Today we met up at the University of Paderborn where we split into groups for the Game Jam. There ended up being enough American students for one to be on each of the teams. First, we broke into small groups of 2 to come up with a game pitch. My pitch was the idea of a 2D puzzle platformer in which one player would control two characters on screen, represented by shapes. The player would have to switch back and forth between characters, which vary in size and shape throughout levels; circles, squares, large and small shapes, controlling one at a time to guide them to the exit of each level. If either of the players took damage from an enemy or fell to their death, the player would have to restart the level. Each group then joined together with two other groups of 2, making a total of 6. The students discussed which of their three pitches they would go with, and they ultimately decided on mine. One person from each newly-formed group then wrote their pitches on the whiteboard, with a title and up to 6 short bullet-point descriptions. We narrowed down some of the pitches, and unfortunately mine did not make the cut. Students then decided which pitch they would like to work on, while the faculty would ensure there was an even distribution of programmers, artists, game designers and sound designers on each team. The team I am in is going to work on a 2D puzzle game, in which two players control part of a player. One controls the legs and handles movement, while the other controls the upper body and handles attacking. Players can also switch roles as they please, but will keep using a preset element; fire or water, which not only gives each player a turn to control each half of the body, but adds variety in gameplay. A fire-elemental player controlling the upper body would use fire projectiles, while a water-elemental player controlling the upper body would use close-range melee attacks.
