HOMOGENEOUS (Prototype #01)

A prototype on a draggable UI, themed around playing a rogue monster inside a lab.

It is strongly recommended to play the build in full screen

Controls:

•  Left / right arrow keys = Player movement
• U = Toggle between UI selection screen and active game screen
• Up arrow key = Jump (when equipped)
• Mouse = Drag UI elements into the active slots

Vision:

This is my final project for my second year of a games development course I did at college. The main focus of this prototype is to demonstrate a unique concept of 'interchangeable UI' where you can swap out what UI elements the game has to add or subtract certain abilities from the player. You 'equip' UI by entering the UI menu and dragging the UI graphics into the corresponding transparent slots near the center of the screen. That way they persist on the screen once you toggle back to controlling the player. To make choosing your abilities more impactful, I'd like for the player to only be able to choose the equipped UI abilities after every time they die, and not during the actual run. The game itself would be a 2D detailed puzzle-platformer, set around navigating a laboratory environment while controlling the mysterious orange creature.

Details:

It is strongly recommended to play the build in full screen, otherwise the UI elements will not function properly.  Only two UI give functional abilities at the moment, them being 'Jump and 'Sprint'. When the 'jump' meter is equipped, the 'up' arrow will allow you to jump. The 'sprint' meter makes the character move faster with no additional input. Note that clicking the red 'Health' meter currently crashes the whole game. Hopefully further in development these UI elements would not be static and would visually deplete their resource while equipped.

Also, please keep in mind this is a very basic concept! The idea is to eventually have enemies, obstacles, and more complex platforming where all UI slots will be needed and tactfully choosing what abilities you have at any given time is paramount.

All UI Concepts:

In the final build, I envision all of the UI graphics providing the following abilities (all only function when equipped):

The Green 'Jump' Meter - Gives the player the ability to jump. This would allow them to traverse untraversable gaps before, or gain increased height to access upper areas.

The Blue 'Sprint' Meter - Lets the player move faster than their default speed. Could help escape enemies, or get past obstacles with timing involved.

The Red 'Health' Meter - Extra health for the player, making them able to take multiple sources of damage without dying. Without it equipped the player is always one hit from death.

The Yellow 'K' Icon - Adds a struggle mechanic to the game. I imagine human enemies (in the form of lab scientists) running around trying to grab the monster. This would usually kill you, but with this equipped you can spam the K key for a chance to escape their grasp.

The Brown 'Satchel' Icon - Would allow you to hold multiple collectibles or important items on your character by dragging them into the satchel. I haven't yet thought of a reason this would be useful to do.

The Purple 'Stealth' Icon - The eye icon would let you turn temporarily invisible. This would make navigating around enemies easier, or could help you escape them in a pinch. The ability could potentially be required for getting past certain rooms protected by security cameras, since their vision would not change.

The Brown 'Clipboard' Panel - Would be required to be equipped to access the settings of the game. This is potentially unnecessary, but I thought it may be interesting to require this UI active to give options like game volume, brightness, and a quit button.

The Orange 'On/Off' Panel - This would be able to clicked to a 'on' state or an 'off' state light a light switch. By default it's off, which would be the player's natural state even without it equipped. When you turn it on, however, it flattens the players size so their hitbox is significantly smaller than before. This could allow you to access vents, or hide under objects from enemies' vision.

The Pink 'Goo' Panel - This would let you walk on the side of walls and ceilings while equipped, but would drain its resource very fast. Helpful in letting the player access other areas.

Any feedback is appreciated :)