Battle In The Toy Shop (B.I.T.T.S)

My work:

During the development of Battle In The Toy Shop, I served as the Lead Designer, while also taking on the role of gameplay programmer for most of the project.

In the early stages, our team worked on building the game engine. My responsibilities during this phase included designing a custom window class with features like resizing, scaling, and minimization. Another significant task was creating a custom input manager, which needed to support input from the keyboard, mouse, and multiple controllers, with the capability to detect up to four controllers simultaneously.

To achieve this, I developed a main function that captured all inputs and mapped them into a container for each controller. These containers held key information, such as whether a controller was connected and which buttons were being pressed. I also built separate containers for mouse data (position and button states) and keyboard inputs. After establishing this foundation, I implemented functions that allowed easy access to input data, whether it was for the whole controller or specific buttons (e.g., a true/false value for button presses or a range for joystick and trigger input).

As the engine approached completion, several team members shifted their focus to gameplay development. I worked on creating the first level, a tile-based platform. I also developed a menu system that allowed us to modify the grid size and swap out tiles, giving us the flexibility to alter the level's structure in various ways.

Once that was complete, I moved on to adding assets, working to enhance the visual design and give the game the toy shop aesthetic we had envisioned. I also began preparing presentations and documents in anticipation of the milestone we were fast approaching.

When we received approval from our instructor, we shifted our focus to refining the gameplay. We had one core game mode that was fun to play, but we knew the game needed more variety. After several brainstorming sessions, the team decided to transform the game into a mini-game arcade with competitive multiplayer modes. Each team member took on the task of developing a different game mode, and I was responsible for creating the Hot Potato mode.

During the holiday break, each of us worked independently on our assigned game modes. By the time we regrouped, I had the basic structure of the Hot Potato mode ready and needed just a few more days to finish it.

The concept of the mode was simple: one player holds the "potato" and passes it to another player on contact, much like a game of tag. The challenge was in developing the bomb mechanic. I had to add a timer for the potato to explode and visual feedback to clearly show which player was holding the bomb. To make it more dynamic, I programmed the bomb holder to run faster, creating extra tension as players tried to avoid them. I also designed a custom map for the mode, modeling a flying platform toy and animating it to fit the theme.

After finalizing the game mode, I worked on adding two new weapons. The first was a teleport gun that allowed players to swap positions when one player hit another with a shot. The second was a stun weapon, designed to look like a bubble gum machine. Players could blow a gum bubble that, when it popped, stunned any players caught within the blast.

With the weapons functional, I focused on polishing the game: I added sound effects, improved models for props and weapons, and developed the user interface (UI). This included indicators for each player's status (e.g., stunned, holding the bomb, holding the flag) and a UI for each player to show their weapon, ammo, and health.

As we entered the final stages, the pressure increased, but so did everyone's commitment. Many things evolved in the last month. In my case, I designed the game menus. First, I modeled a TV in a room that would display all the menu information, and then I implemented the menu logic.

The first menu was the player selection screen, allowing each player to choose a unique skin (no duplicates allowed). The second was the mode selection screen, where players could choose between Normal Mode (a random game mode from the pool) or Arcade Mode (where players select the mode and set the number of wins, best of 1, 3, or 5). Team assignments could also be made here for team modes. Lastly, I created an information menu that displayed instructions for the upcoming mode, ensuring new players knew how to play.

With everyone's contributions coming together, we completed the game. Although it wasn't officially published, I believe the entire team is proud of what we achieved. The experience of working on Battle In The Toy Shop was unforgettable, and I want to thank every team member for their hard work and the joy they brought to the project.