Roles: Game/ Level Designer, 2D Artist
Team Size: 12
Studio: Jelly Brain
Development Time: 8 months
Engine: Unity
A chaotic blend of FPS and pinball, Dr. Bounce is a fast paced shooter all about bouncing your gun. Play as Milo R.E Bound, a child scientist who must bounce his way through a slime infested lab to save his mother.
Our game was featured at the Games Academy Expo in 2022 and won the awards for:
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Best Game Design Award
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Industry Award (Judged by guests from Splash Damage, Mediatonic, Rocksteady and more)
CONTRIBUTIONS
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Worked on and continually updated the Game Design Document
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Planned 3 levels in collaboration with a partner designer
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Constructed 2 levels in engine as well as scripted events for said levels
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Collaborated with another designer on systems design for the game's mechanics
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Created and implemented a variety of visual feedbacks to enhance game feel
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VFX + Animations
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Balanced variables in engine (player/enemy damage, enemy speed, bounce force)
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Maintained communication between specialisms such as art, audio, and programming
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Created all the loading screen/monitor 2D art to help tutorialise mechanics
OVERVIEW
DESIGN INTENTIONS
Every Slime Reacts Differently to the Player's Gun Bouncing
Enemies are differentiated by shape and colour. Blue enemies bounce back, yellow arrow-like ones point upwards and bounce in that direction too, red ones have the gun bounce right through the hole in their bodies.
Purple enemies are encountered later in the game and act as a shock to the player as not only do they give chase rather than shooting, but they also don't bounce the gun at all and can't be stunned. As a result, the player has to change up their strategy and use the environment around them to combat them.
Saturday Morning Cartoon Vibes All Round!
It's important to ensure the game's personality shone through beyond just the narrative. The slime enemies scattered around the level lend the opportunity for light hearted visual gags paced between the more intense encounters.
Whether it's slimes playing volleyball with another slime, enemies chilling in the death pits, or an all out dance party deep in the lab - it was important to strengthen the fun, cartoonish tone we set out to create.
Use Your Surroundings to Build Satisfying Bounce Combos
Dr Bounce at its core is a pinball-like spin on the typical FPS genre so it was important to make sure the player feel like a genius when it comes to rebounding their shots. This is carried out through the game's combo system.
Combos in this game are an optional means to further challenge the player. Multi-bounces in a single throw are secondary rewards besides the end-level goal for players who want to master the game's coremechanics.
The deeper the player is into the game, the more opportunities their are for the player to get creative with their combos - using not only the enemies set around the level but the bounce pads set around the environment too.
GAME MECHANICS
STUN AND STOP ENEMIES IN THEIR TRACKS WITH CONSECUTIVE UNCHARGED SHOTS!
DASH N' SLIDE THROUGH LEVELS WITH EASE USING YOUR ROCKET BOOTS!
PULL YOUR GUN BACK TO YOU AND FINISH YOUR COMBOS WITH MILO'S OL' RELIABLE MAGNET!
LEVEL DESIGN
I worked on developing two levels. Level 2 and 3. With the former, I was responsible for planning, blocking out, event scripting, and tweaking based on feedback. The latter was developed in collaboration with my partner designer in which I worked on planning + building rooms in the level, scripting events, and tweaking bounce pad values.
Here are two videos below showcasing the levels:
LEVEL TWO: MAGNET MADNESS
LEVEL THREE: BOUNCEPAD BUSTLE
RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION
Mechanics as well as the overall intentions for the project can be found on the Game Design Document we collaborated on below:
Visit the Itch.io and give it a shot!
