MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Colour Captain is a 2D puzzle platformer set in a fantasy world for children. Our main character Momo is searching for a long lost mythical ship that has been spread around the world in bottles. Flying around in a little tug-boat, Momo can see parts of the ship from up high but needs to travel down to pick them up.
In each level, the screen is littered with stars of different colours which Momo uses to create magic potions of complimentary colours. The potions give him the energy he needs to climb all the way towards the floating bottles and bring them back. Along the way you discover hidden treasures from the ship that help you on your journey to becoming the captain!
As a Scottish ambassador, I was sent off to China to meet the team and experience some of their culture before travelling back with them to Dundee. In Scotland, the team went to Edinburgh where we saw a lot of historic sites, and in Dundee we all took part in a ceilidh where one of the team members even wore a kilt!
The working side has been an excellent mix of creative problem solving, innovative design ideas and challenging goals. We regularly discuss ideas on how we can further our designs and we try to share a lot of responsibilities within the group so that we’re all invested in the game.
The staff at Abertay University have been very helpful, friendly and accommodating at every stage of the competition and are keen to see us do well. The industry mentoring has been invaluable to our game as we have made many improvements on our original designs, and the mentors have given us a great insight in to what it is like to work for a professional games company.
There are several things we have learnt about the game making process, such as quick implementation of core mechanics and how to problem solve when certain elements aren’t working as well as they could.
In terms of technical learning we have learned a lot about programming for iOS and how to manage optimisations within the system. We have also learned a lot about how to communicate our ideas across cultural boundaries and how to translate concepts across disciplines.
We are very interested to see how our game is received at ProtoPlay. So far the focus testing and mentoring have taken us this far, but our ultimate goal is to impress the public. It should be a great experience for all the teams as we’ll finally get to see each other’s completed games! We’re really excited to see how everything shapes up.
The team will go back into study in Beijing and hopefully we will release the full version of the game on the App Store soon after. I will be looking for work in the gaming industry afterwards as there’s a lot of great companies all over Britain I’d love to work for!
Follow iDeer on Twitter @dare2012_ideer to learn more about their game.
Dare ProtoPlay and Indie Fest takes place between August 10th and 12th in Dundee, with all 15 Dare student games on show, as well as indie games, conference talks and much more.
