STARCROSSED

Game Description

Starcrossed features two black holes, each of which can be controlled to exact their gravitational effect on the world around them. To keep the earth safe, they must attract both the meteorites and the earth herself to avoid any collisions, while keeping the distance necessary to avoid consuming her. But the more meteorites you consume, the stronger your gravitational pull becomes, and the more time passes, the more meteorites there are.

The goal: a ramping difficulty arcade style local co-op.

Project Page: Starcrossed

Project Duration: 2 Days

Official Role: Lead Design

The Results

Gameplay of Starcrossed.

The Thought Process

To the left there is an image representing a black hole (the player pawn) and a nearby meteor’s trajectory being altered by its “gravity”. The hit box is included as well.

The black holes have faces that change based on how close they are to the earth – the closer, the happier. But too close and no more earth!

As Lead Design on Starcrossed, I was in charge not just of creating the blueprints for something fun, but more importantly to allow the designers on my team to show off their individual talents. Communication was important and I was the main point of reference for the team. We managed to avoid major conflicts in design ideation by having a strong idea of the game right from the beginning, as well as lining out all the effects and mechanics there will be at play in the game. These were:

  • Black Hole “Gravity”
  • Pawn 2D Axis Movements (for BOTH players)
  • Meteor Trajectory / Arc
  • Meteor Spawning
  • Black Hole “Gravity” Intensity Increase on Meteor Collision
  • Timer
  • High Scores
  • Lose on Earth Collision with Any Actor

One of the most important final items we produced was this diagram (pictured to the right) representing a “spawning circle” around the screen, invisible to the player, from where meteors would spawn at a random point. As time went on, they would spawn more frequently and with a faster trajectory speed.

Due to our reasonable scope and to clear, early communication within the design team, we had a lot of time to playtest and adjust numbers and ranges. Additionally, we tried to break the game to find any bugs and squash them before the jam time was up. The final build was strong, intuitive, and fun to play.

Feel free to reach out!

I’m an open door – and I love a good conversation.

You can also email me directly at arrccc.dev@gmail.com.

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