Role
Software Used
Genre
Platform
Programmer
Unity, C#
First Person Platformer
PC
Game Overview
Relic Retriever is a first person platformer in which the player takes on the role of a small spirit. You inhabit Newstead House, one of Brisbane's oldest residences, and an artefact has been misplaced. You are tasked by the other spirits of the house to track down and return this signal cannon. This is done by utilising a grappling hook to reach high locations, interacting with objects in the room to uncover secrets and new locations, and talking with spirits of those who lived and worked in the house.
Throughout the course of the game players will meet three spirits from three different eras of the house. These spirits will tell their stories, and ask the player for assistance so they can get closer to the signal cannon.
This project was also more educational in nature, so there was a big focus on designing and developing for a specific audience. It was our goal to teach those who may not know much about the house, and utilise the more familiar and interactive medium of games to tell a story and engage the community.
Production Overview
Relic Retriever was made by a team of four in IGB200, the second game studio unit at QUT, in which we are assigned teams and devote an entire semester to creating a single game. What made this project significant was that it was my first time developing for a partner, in this case it was the Newstead House museum.
Having never worked with a partner, it was important for our team to approach designing the game differently than we would for a more self-driven project. We were given a brief, which we had to follow for our game. The most important thing was to remain respectful of the house, and invoke a sense of learning and community in players.
To come up with our concept our team was required to heavily research the history of the property, learning about past owners, analysing floorplans, and understanding the house's significance to Brisbane as a whole.
My Responsibilities
As the sole programmer, I was responsible for implementing most of the core mechanics. My key contributions were:
A physics based grappling hook for the player to use
This relied on a spring joint to propel the player and let them swing to high up locations they could not normally reach
A dynamic interaction system
Players would often find themselves moving objects, pulling out drawers, knocking over books, etc.
I aimed to create a system that we could use for any object, that we could use custom interaction scripts to create functionality for
Setting up and tweaking the first person character
Creating a dialogue system
Implementing audio
Placing level objects
Creating a level flow
Creating a UI based mini game
