Catch me if you can

January 27-29, 2012

No public posts in this group. You must login and become a member in order to post messages, and view any private posts.

Game Information

Short Introduction:

Catch me if you can is a multiplayer infinite running race game with POWERUPS! Race your way over platforms, through water and ducking under dir and rocks. Player who finishes in first place after 3 laps wins! Game supports up to 4 xbox controllers and/or 2 players using the keyboard.

Platform/System:

Windows

Platform note:

XNA

Brief Play Description:

SERIOUSLY FUN GAME TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS!

Up to four players battle it out for 3 laps. Pick up power ups and use them against your opponents to fight your way to first place.

If you want to play alone add a second player using the keyboard.

Power ups:

- Fish (pink circle): fire a fish projectile at another player sconing him in the head or leaving it as an obstacle.
- Barge (orange star): Push players or power ups away from you as a burst of energy is expelled from your racer. If another player is in front of you they will be pulled back.
- Boost (green square): Get a much needed burst of speed.
- Bounce (blue pentagram): Jump to all new heights or even DOUBLE JUMP.
- Bomb (purple diamond): Roll a bomb at your opponent for a slowing explosion.
- Caltrop (yellow star): Spew out a bunch of caltrops for a cluster of mini slows.
- Dark (black octagon): Blind your opponents by making the screen go back except a small area around yourself.

Use either keyboard (supports 2 players) or xbox controllers. See main screen for controls.

The game determines the colour of the player by the order they press the shoot button. For xbox controllers the number will be the number of the controller.

Play Video:

http://youtu.be/dF4NFFMzHBg

Diversifiers and Credits

Team Image:

Credits:

Team Unfortunate Fish: Jacob Toye (right) - Art - jacob@ironshod.co.nz / Dave Leaver (middle) - Lead Programmer - dave@ironshod.co.nz / Jeremy Moore (left) - Programmer - jerminatorster@gmail.co.nz . Support Team: Scott Heighway and Ben Guy. Thanks to everyone who played our game and gave feedback! The rest of the teams at Waikato University. Thanks to the organizers who kept us on target and well fed. New Zealand represent!

Downloads

Game Files:

Windowed installer

Fullscreen installer

Level editor

Installation Notes:

There are two installers, one full screen one windowed. Game was designed for 1280x720.

Extract the LevelEditor and run the exe to create your own levels. Just copy the resulting .lev file into the root director of the game and it will appear in the level select (bottom of main screen, press space to change).

Requires (installer should install them):
.Net4: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/netframework/aa569263.aspx
Xna4: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=20914

By jacobtoye at 01/27/2012 - 17:02
Fun
multiplayer
Platformer
power ups
racing
Windows
xbox controls
XNA
Login to post comments

Theme

By jacobtoye at 01/29/2012 - 17:12
Login to post comments

This years theme was 'ouroboros'. The image is a snake eating it's own tail, wikipedia tells us it represents the circle of life; death and rebirth.

We started off with an idea that addressed the more literal side of the theme. We wanted to make a single player game (racing platformer with powerups) where the objective was to catch yourself. So the idea would be to try and do a slow first lap then go for gold the next lap.

During the development we decided that it was quite hard to design a level that was fun and challenging that met our gameplay design. What was fun was racing against each other and firing off powerups to slow them down.

So we tweaked our theme slightly to catching another player. For us the main theme was a great starting point for our creative process, but first and foremost we wanted to make a game that was FUN. I fully believe we achieved that, I just wish we had taken some footage of our fellow jammers playing along and having a blast.

We had a 27" iMac (running windows) and 4 xbox controllers. If you can, get a couple of people and have a go. Drop a comment and let us know what you think.

Gameplay video

By jacobtoye at 01/29/2012 - 16:44
Login to post comments

I'll be putting up a gameplay video tomorrow (31/01). We all had too much fun playing with the rest of the jammers to make a video. Needs 4 people to show off the good times.

Check back soon!