I'm thrilled to share my Spring 2024 Senior Project - My King Ratz. It's a mobile game based on our previous arcade game, “Smack Dat Rat,” developed as part of the Next Level Arcade Senior Design Project course, which Professor Jessie Contour led in the Fall 2023 semester. Check it out. During this project, I was the Lead Programmer, Tech artist, and Team Producer.

Project Overview

The Great Smack of 2023 caused chaos, with the Rat King’s rat colony scattering into deep sewers to escape the smacking hands of Snowball and Whiskers.

In "My King Ratz," you will explore the mysterious sewer city, find, collect, and nurture the lost rats to rebuild the Rat King's lost colony. But these rats aren't readily available; They were caught by playful traps and hurdles set by mischievous cats.

Check out our teaser trailer here

Behind the Scenes: The Journey of Developing My King Ratz

As the lead developer and tech artist on "My King Ratz,” I wore many hats to transform a simple concept that started as a simple pet game into an engaging, interactive experience. My role extended across various disciplines: programming, scene optimization, technical artistry, animation, and UI design.

Original Concepts and Creative Process

The project started with the idea of creating a virtual pet simulation. Here is the link to the initial interactive mockup I created during our prototype stage.

However, as we progressed with the project, the caregiver mechanism was lowered in priority as the team decided to highlight the mini-games and their functionality instead. For me, creating our first mini-game, "Rat fishing," set the tone for future developments. My task was to ensure that each game—out of the six we planned—was not only fun but also integrated seamlessly into the broader game environment, which included a detailed sewer city and a cozy in-game house. It also shifted my focus and workload from creating a caregiving mechanism to creating six additional games.

During development, we encountered several challenges. Player movement was initially clunky, and scene transitions were disrupting gameplay. I implemented an on-screen joystick to refine the controls, drastically improving navigation. Additionally, I introduced a scene selection option to allow players to control their transition between the scenes, enhancing the overall game flow.

Feedback Loops and Iterative Design

Our playtesting phases were crucial. After our first round of tests, it became clear that specific game mechanics, like the pet save/load system, player movement, and camera controls, needed to be more intuitive. I overhauled these features and consistently refined the UI to maintain uniformity across all game scenes. The biggest take from our first deliverable submission was the critical need for narrative integration. As the team producer, I ensured we would have this aspect of the game added by the following deliverable. After a few team discussions where the narrative director expressed difficulty tying up the existing Trap Defusal mini-game to the overall narrative, I conducted a few meetings with her to assess which mechanics would be easier to connect to her new narrative direction—ultimately, changing it from mine sweeper mechanics to resemble Master Mind/escape room style quest.

One of the significant additions we decided to make after our Deliverable two playtesting was the procedural generation in the "Rat Crossing" mini-game, which introduced variety and replayability, keeping the gameplay fresh and engaging.

Tech-Art and Scene Optimization

Regarding technical artistry, I was hands-on in enhancing the visual appeal of our "Sewer City." From implementing dynamic visual effects in "Sewer City" to animating nuanced character interactions in the house, I ensured that every visual element contributed to a cohesive and immersive experience. Scene optimization was another critical area, especially as we prepared for launches on various platforms, including a smooth, bug-free build for the Google Play store.

Deliverables Overview

Deliverable one:

• Designed, implemented, & programmed 3 out of the existing 5 mini-games.
• Designed, implemented, & programmed the sewer city & house environments (in collaboration with other teammates)
• Created current placeholder character animations
• Fixed different bugs that were found during deliverable one playtesting.
• Assist and mentor the other programmer as she developed the other two mini-games
• Implemented most of the art assets & the different UI screens.
• Created visual FX & different shaders for our different scenes
• Producer-related responsibilities(task and time management, social media posting, weekly check-ins, etc.)

Deliverable two:

• Designed, implemented, and programmed the Trap Diffuser and My Chef Rat mini-games.
• Reworked and optimized gameplay mechanics, colliders, game environments, game assets, and player movement for all 9 scenes.
• Created art assets for My Chef Rat.
• Implemented the animations, art assets, and different UI screens for all 9 scenes.
• Developed the game's tutorial, save/load mechanics, and pet acquisition system.
• Integrated audio assets and caregiving functionality, including individual pet selection & NPC system.
• Assist and mentor the other programmer as she developed the Rat Crossing & Bomb popping mini-games.
• Built and published the game on Google Play Store and WebGL platforms.
• Producer-related responsibilities(task and time management, social media posting, weekly check-ins, etc.)

Deliverable 3 - Final submission:

• Fixed different bugs that were found during deliverable two playtesting.
• Continued to rework and optimize gameplay mechanics, colliders, game environments, and game assets
• Assist and mentor the other programmer as she developed the Rat Crossing & Bomb popping mini-games.
• Implemented all of the newly created / modified player animations, art assets, and different UI screens.
• Added more UI animation as well as animated the pet interactions.
• Integrated audio assets and caregiving functionality, including individual pet selection & NPC system.
• Supported the development of the Rat Crossing & Bomb popping mini-games by adding a procedural generated environment, corrected the player and vehicle movement, and the scene's colliders.
• Built and published the game on Google Play Store and WebGL platforms.
• Producer-related responsibilities(task and time management, social media posting, weekly check-ins, etc.)

Development Social Media Posts:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9