-linear level which they can navigate in any way they decide, with multiple collectibles to find. And after a few weeks of designing the bedroom, and iterating on the player's movement mechanics, it became clear that this physics-based movement was the most enjoyable part of the game, and the slower pace of the exploration and puzzles we had designed dragged it down.

This led to a drastic change and cutting back of mechanics in the final week of the module. Instead of developing puzzles, we course corrected to providing the player a wide open space to bounce around, knock over objects, smash vases, and fling themselves at high speeds. 

I have since started work on a sequel to this project in my spare time, where I have focused much more on refining the player's movement, and following the fun. For the level design, I have also opted to take a 'wide-linear' approach instead, as it gives the player much more oppurtunity to engage with and master the controls, while still retaining a good level of freedom.

GITHUB:

Player Movement Script:

https://github.com/Kizzopotatoe/HammyRollsOut/blob/main/Assets/Scripts/Player/scp_Player_Movement.cs

CREDITS:

Programming and Design:

Kieran Speight

UI and Concept Art:

Darcy Harris Paget

Level Design and Animation:

James Heath

3D Modelling and Visuals:

Harvey Hill