Flicker
Flicker is a game that I created solo as a capstone project for MIT’s Professional Certificate in Game Design. It was the first digital game I made.
The TL;DR
My first experience coding for a game
Developed solo
Created over the course of approximately 60 days
$0 Budget
The Requirements
A playable game to be submitted as a capstone project
Playable in browser
Demonstrate basic game design principles
The Process
Began using Unity as a part of the course and was overwhelmed with the amount of information and learning required to make a game
Started more simply by trying to recreate single mechanics using Unity
Created a surprisingly interesting mechanical concept based on a wind-up flashlight while trying to replicate a mechanic from Darkwood
Created a prototype of flicker by using the flashlight as a core mechanic that was very simple but complete enough to playtest to find fun gameplay
Spent a long time working with pathfinding to get intended enemy behaviors
Added elements like menus and narrative elements
Added analog effects to both capitalize on the analog horror format that was popular at the time as well as drawing attention away from the limited art assets
Went through several cycles of playtesting and revision
Built and submitted a full version of the game
Fixed major bugs but halted further work because of difficulty working with my messy code
What I learned
Games can only reach a certain size if they’re not built to scale well
I can describe the logic that I want well enough to translate it into usable code
Playtesting the core mechanic as the first step of the process worked out extremely well
Enjoyable effects and game feel can still be possible without an artist or budget
