Documentation + User Guide

Scunthorpe Specials is now a fully functional game and 1.0 has been released!

Scunthorpe Specials has come a long way since the game concept was created. Overall, the game has stuck to the original plan laid out by the concept relatively strictly, with only minimal differences being made, which I will detail here:

1. There was no limited number of enemies in the final product as suggested by the concept, however the spawn rate does increase overtime making the game more difficult. This made the game easier to balance as I only needed to work out the spawn rate rather than both the spawn rate and how many enemies needed to be spawned. It also made balancing the boss with the regular enemies' spawn rate easier.

 2. There was no suggestion of a boss in the game concept, but in the final product one spawns after surviving for 5 minutes. If you defeat this boss you will be shown the victory screen. A boss added a lot to this game; giving the player a final challenge after surviving adds some difficulty and some variation to the game.

3. The game concept suggested that there will be numerous enemy types. While this is technically still the case, as the boss counts as a second enemy type, it is not what I meant and I was considering adding multiple types of regular enemies. In the end, I felt the game didn't need it, as it was already very difficult but still fun without them.

Final Game Testing Session Feedback Analysis:

Q1. It is apparent from question one that 100% of players had fun playing the game. I believe this is due to a balanced difficulty as well as the comical elements present in the game.

Q2. It is apparent from question two that the game had several issues. Issue one was that there was no indication that you had to pick up the 8 ball after firing, so I added a message into the start of the game that lasts 5 seconds telling you this. Issue two was that there wasn't enough bass; this is simply due to poor recording as I don't have the equipment to record high quality samples, so unfortunately this couldn't be addressed. The third issue was that an enemy can spawn inside the player if they are standing in the spawner; at this time I haven't been able to fix this but it is somewhat unlikely to happen and not game breaking so it isn't too urgent. If I figure out a fix I will patch it and update this devlog. Outside of these issues there was only praise for the game being entertaining and playing smoothly.

Q3. It is apparent from question three that on average players found the game's difficulty before the timer ran out to be in between medium and hard. This was the desired result as it is the region I was aiming for as it allows players to finish the game while also having a challenge.

Q4. Unfortunately the feedback for question four is invalid as no one made it past the timer during the session due to time restrictions.

Q5. It is apparent from question five that no one made it past the timer due to time restrictions.

Q6. It is apparent from question six that the character sprite shakes a little upon changing directions. I was already aware of this and it is due to the sprite sheet having uneven distribution of the sprites, making the sprites sit in slightly different positions after being sliced. I attempted to fix this but was unfortunately unable. This issue doesn't impact any game mechanics and is purely cosmetic.

Q7. It is apparent from question seven that no one experienced a frame drop in full-screen mode, which is excellent as it was the desired result.

Q8. It is apparent from question eight that Scunthorpe Specials was displayed correctly on itch.io and there were no issues with the game page.

Q9. It is apparent from question nine that the sound design is enjoyable but sometimes a little loud. I added a volume slider in the pause menu to remedy this. The bass level was also mentioned again but I haven't been able to address it for the reason explained earlier.

Q10. It is apparent from this question that 83.3% of players would play this game in their spare time. This is an excellent result as I was expecting to see this number range from 60% to 70%, which I would have been happy with.

Q11. It is apparent from this question that the control scheme was usable and made sense. The only ask was for controller support, which I may add in future but isn't currently supported. I've made this decision because I'm not sure how I would go about supporting controller as the shooting mechanic requires a mouse to aim currently.

Q12. It is apparent from this question that all players who tested the game found the 8-ball throw-and-pick-up mechanic enjoyable.

Q13. It is apparent from this question that there was no additional feedback regarding needed changes to this game outside of what was already given.

Asset List:

Third-Party Assets:

Carter Sprite:

Unknown (n.d.). 8-Way Walk Animation Sheets. Storm the Gates. https://stormthegatesdevsite.wordpress.com/sprites/8-way-walk-animation-sheets/

Tile Map (Pub):

Lil Pie (05/06/22). Saloon/Pub Assets. OPENGAMEART.ORG. https://opengameart.org/content/saloonpub-assets

8 Ball Sprite:

Cannot Access Site. https://www.hiclipart.com/free-transparent-background-png-clipart-dwmni

Tile Map (Outside):

Red_Voxel (19/01/18). POKEMON-INSPIRED 16x16 TILES. OPENGAMEART.ORG. https://opengameart.org/content/pokemon-inspired-16x16-tiles

Beverage Sprite Sheet:

Maple (16/12/18). 8-directional, 8-frame movement preview. RPG MAKER. https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/8-directional-8-frame-movement-...

Purple Beverage Sprite:

Unknown (n.d.). Effects of Purple Drank Abuse. NARCONON. https://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/purple-drank-effects.html

Pumpkin Sprite:

Unknown (n.d.). Pumpkin. goodFOOD. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/pumpkin-glossary

Title Screen Song:

Macleod, Kevin (n.d.) Meatball Parade. uppbeat.io. https://uppbeat.io/music/mood/goofy

Horse Death Screen Horse Image:

Unknown (n.d.). BREEDS OF HORSES. OKSTATE.EDU. https://breeds.okstate.edu/horses/

Horse Death Screen Background Image:

Cannot Access Site. https://www.zomato.com/kolkata/best-bars-and-pubs

How To Play Screen Background:

Champion, Pete (23/05/19). Saving the Great British Pub Through CX. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE. https://cxm.co.uk/saving-the-great-british-pub-through-cx/

Pumpkin Death Screen Pumpkin Image:

Cannot Access Site. https://godacepic.com/click.php?key=hmip1lmu7wuiyiirkzmw&SUB_ID_SHORT=3b27c36dfe...

Tough Quote Screen Song:

Anderson, Philip (n.d.). Achievement. uppbeat.io. https://uppbeat.io/browse/music/inspiring

Horse Sprite Sheet:

whtdragon (21/12/12). whtdragon's animals and running horses- now with more dragons!. RPG MAKER. https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/whtdragons-animals-and-running-...

Credits Screen Dubstep Song:

Cruen (n.d.). In Exile. Premium Beat by shuttershock. https://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free-music?q=dubstep

Credits Screen Marching Song:

Sunshine Music (n.d.). Thousand Mile March. Premium Beat by shuttershock. https://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free-music?q=marching

Gameplay Music:

Bonsai (n.d.) Valentine. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/track/4CjFNFdELDE9GvMR46O5z2

Regular ball sprites:

Felson Billiard Supplies (n.d.). Felson Billiard Supplies Precision Engineered Billiard Balls - Full Set of 16 Balls for Pool Tables, Includes Eight Ball & White Cue Ball. Amazon. https://www.amazon.com.au/Felson-Billiard-Supply-Precision-Engineered/dp/B00794V...

109 Scripts:

Seek, Pursuit, Wandering, AdvancedAlmostHumanLikeAI, PlayerHealth (I modified all of these)

Original Assets:

Main Menu Voice Lines:

Introduces the game and gives a few details about it.

Tough Quote Read Aloud Audio:

Read the text out loud and pokes fun at the distorted audio recordings in the game.

How to Play Read Aloud Audio:

Reads the text explaining how to play the game.

Pumpkin Death Screen Audio:

Tells you to watch out for the pumpkin.

Victory Screen Audio:

Celebrates the victory and is a vocal sample of Carter himself.

Who is Carter Read Aloud Audio:

Reads the text out loud explaining who Carter is.

Credits Audio:

Thanks you for playing Scunthorpe Specials and congratulates you on finishing the game.

Ball Click Audio:

Plays when a ball hits an object and was created as a vocal sample.

Beverage Death Sounds:

A random one of these sounds plays when you kill a beverage and were all created as vocal samples.

Carter Hurt Audio:

Plays when Carter is hurt and is voiced by Carter himself.

Title Screen Background Video:

An original video of Carter eating some eggs on toast, with some added video effects.

USER GUIDE: Scunthorpe Specials

Game Title: 

Scunthorpe Specials

Gameplay:

Scunthorpe Specials plays as a top down shooter in a pub where you must defend yourself from a horde of beverages that are trying to kill you with a lethal 8 ball and non lethal regular balls. After five minutes of this onslaught, a horse will spawn in that you must then defeat in order to finish the game. Scunthorpe Specials features a lot of humour as well as funky sound design. Scunthorpe Specials is relatively difficult and only increases in difficulty as time progresses in game, so make every shot count!

Controls:

WASD to move

Left-Click to shoot infinite non-lethal balls

Right-Click to shoot your lethal 8-ball (you only have one so you need to walk into it to pick it up again after shooting it)

ESC to pause or resume while in game

Game Screens and Functions:

Gameplay Screen:

The green bar at the bottom is your health. 'Kills:' indicates how many beverages you have killed in your current run. The timer counts down to the boss and an additional beverage spawner is activated every time it changes colour. Upon the boss spawning, a health bar for the boss will appear at the top of the screen with 'Jesse' written above it. The player is restricted to the bounds of the pub and must survive until the boss is spawned by fending off enemies with regular balls and killing them with the 8 ball. After the boss has spawned they must defeat it in order to win.

Horse Defeat Screen:

Plays when defeated by the horse. Play again restarts the game. Main menu returns you to the menu.

Who Is Carter Screen:

This screen explains who carter is. Heard aloud plays the text out loud. Main menu returns to the menu.

Credits Screen:

This screen can only be displayed by clicking 'credits' after winning the game. Hear aloud plays the text out loud. Main menu returns to the menu.

Beverage Defeat Screen:

This screen is displayed upon being defeated by a regular enemy. Play again restarts the game. Main menu returns to the menu.

How to Play Screen:

This screen can be selected from the main menu. Head aloud plays the text out loud. Main menu returns to the menu.

Pumpkin Death Screen:

This displays upon being killed by one of the pumpkins. An audio clip plays when this screen comes up telling you to watch out for the pumpkin. Play again restarts the game. Main menu returns to the menu.

Tough Quote Screen:

This screen can be selected from the main menu. It is a joke about the distorted audio throughout the game. Hear aloud plays the text out loud. Main menu returns to the menu.

Title Screen:

This is the first screen you see upon launching the game. A video of Carter eating loops in the background along with some music and an occasional voice line. The title of the game is displayed at the top, followed by the highest score you have managed to achieve. Play starts the game. How to play takes you to the how to play screen. Who is Carter takes you to the who is Carter screen. Tough quote takes you to the tough quote screen.

Victory Screen:

This screen displays when you kill the boss. An audio clip of Carter celebrating the victory plays when this screen is displayed. Play again restarts the game. Credits takes you to the credits screen. Main menu takes you to the main menu.

Pause Menu:

This menu is an overlay atop the gameplay screen. All gameplay freezes upon pressing escape to pause and the background music is pitched and slowed down. Resume continues the game. Reset restarts the game. Quit to menu quits out of your current run and returns to the menu. On the right hand side there is a volume slider that controls audio for the game. Any changes made to this slider are applied to every screen.

FEATURES:

Sound Effects in game

Background Music in various parts of the game

Particle Art for the 8-ball

Defeat/Victory Screens with Feedback on Player Performance

Restart Game Buttons

How to Play Screen

High Score Display

Volume Slider in Pause Menu

AI Enemies

CHAT GPT USE:

I used Chat GPT a little to answer questions about C#, but still designed the code myself primarily. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the conversations as I hadn't signed in.