Numeric BlastOFF

I was the main game programmer of the team and I developed the main mechanics of the game. The team wanted hover vehicle that could drive on any surface and that acted similar to F-Zero's vehicle. I mentioned that it would be more complicated than normal cars, but I also said why not, could be interesting to explore. It was more than I thought it would be, but by using the vertices of the ground and using some vector maths I was able to create an object that would rotate to match the rotation of the floor bellow it. The Object would stick to walls and ceilings and when given a forward speed it could drive around a large sphere or capsule.

I was also responsible to figure out the controls and behavior of the vehicles and the race. The racetrack were created so that there would be checkpoints placed along the path the racers were supposed to go. I made a script for the checkpoints to automatically rotate in the same direction as the up vector from the ground and forward between the point in front and behind. I needed this because I needed the position and rotation of the checkpoint whenever the vehicle would lose track of the ground so it knew what rotation to rotate to so that it wouldn't rotate away from the ground.

Another big task for this project were the NPC bot behaviours. They would automatically move from checkpoint to checkpoint steering themselves towards the next target. The bots could also answer the same equation as the player. If the player were behind they could see what the other bots were answering first and see what answer was wrong/right. Also implemented a rubber band that slowed down the bots if they got to far ahead and increased speed if they were too far behind so that the players would feel challenged

Developed a mobile learning game together with other co-students, targeting school kids to help them improve their maths skills. We wanted to create something that could be used as a tool for practice, but at the same time be interesting and fun. The main gameplay is the player controlling their hover-vehicle, competing against other bot hover-vehicle. To be able to defeat the bots the player will have to solve multiple math equations to build up speed and leave the other racers in the dust.

This game was part of an assignment for a course at Nord University. We received guidance and feedback throughout the development process and the teachers were acting as stakeholders for the game. through the feedback we were able to iterate and improve the game, but we were also able to test it with multiple school kids and implement updates based on their reactions and feedback.

Download a copy of the game here on itch

Short Trailer of Numeric BlastOFF on YouTube

This project was a collaborative effort with valuable contributions from the following team members:

• Inge Seland - Role: Team Lead & Developer
• Håkon Alstad - Role: Game Designer
• Jacob William Tkaczyk - Role: Concept and 3D Artist