Nathaniel Baird

5/3/2016

Brick Umbrella Balloon Write Up

In August of 2015 I decided to learn how to make video games. With no background in

computer science I downloaded GameMaker: Studio and began working through a variety of free

tutorials. GameMaker: Studio was a good place for me to start. It has a friendly user interface

helpful to those with little to no background in programming. But despite the fact that included

in GameMaker are tools for avoiding programming altogether I devoted a large amount of time

to learning ‘GML’, the coding language used in GameMaker. I found that my background in

symbolic logic provided me some comfort regarding the coding grammar and relatively quickly I

became confident enough in GML that I could step away from tutorials and begin working on

my own projects.

My first attempt at such a project taught me the significance of properly organizing one’s

work. I envisioned in my mind a thrilling reimagining of Das Boot in space. The player controls

an alien ship which stealthily creeps between asteroids, occasionally launching plasma blasts at

passing trade vessels. Ultimately I had bitten off far more than I could chew. My poorly

organized code governed many gameplay mechanics which I had decided to add on a whim. The

project became a tangled mess. It was painfully clear that I had jumped in way over my head and

attempted to create a game too great in scope. My next project, I decided, would originate from a

simple idea.

Brick Umbrella Balloon began as an even more basic game than it currently is. My goal

was to stick to a straightforward concept and complete it. I would then test out the game and

improve upon its flaws. The concept was very simple; the player could transform between a

brick, an umbrella, or a balloon. Each form behaved in a unique fashion. The balloon and brick

floated and fell respectively while the umbrella traveled in the direction the wind was blowing in.

Arrows in each level displayed the direction in which the umbrella would travel.

Testing the game with others revealed that early versions controlled far too loosely. The

player would frequently transform into an umbrella and rocket across the screen into an

environmental hazard. For the second version of the game I altered the function of the umbrella

to resemble more closely the behavior of the brick and balloon. When in umbrella form the

player would slowly drift to the floor. At the beginning of each level the player was shot out of a

cannon and maintained a steady velocity toward the right side of the screen. This significantly

reduced the amount of control the player had over his movement; now the player could only

adjust his vertical position on the screen. Because of this change I could more easily isolate

problems concerning player control as they would concern solely the y-axis.

I gradually added features to alleviate problems which surfaced during testing periods. In

the final version the player must not only survive to the end of the level but also accumulate as

many points as possible. Points are gained by grinding on (or destroying) rails located

throughout the level. The result is a game which encourages players to not only reach the end of

each level, but perfect their score as well.