Clone Chimera
-
I programmed and designed for a prototype with the prompt of researching old, arcade-cabinet games and combining their mechanics to create a modern day mini-game.
-
Worked in a team of 6 as designer and programmer on a 2-week project to combine old, arcade games into a modern-engine prototype
Independently researched vintage arcade games and analyzed their mechanics and gameplay
Morphed two games, Domino Man (Bally Midway 1982) and Wacko (Bally Midway 1983), into a tiny demo using Phaser JS framework
Collaborated with teammates to take the best ideas from each individual demo, design combined mechanics and gameplay, and implement them into a single prototype using Unity
Programmed creature and chimera elimination and spawn system
Final Prototype
My Individual Demo
Domino Man:
Goal is to set up a full line of dominoes without getting interrupted by villagers and enemies
Wacko:
Goal is to shoot and eliminate a hoard of Halloween creatures who appear in sets of twins
Stunning a creature followed by landing a shot on its twin will eliminate both
Stunning a creature followed by landing a shot on another (not a twin) will spawn a chimera of the two
My Chimera:
The demo didn’t turn out to be all that interesting because simply putting in the domino mechanic did not inspire cooperation between the two games’ win conditions
A better approach could have been to remove the stun gun and let the player pick up and throw dominoes at the creatures instead.
My glorious pixel art
The Final Prototype
As a team, we settled on mechanics from Wacko (Bally Midway 1983), Dig-Dug (Namco 1982), and Dockman (Taito 1982). The player is an alien in a desert full of Halloween creatures — in pairs of twins — and must eliminate them all to win.
They can shoot out a harpoon (Dig-Dug) to snag and reel in a creature
Once captured, the player has the ability to throw the creature back at the others (Dockman)
Throwing a creature into its twin eliminates both, whereas throwing it into another creature spawns a chimera of the two (Wacko)
What went well:
It’s more interesting to have to reel monsters in and throw them rather than simply stun them one at a time like in the original
The harpoon and throwing mechanics feel very snappy and responsive
Spawning a ton of chimeras is a fun challenge
What could be improved:
It’s odd that a chimera can be spawned and monsters can be destroyed in the same throw, but only one chimera can be spawned in one throw. We should choose between only one action being able to occur in a throw or multiple
There is not really a penalty for missing a harpoon cast since it snaps back to the player instantly. A delay for reeling in could be added
Throwing monsters at others is easy because they go through other monsters and don’t stop until they hit a wall. We could stop the monster when it hits others and a max range could be set to add more challenge and risk
Overall polish would add to the bizarre experience the game offers. Animations, sounds, and clearer visual distinction between what is a regular monster and a chimera would be beneficial
If there is only one chimera left at the end, you can not kill it. We need there to be some way to eliminate single chimeras, or simply declare that the player has lost if this happens